Gulf Times
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
15 full-fledged departments created for south Punjab secretariat
Internews
Lahore
T
he Punjab province gov-
ernment has created 15
full-fledged administrative
departments in the newly-estab-
lished south Punjab secretariat but
without a proper transition plan in
place.
The Punjab finance department
has created 77 new posts of ad-
ministrative secretaries, additional
secretaries and deputy secretaries
for the secretariat and soon after-
wards notified posting of 10 secre-
Two dead
as heavy
rains lash
Shangla
Internews
Islamabad
A
t least two people were
killed and seven others
injured in Khyber Pa-
khtunkhwa’s Shangla district as
widespread rains damaged hous-
es and blocked major arteries in
parts of the province yesterday,
officials said.
Shangla deputy commissioner
Imran Hussain Ranjha said a
house collapsed in Batkot area of
Bisham tehsil, leaving two minor
brothers, eight-year-old Idrees
and four-year-old Raees, dead.
In another incident, the roof of
a house collapsed during a wed-
ding in Malak Khel area of Alpuri
tehsil leaving five people injured.
According to Ranjha, due to
flooding in streams caused by the
heavy rains, the Karakoram High-
way (KKH) had been blocked at
Shang and other points, while the
Bisham-Swat road was washed
away near Ranyal suspension
bridge, leading to the route’s clo-
sure for all traffic. Other impor-
tant link roads were also blocked
or damaged due to the rains.
Several animals were also killed
when a house collapsed in Chake-
sar area. Ranjha said information
regarding rain-related incidents
was being collected from differ-
ent parts of the district.
The KKH was also blocked at
several points in lower and up-
per Kohistan, with hundreds of
vehicles stuck on roads due to the
blockade.
Local police said the flood
swept away water mills, mini
power stations and wooden sus-
pension bridges in Kohistan.
A flooding situation was also
observed in the Dubair, Pattan
and Indus rivers.
Upper Kohistan deputy com-
missioner Arif Khan Yousafzai
urged the public to avoid unnec-
essary travel in the district to pre-
vent any untoward incident.
Torrential rains have disrupted
routine life in the Abasin region
and the area has been without
electricity for more than eight
hours.
Journalist among five
acquitted in arms case
Internews
Karachi
A
n anti-terrorism court in
Karachi has exonerated
five accused persons, in-
cluding a journalist, in a case
pertaining to the allegedly pos-
session of explosives and arms.
Five accused — Syed Matloob
Hussain; a journalist working for
the Urdu-language daily Jang,
Syed Mohtashim Haider Shah,
Syed Imran Haider Shah, Syed
Waqar Raza and Mohamed Abbas
— were charged with possessing
explosives and illicit weapons
last year.
Police had arrested Syed Mat-
loob Hussain Moosavi on March
30, 2019.
But the reporter’s family al-
leged that he had been “taken
away by unknown men” from his
residence in Salman Farsi Soci-
ety.
His alleged disappearance
had sparked protest by journal-
ists’ representatives and human
rights bodies and civil society.
11
taries — offering them maximum
functional autonomy.
The Punjab government had al-
ready allocated 35% of its provin-
cial budget for south Punjab and
ring-fenced it.
The posting of secretaries came
as a surprise as the move would bi-
furcate the jurisdiction of already
serving secretaries’ departments.
The plan of deciding respective
secretaries’ jurisdiction is report-
edly yet to be prepared.
More serious issues will be in
the finance as well as P&D depart-
ments as sources close to the de-
velopments ask how there could be
Covid precautions
Men wearing protective masks walk along a market, as the coronavirus disease outbreak
continues, in Karachi, Pakistan.
The ATC-XIII judge, who con-
ducted the trial in the judicial
complex inside the central prison,
pronounced his verdict reserved
after recording evidence and final
arguments from both sides.
The judge wrote in his judge-
ment that the prosecution had
failed to prove the charges against
the accused persons beyond a
shadow of reasonable doubt.
The judge acquitted all the
men of the charges levelled
against them by the prosecution.
All the accused persons ap-
peared before the court on bail.
The judge cancelled their bail
bonds and discharged the surety
and ordered their release in the
present cases.
According to the prosecution,
on a tip-off, police reached the
Attock petrol pump near Chakar
hotel on May 1, 2019, where they
allegedly spotted the five accused
with a briefcase.
It further mentioned that a
hand-grenade and a pistol with
five live bullets, documents,
passports, a CNIC, ATM cards
and petty cash worth Rs470 was
two decision-makers, when there
would be one account of the pro-
vincial government.
