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ISLAMABAD

StepS uNderway for developMeNt of BalochiStaN: pM

ISLAMABAD

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pRIME Minister Imran Khan has directed for taking all the stakeholders into confidence to further improve law and order in Balochistan. The prime minister said this while talking to Governor Balochistan Syed Zahoor Agha who called on him on Wednesday.

The prime minister said that the government is taking steps for the development of Balochistan. He said it is the first time that a mega development package has been announced for the people of Balochistan.The prime minister said that the agricultural transformation plan will provide assistance to the Baloch farmers as well as ensure development of this sector in the province.

Earlier last month, Prime Minister Khan said the government has taken numerous steps for the development of Balochistan as it is linked with the progress of Pakistan.

Inaugurating tree-plantation at Sonmiani beach in Lasbela, he said around one trillion rupees have been allocated for the development of Balochistan, which is unprecedented in the history of Pakistan.

The prime minister said that the government is devising a plan to tap natural resources of the province that could be utilised for the prosperity of the local people.

He said steps will be taken to promote tourism along the coastal line from Lesbaila to Gwadar. He urged the locals to overwhelmingly support the government's a forestation efforts and to protect the existing tree cover of the country so that adverse impacts of climate change can be averted.

Meanwhile, in a tweet, Imran Khan congratulated Dr Amjad Saqib, founder of Akhuwat Foundation and microfinance pioneer in Pakistan, for getting this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award, which is Asia’s highest honour.

The prime minister said, “We are proud of Dr Amjad Saqib's achievement as we move forward in creating a welfare state based on Riyasat-eMadina Model. ”

Dr Amjad Saqib, who helped develop a cheap oral vaccine against cholera, and a Filipino fisherman, were among Tuesday's winners of Asia's equivalent to the Nobel Prize. Saqib, 64, was one of five recipients of the Ramon MagsaysayAward -- named after a Filipino president killed in a plane crash -- for his "first-of-its-kind" interest- and collateral-free microfinance programme that has helped millions of poor families.

Nearly two decades after its launch, Akhuwat has grown into the nation's largest microfinance institution, distributing the equivalent of $900 million and boasting an almost 100 percent loan repayment rate, the award foundation said.

Saqib, who uses places of worship to hand out money, was cited for "his inspiring belief that human goodness and solidarity will find ways to eradicate poverty. "

Power breakdown hits several areas of Karachi

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It emerged that on Wednesday that several parts of Karachi experienced a power outage, according to a report by the city ’s power utility, K-Electric.

According to Geo News, the areas to lose power include Nazimabad, North Nazimabad, Federal B Area, Gulshan-eIqbal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Clifton and Defence.

A quick telephonic survey among consumers conducted by Geo.tv revealed that Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block 10, Gulistane-Jauhar Blocks 7 and 9, Government Teachers Society, Scheme 33, Gulzar-eHijri, and Clifton Block 7, all lost power at around the same time — between 4:10 and 4:20pm.

KE, in response to reports from several Karachi areas, said on Twitter it is “actively monitoring the situation and will keep updating this space” .

A consumer told Geo.tv that just before the outage, there was a pronounced fluctuation in the power supply. A lot of the neighbourhoods where a power outage was reported were areas where drizzling was also reported.

The Met department has forecast rainfall for Karachi till September 3.The city is expected to receive heavy rains, dust storms and thunderstorms on September 2 and 3, said Director Met Department Sardar Sarfaraz.

Sarfaraz further stated that thunder cells over the city are likely to form on Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier this morning, a power substation set up in the SITE industrial area was destroyed by an explosion.

Sources within the police told Geo News a loud explosion took place near Valika Chowrangi at SITE this morning, the sound of which could be heard from afar. The blast caused the walls of the substation to collapse and set fire to the office adjacent to the substation, causing severe damage.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kemari Fida Hussain Januri said it was not immediately clear whether the blast occurred inside the substation or the adjacent plot’s underground tank burst due to accumulation of gas.

Januri said that the staff of the bomb disposal squad and K Electric would be able to report on the situation better after inspecting the site.

Edhi Foundation staff rushed to the spot on receiving word of the blast but according to police, no casualties were reported.The fire brigade was also called but the fire was extinguished before they arrived. POWER RESTORED IN SOME AREAS: Later during the day, KE informed in an update that supply to all grids was normalised and restoration of feeder levels was underway.

“Power supply to Karachi is continuing through nearly 1,107 feeders out of 1,900 with strategic locations including Dhabeji Water Pumping Station and KarachiAirport also powered up, ” it said.

