Thursday, 3 December, 2020
04 NEWS
BuzdAR TAkES STock of oNgoINg uPlIfT SchEMES IN SouTh PuNjAB SAYS ‘BANDIT BRIGADE’ INDIFFERENT TO PUBLIC SAFETY AMID PANDEMIC LAHORE
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STAFF REPORT
HIEF Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar on Wednesday directed that timely utilisation of funds be ensured for public welfare schemes as an inordinate delay is not acceptable. The chief minister chaired a marathon session of video link meeting at his office to take stock of ongoing development schemes, the DG Khan development package, and law and order in south Punjab. Addressing the meeting, the chief minister said that development process is going on speedily. The government has launched numerous public welfare projects worth billions of rupees and the third-party monitoring of every development scheme will be also held while making no compro-
mise on high quality, he added. The CM stated that inquiry will be held on public complaints to punish the responsible officers. The government is the custodian of national resources and those involved in any embezzlement will not be forgiven, he warned. He further directed the officers to go into the field to ensure transparency, saying the mantra of lip-service will not work as they will have to perform. The CM complaint cell will hold an inquiry against those involved in corruption in development projects, he said. The CM asked the officers to speed up the development work. The development projects should be completed in time by doing work in double shifts wherever needed, he said and warned that action will be initiated on complaints about the use of agriculture machinery. Prospect of a women
university in DG Khan should be reviewed and recommendations be forwarded, he maintained. Similarly, the sewerage system in major cities of south Punjab should be improved permanently, he added. The CM disclosed that more almonries will be established in south Punjab. He directed to complete the Koh-e-Suleman Development Authority board, adding that the authority should submit a comprehensive plan about the development of the area. South Punjab will be developed as a role model as a new era of development has started in the province, he emphasised. He asked the officers to work hard for the protection of life and property of the people adding that crackdown should be continued against gangs. Similarly, indiscriminate action be initiated against the criminals, he added. Separately, Buzdar said, “Pakistan
Democratic Movement (PDM) has no regard for human lives and this bandit brigade even tried to point-scoring on coronavirus.” He regretted the opposition is indifferent to public safety as coronavirus is still spreading. Those who have no regard for human lives cannot understand the public issues, he added and regretted that opposition always adopted an irrespective behaviour. The people of Multan have shown a mirror to the opposition, he said. The CM asserted that the PDM is a mixture of rejected elements having no agenda. The 11 opposition parties can never compete with an honest and trustworthy leader like Imran Khan, he stressed. He said that holding public meetings would be enmity with the people as the corona situation is becoming serious. The intransigence of the PDM has put the lives of the people at the stake because this bandit brigade has no pain for the masses, he remarked.
Sugar price slashed Rs20 per kg due to govt’s intervention: PM NEWS DESK Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the ex-mill price of sugar came down by Rs20 per kilogramme in 20 days due to the government’s effective intervention in the matter. “Distribution of imported sugar at control rates & timely start of crushing season also ensured. I have asked provinces to ensure fair & swift cane payments are made to farmers,” he wrote on his official Twitter handle. It may be noted that the sugar prices in the country have witnessed a decline in wholesale and retail markets. In early November, the federal government had said that it would reduce sugar prices by Rs15-Rs20. Addressing a press conference related to the announcement, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar had said that the government has procured over one hundred tonnes of imported sugar to meet the demand.
PIA offers 30pc discount on domestic fares NEWS DESK
India caught up in their own mess, says ex-ISI chief NEWS DESK The former chief of Inter-Services Intelligence, Lt Gen (r) Asad Durrani has said that India is no threat to Pakistan as it too preoccupied in a mess of its own making. Indians “are so caught up in their own mess that they have little time to care about Pakistan,” Durrani said during an interview with BBC Urdu on Wednesday. The “mess” he was referring to is India’s revocation of the special status Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) under the leadership of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “After what India did to Kashmir [IIOJK], there is no threat to us on the eastern border,” the former spy chief added. Durrani had previously come into the spotlight after the release of his first book, Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace, which had been co-authored
with Research and Analysis Wing’s (RAW) former chief AS Dulat. Durrani also acknowledged the military’s interference in the country’s political affairs and said that it was detrimental to Pakistan. During the same interview, Durrani highlighted what he believes are the biggest issues faced by the country: “economy, political instability, and social cohesion.” He added that, along with these internal matters, the external challenges are “Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey”. “There are some areas like Balochistan where there is unrest among people who feel politically alienated and deprived. The economy is in bad shape,” he said. “The government’s credibility is bad because people believe it has been brought into power by the military.” Durrani highlighted that the main problem faced by Imran Khan was that people did not believe he came
into power on his own, but that he came in “with a khaki burden”. “Some people don't learn from history because they say we will create our own history,” Durrani opined. The former top spy also said that granting provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) was a “blow” the Kashmir issue. “You may give more rights to GB if you want to, but it should not be forcibly made a province of Pakistan,” he said. He compared the matter to the Balochistan issue and pointed out that making a province did not fix any of the issues faced by the region. Durrani said he was also opposed to the merger of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) as the “500year-old system there is running better than ours in some respects".