According to a finance depart-
ment notification, the secretar-
ies’ posts have been created in
livestock and dairy development,
planning and development (P&D),
housing urban development and
public health engineering (HUD
and PHE), board of revenue,
communication and works, lo-
cal government and community
development (LG and CD), home,
agriculture, health, education, fi-
nance, wildlife and fisheries, irri-
gation, services & general admin-
recovered from the possession of
accused Mohtashim Haider.
Police also allegedly recovered
a hand-grenade, a pistol of 30-
bore calibre with five live bullets,
CNIC and other documents from
the possession of accused Syed
Imran.
The prosecution further men-
tioned that a hand-grenade, a
pistol with five bullets were re-
covered from the custody of co-
accused Waqar.
It added that one hand-gre-
nade and a pistol with three live
bullets were seized from co-ac-
cused Abbas.
The prosecution further men-
tioned that a pistol with three
live bullets was recovered from
the possession of journalist Syed
Matloob Hussain.
Five separate cases under Sec-
tions 4/5 of the Explosive Sub-
stances Act read with Section
23(i)-A of the Sindh Arms Act,
2013 and Section 7 (punishment
for acts of terrorism) of the Anti-
Terrorism Act, 1997 were lodged
at the SITE Superhighway police
station on behalf of the state.
istration department, and law.
The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf
(PTI) stalwarts say the party has
fulfilled its promise of creating
the south Punjab secretariat and
granted it ‘full functional auton-
omy’ so that people should not
be compelled to go all the way to
Lahore to get their local issues re-
solved.
According to the posting of
secretaries at the newly-created
posts, Punjab primary and sec-
ondary heath department special
secretary Ajmal Bhatti (BS-19)
has been transferred and posted
as secretary health department,
Truck overturns
Traffic police officers check an overturned container truck on
a street in Karachi.
south Punjab secretariat, in his
own pay and scale, against a new-
ly-created slot.
Additional secretary (budget)
finance department Rana Obaid
Ullah Anwar (BS-19) has been
transferred and posted as sec-
retary finance department, in
his own pay and scale, against
a newly-created post till De-
cember 31 i.e. the date when his
extended period of deputation
shall expire.
Programme director, Punjab Re-
source Management Programme
(PRMP) Shoaib Iqbal Syed (BS-19)
has been transferred and posted as
Nawaz told
to appear
before court
by Sept 10
Internews
Islamabad
T
he Islamabad High Court
(IHC) yesterday granted
former prime minister Na-
waz Sharif the opportunity “to
surrender” and present himself
before the court by September 10.
A two-member bench of the
IHC comprising justice Aamer
Farooq and justice Mohsin Akhtar
Kayani was hearing appeals filed
by NAB against the former prime
minister’s acquittal in the Flagship
reference as well as appeals against
his conviction in the Al-Azizia ref-
erence.
“We are not declaring Nawaz
Sharif an absconder,” said justice
Amir Farooq. “We are giving him
an opportunity to surrender before
the court.”
The court directed the federal
government to present a report
on Nawaz’s health and adjourned
proceedings of the petition till
September 10.
Nawaz’s attorney Khawaja
Haris argued before the court that
his client’s bail had been approved
after his sentence in the Avenfield
Apartments reference had been
suspended.
He said that the PML-N supre-
mo had been granted conditional
bail in the Flagship reference.
“Nawaz’s current status is that he
is not out on bail,” said Haris. “This
is the legal position that he is out
seeking medical treatment abroad
and not on bail.”
Justice Farooq responded by
saying that Nawaz was granted
PAKISTAN
secretary P&D, in his own pay and
scale, against a new post.
Provincial Disaster Manage-
ment Authority (PDMA) director-
general Raja Khurram Shahzad
Umar (BS-19) has been transferred
and posted as secretary LG and CD
department, in his own pay and
scale, against a new post.
Officer on Special Duty Liaqat
Ali Chatha (BS-19) has been post-
ed as secretary HUD and PHE de-
partment, in his own pay and scale,
against a newly-created slot.
Commissioner Punjab Revenue
Authority (PRA), Multan, Saqib Ali
Ateel (BS-20) has been transferred
conditional bail for a specific time.
Haris replied that Nawaz’s
medical reports, which stated that
he was ill, were provided to the
Punjab government.
“Even then, Nawaz’s request for
the bail extension was rejected,” he
said.
In response to the bench’s ques-
tion, Haris replied that Nawaz’s
appeal for bail extension was re-
jected by the Punjab government
on February 27.