KE said electricity supply was restored to parts of Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Federal B Area and North Karachi, Surjani Town, Malir, Baldia Town, Liaquatabad, Korangi, North Nazimabad, Gizri and Defence Housing Authority, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Clifton and Shah Faisal Colony.

A similar breakdown occurred in Karachi in May after a high-tension transmission line of 220 kV tripped, affecting the supply of electricity to the associated grids.

A massive power breakdown took place at the start of the year, plunging the entire country into darkness.

The blackout was reported a little before midnight of January 10 by citizens on social media from across the country, including major urban centres such as Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore and Multan, as well as smaller towns and cities.

Power was restored to most parts of the country by the evening.

PTM in tatters as Dawar forms new political party

ISLAMABAD

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Pashtoon Tahaffuz Movement suffered a major shock on Wednesday as its vocal leader and Member of the National Assembly from North Waziristan Mohsin Dawar parted ways and announced to launch his new party, National Democratic Movement.

Former Awami National Party senators Afrasiab Khattak, Bashara Gohar, Jamila Gilani, and Advocate Abdul Latif Afridi also announced they are joining the new political party.

Flanked by senior political leaders, Mohsin Dawar announced the name, flag, and manifesto of his new political party in Peshawar, telling the media that the party ’s central executive committee had appointed him as the chairman of the NDM.

“For a democratic nationalist political party, our workers used to miss a political organization.The NDM will soon form provincial units. Then the party will be organized at the district level, ” said a beaming Dawar.

“Our political leaders will be a key part of our movement. The youth have not been given real representation in politics and political parties. We will elect a council to determine future leadership, ” he said.

Distancing from the PTM, Mohsin Dawar said he was only a supporter of the PTM which is a nonpolitical organization.

“So, we split up from PTM and formed our own party. I don’t think PTM will support our party, ” he added. A source in the PTM told Pakistan Today that PTM chief Manzoor Pashteen would not be a part of the NDM and thus the PTM and the new political party have parted their ways for good. The source said during several meetings, the NDM leaders, including Mohsin Dawar, had tried to persuade Manzoor Pashteen to join the new political party, but he vehemently refused.

The source said that Afrasiab Khattak, Bashra Gohar, and Jamila Gilani will be among the central leaders of the NDM while Mohsin Dawar will lead the party. According to the source, the PTM leader and National Assembly member Ali Wazir, who is currently in jail, will not be part of the NDM, but other leaders including Sana Ijaz, SaidAlam Mehsud have agreed to join the new party.

Since the formation of the PTM, Dawar was in favor of forming a political party, but Ali Wazir and Manzoor Pashteen have opposed this idea, the source asserted.

The source said that Mohsin Dawar is a prominent political operator who enjoys good relations with other parties and his political clout led to Manzoor Pashteen’s fears that he would hijack the PTM. Hence, the source said, Pashteen did not want to hand over the leadership of the PTM to anyone else. It merits mention that Manzoor Pashteen has said on various occasions that the PTM will remain a non-parliamentary movement and will not participate in politics.

When Mohsin Dawar, Ali Wazir and Abdullah Nangyal decided to contest the 2018 general elections, Pashteen clearly stated that if any person belonging to PTM participated in the elections, it will be his personal decision and the PTM will neither support nor oppose the ones indulging in politics.

Nawaz will return when it is ‘necessary’ , says Maryam

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Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Vice-President Maryam Nawaz Wednesday asserted that the country would soon see “a lot of things change” and that “Nawaz Sharif will return to the country when it is necessary for him to do so” . The above was said while the PML-N VPwas speaking to the media after appearing for a hearing of theAvenfield reference case. On the occasion, Maryam said that reconciliation was out of the question and lashed out at the incumbent government and described its past threeyear performance as “nothing short of “destruction” . “One should not even hold talks with these people [government], ” she said, adding that except for the PTI, all political parties should unite and think about the welfare of Pakistan. She commented on the Media RegulatoryAuthority, saying that the government is creating hurdles for the media and Opposition, adding that the bill was a continuation of the incumbent government’s policies aimed at censoring the media. Maryam said Opposition parties should concentrate on how the government is employing efforts to rig the upcoming elections. She said the government was exacting political revenge in the name of accountability. Proceedings of theAvenfield Reference against the PML-N vice president and her husband, Captain (r) Safdar, have been postponed till September 8. On the other hand, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib on Wednesday said the entire nation wanted to see the ‘corrupt’leadership of PML-N behind bars for looting national wealth ruthlessly. In a live telecast from Pakistan Television, the minister lashed out at the PML-N leadership for committing ‘systematic’ corruption during their previous tenures. The only way to eliminate corruption was the accountability process, launched by the present government in the country, he added. Farrukh criticized the PML-N for their outcry over the accountability, saying it was only aimed to make the entire process controversial. He asked Maryam Safadr to face accountability courageously instead of seeking adjournments from the court which was hearing her appeal against her conviction in the Avenfield apartment reference. The minister said so far the case was adjourned ten times, asking Maryam as to why she was reluctant to appear before the court on every hearing. He asserted that if Maryam assumed herself innocent and had evidence to prove her innocence then she should plead to the court for hearing her case on regular basis. Farrukh recalled Maryam’s past statement in which she said she did not own any property in Pakistan, as well as, in London. The nation knew that she was the same woman who ridiculed herself by producing a fake ‘Qatari’letter in the court as evidence, he added.