China’s Ant considers Paytm stake sale amid tensions with India HONG KONG/NEW DELHI AGENCIES
Chinese fintech giant Ant Group is considering selling its 30pc stake in Indian digital payment processor Paytm amid tensions between the two Asian neighbours and a toughening competitive landscape, people with direct knowledge of the matter said. Financial details of the possible transaction have not been firmed up and Ant, the Alibaba-backed payments-to-consumer credit behemoth, has not launched a formal sale process yet, four people told Reuters. Paytm, which is also backed by SoftBank Group Corp among others, was valued at
about $16 billion during its latest private fundraising round a year ago. At that valuation, Ant’s stake in the Indian firm is worth about $4.8 billion. Both Ant and Paytm said that the information was incorrect. A Paytm spokesman said “there has been no discussion with any of our major shareholders ever, nor any plans, about selling their stake.” Ant’s possible exit from Paytm would mark another reversal for the Chinese company hot on the heels of the dramatic suspension of its $37 billion stock listing last month, which would have been the world’s largest. It also would be a step back from its ambitions of
becoming a global payments leader. Sources told Reuters in October that Ant was cutting its financial support to many of the overseas affiliated e-wallet firms. The main trigger for Ant to consider the divestment of its stake in Paytm is the worsening diplomatic relations between India and China in the past few months, said the people, who declined to be named as the deliberations are confidential. Relations between the countries are at a nadir, with troops locked in a border faceoff in the western Himalayas for months after a clash in June in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed. Since the clash India has tightened rules for investments from China and banned dozens of Chinese mobile apps, including from tech giants Tencent, Alibaba and ByteDance. It banned 43 more apps late last month. “There is a growing realisation within Ant management that it would not be able to raise its stake in the company,” one of the people with direct knowledge said, adding senior managers at Ant have discussed the idea recently. Even so, Ant was in the middle of an investment review and it could still decide to shelve a divestment if it failed to get the desired valuation, he said. Two other sources said that as a result of the review Ant could end up retaining a small stake in Paytm. COMPETITIVE INTENSITY: Indian start-ups are heavily funded by Chinese investors such as Alibaba and Tencent. Bankers have previously said they were looking to bolster their presence in the country with an aim to grow their revenue
outside China. Alibaba has invested over $4 billion in India so far and had plans to invest around $5 billion in 2021, which have now been put on hold, one of the sources said. Alibaba did not respond to a request for comment. Ant first invested in Paytm in 2015 and owns its 30pc stake in the firm via its parent company, One97 Communications, according to Ant’s initial public offering prospectus, which described the Indian firm as a major associate. In addition to the tighter investment rules for Chinese companies in India, tougher competition is likely another factor behind Ant’s calculations regarding Paytm, which is losing its dominance, two of the people said. Online transactions, lending and e-wallet services have been growing rapidly in India, led by a government push to make the country’s cash-loving merchants and consumers adopt digital payments.
In order to facilitate passengers during winter holidays and school vacations, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has introduced special fares, offering up to 30pc discount on domestic flights operating between Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Quetta, Faisalabad, Sialkot and Peshawar from December 3 (Thursday) onwards. Passengers would now be able to travel between these cities on a one-way minimum fare of Rs8,500 and round trip minimum fare of Rs17,000, as against the previous charges of Rs12,275 and Rs24,600 for the same. PIA Spokesperson Abdullah Khan said that the purpose of discounted fares is to facilitate the people travelling to their homes during holidays. He said the inventory is available and people can benefit from these fares on first come first serve basis.
Punjab E&T dept collects Rs430m property tax till Nov MULTAN APP
The Punjab Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Department till November collected Rs430 million out of the Rs675 million property tax set target for FY21. In this regard, E&T Deputy Director Khalid Hussain Qasoori told the media here on Wednesday that the five per cent rebate offer has been ended and is now only available for payment of taxes through the epayment system. He informed that there were 155,000 property tax consumers across Multan district whereas 50pc of them had paid their taxes so far, adding that routine property tax collection is underway and no crackdown has been carried out so far as a step to facilitate the taxpayers due to coronavirus pandemic.