The court then wondered
whether the PML-N leader’s
sentence in the Al-Azizia refer-
ence ended after the Lahore High
Court’s order to the government
to take off Nawaz’s name from the
ECL
“The IHC suspended Nawaz’s
sentence in the Al-Azizia reference
for a short period. After the LHC’s
verdict, can the IHC’s order be su-
perseded,” asked the court.
“It’s not like Nawaz Sharif does
not want to surrender before the
court,” said Haris.
The court said that the matter
of the ECL was being heard by the
LHC whereas the IHC was con-
cerned with the issue pertaining
to suspension in sentence and bail.
“The effects of this order will
also impact the LHC’s decision,”
said justice Farooq.
Justice Farooq said that the
court was not declaring Nawaz an
absconder currently but wondered
how the appeals can be heard
without him present in court.
He said that the court will also
seek NAB’s help in this regard
and wondered what would hap-
pen if Nawaz’s appeal was dis-
Two-month ban on
swimming, fishing
Internews
Islamabad
T
he Islamabad adminis-
tration yesterday banned
swimming, boating and
fishing in dams, rivers and nullahs
for the next two months.
Administration officials said
that rainfall in the capital as well
as water flowing into the city from
upper parts of the country has
filled the dams, rivers and nullahs
in the capital.
With dams at capacity, their
spillways are being opened regu-
larly to discharge excess water,
they said. The discharged water
can flood rivers and nullahs in the
capital, they said, and water dis-
charged from dams such as Rawal
Dam also leads to an outflow of
fish from the spillways.
Many locals and fish vendors
wait downstream to catch these
fish, which is dangerous, the offi-
cials said, as the water that gushes
into rivers and nullahs can endan-
ger people who may be swimming,
boating or fishing in these areas.
Separate orders issued by the
office of the deputy commissioner
said that individuals have been in-
and posted as secretary agriculture
department, south Punjab secre-
tariat, against a new post.
Additional commissioner (co-
ordination), Bahawalpur Aftab
Ahmad Pirzada has been trans-
ferred and posted as secretary
livestock and dairy development
department, in his own pay and
scale, against a new slot.
Director (development and fi-
nance) Bahawalpur Nosheen Ma-
lik (BS-19) has been transferred
and posted as secretary S&GAD,
south Punjab secretariat, in her
own pay and scale, against a
newly-created post.
missed in his absence?
“What will be the status of his
appeal if the court declares him an
absconder,” he wondered.
Additional prosecutor general,
NAB, Jahanzeb Bharwana opened
his arguments before the court by
opposing Nawaz’s appeals for im-
munity from appearing before the
court.
“Nawaz not appearing before
the court is tantamount to fleeing
from court proceedings,” he said,
accusing the former prime minis-
ter of absconding on purpose.
“We will provide a date on
which Nawaz will have to surren-
der. Right now, we are not declar-
ing him an absconder,” said Justice
Farooq. “We are providing Nawaz
an opportunity to surrender.”
“Then you have decided that
he should return at any cost,” said
Haris.
“Do you think Nawaz will be ar-
rested at the airport when he re-
turns? If that is so, do tell us,” said
justice Kayani.
Haris replied by telling the judge
that he would move the court if
that happens.
Meanwhile Maryam Nawaz has
said her father, Nawaz Sharif, will
return to the country as soon his
treatment is completed and his
health is out of danger.
Maryam made the remarks after
her appearance at the Islamabad
High Court (IHC) yesterday to at-
tend a hearing of the Avenfield
Apartments review petition.
“Everyone is equal in the eyes of
the law,” Maryam said, adding that
they (the Sharif family) had been
buried under accusations.
dulging in boating, swimming and
fishing in Rawal Dam, Simly Dam,
Soan River, Korang Nullah and
other nullahs in Islamabad, which
is extremely dangerous and inci-
dents of drowning have also been
reported in this regard.
The orders said that this is suf-
ficient grounds for proceedings
under section 144 of the Criminal
Procedure Code.
The ban will come into force
immediately and remain in place
for two months.
Deputy commissioner Moham-
ed Hamza Shafqaat said that Raw-
al Dam’s spillways were opened by
1.5 feet at 11am to discharge 6,000
cusecs of water.
The capacity of the dam is
1,758ft, and the water reached
1,751.9ft, he said.
The capacity of Simly Dam is
2,315.05ft, and the dam’s spillways
were opened 1ft at 6am after water
reached the 2,315ft mark.
The spillways were opened to
2ft in the afternoon, he added.
Rawalpindi’s administration
and residents of low-lying areas
in the capital have also been in-
formed about the opening of the
spillways so they may take precau-
tions, Shafqaat said.