Therapy Works CEO seeks registration of criminal case against Zahir

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Therapy Works Chief Executive Officer Tahir Zahoor has submitted an application with a sessions court in the federal capital against the primary suspect in the Noor Mukadam case, Zahir Zakir Jaffer, for allegedly attacking and injuring a member of his team.The counselling and psychotherapy service came under public scrutiny as the murder investigation unfolded and it was revealed that the primary suspect, Jaffer, was associated with it. Whether he was authorised to work as a therapist by the service has yet to be ascertained by investigators, reported Dawn.

The capital administration had also sealed the office of Therapy Works in Islamabad. In the latest development, the CEO of Therapy Works submitted an application through his lawyer, Shehzad Qureshi, asking the court to order the registration of a criminal case against Jaffer.

Zahoor explained in the petition that his medical team had visited Jaffer’s home on July 20, 2021, upon his father’s request who wanted his son to be admitted at theTherapy Works facility for rehabilitation.

He continued that as the team entered Jaffer’s room through the back door after not being able to get in from the front, “he attacked a team member with a knife, but other medical team members apprehended him. ”

The petitioner said the medical team also spotted a young girl lying on the floor beheaded whom Jaffer had murdered.

In the petition, Zahoor said Kohsar Police didn’t listen to their version since the day the incident unfolded. He recalled that Jaffer had stabbed one of theTherapyWorks employees, adding that an application was also submitted with the Kohsar Police Station but no action was taken against Jaffer. On Wednesday, the sessions court sought a response from the police and adjourned the case hearing till Sep 7.

On Aug 23, the sessions court had granted bail to six officials of Therapy Works, including its owner and chief executive officer, in connection with the case. Three days later, Noor Mukadam’s father, Shaukat Mukadam, had submitted a petition with the Islamabad High Court, challenging the grant of bail to six employees of Therapy Works, including its owner and chief executive officer Tahir Zahoor. It is pertinent to mention that last week, a petition had been moved to Islamabad High Court challenging the decision of lower court granting post-arrest bail to six employees of Therapy Works including its Chief Executive Officer Tahir Zahoor in Noor Mukadam murder case.

The petitioner Shaukat Mukadam had prayed before the court to set aside the decision of district court Islamabad regarding the bail of the accused.

It was stated that the lower court had not completed the requirement of justice in its decision and ignored various legal points. The court also ignored the directives of the top court in such matter.

It further said facts regarding the injury of accusedAmjad Mehmood were hiding in hospital. The accused also hide facts regarding bails of accused Zakir Jaffar and Asmat Adam. The petitioner said the accused were also threatening family of the victim. It could cause an irreparable loss to the victim family if the accused bails were not cancelled, he said.

He prayed before the court to turn down the decision of additional district and session judge and cancel the bails of all six accused.

Earlier last week,TherapryWorks owner and Chief Executive Officer Tahir Zahoor, along with five employees, were granted bail by a sessions court on Monday in their connection to the Noor Mukadam murder case. The short order was announced by Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Ata Rabbani who reserved the decision earlier that day. He directed all six officials — Zahoor, Amjad, Dilip Kumar, Abdul Haq, Wamiq and Samar Abbas — to submit bail bonds of Rs5 million each. During the hearing on the bail petitions today, Zahoor’s lawyer, Barrister Qasim Nawaz, argued that the Therapy Works owner was arrested despite his name not being mentioned in the first information report of the case, according to a report by Dawn.

He said therapy-related work was his client’s profession and that he treated people. On the other hand, Shah Khawar, the counsel for Noor’s family, argued that Therapy Works employees had broken the doors to enter the house of the primary suspect Zahir.

“Zahir Jaffer killed Noor and then informed his parents,