Wednesday, 17 August, 2022 I 18 Muharram, 1444 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XIII No 48 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition
Miftah defends petrol hike as coalition gets angry g
NAwAZ SHArIF ‘STrONGLy OPPOSES’ PETrOL PrICE HIKE
ISLAMABAD
f
staff report
INANCE Minister Miftah Ismail on Tuesday while defending the hike in POL prices said that while he was an “easy target” for criticism, the government has not imposed tax of even a single paisa on petroleum products. Finance Minister, who faced criticism from within his party and other cabinet members for hike in petrol price for the next fortnight, defended the decision stating that the price increase will not affect the supply and demand cycle. while addressing a press conference here
g
ZArDArI UNHAPPy ON PETrOL PrICES rAISE, vOwS TO SPEAK TO PM SHEHBAZ
in the federal capital, he added that the PMLN government has averted default by taking difficult political decisions whereas efforts to put the economy on back on track are in full swing. The finance minister said that he had not given false hopes or promises and that he had been clear about the situation. “I had never said that I will not increase the price of petrol, I had stated that I will not be imposing taxes [on petroleum products] further,” Miftah said. “I stand behind every decision of the government with full responsibility,” the finance minister said, noting that no economic decision was taken without his input. It is pertinent to mention here that Miftah’s comments were closely preceded by PML-N
vice President Maryam Nawaz’s tweet claiming that Nawaz Sharif had “strongly opposed the decision to raise the price of petrol.” “He even said that he couldn’t burden the people further; that he was not in favour of the decision, and also left the meeting,” she added. She said her father stressed that he was not on board and that if the government was bound by some constraint, it should go ahead with the increase. It is pertinent to note that under the deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government has to gradually increase PDL on oil products to a maximum of rs50 to collect rs855 billion during the current fiscal year. It may be recalled that the PML-N was clean sweeped in the recent elections in Punjab whereas the PTI is all geared up for the upcoming elections with the Shehbaz-led government making continuous unpopular decisions. Petrol prices could have been lowered had the government not committed to do the opposite in order to secure a loan from the IMF, however, the government does not have any choice but to fulfill all of the Fund’s demands. On the other hand, PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari also criticised the incumbent government for increasing POL prices despite a massive appreciation in rupee value and a decline in international oil prices. The former president said the PPP is a part of the government and supports it, but there must be consultations on such decisions.
staff report
As many as 28 passengers including women and children died dozens other sustained multiple injuries in two deadly road accidents occurred in Multan and near rohri in Sindh on Tuesday. According to rescue 1122 and police, 20 people were killed when a passenger bus rammed into a fuel truck on the Sukkur-Multan motorway on Tuesday. According to the officials, the accident took place at 2:20am near the city of Jalalpur Pirwala in the Multan district. The bus was carrying 24 passengers and two drivers, and was traveling from Lahore to Karachi.
Tahir wattoo, Multan Deputy Commissioner, said early indications were that the bus driver’s negligence had caused the collision. “Three buses were racing. One of them rammed into an oil tanker,” Imran Shaukat, an additional inspector general of police, told reuters, describing the incident. The driver was also killed. The crash triggered a fire that engulfed both the tanker and the bus, he said. The oil tanker was beyond identification to determine what company it belongs to, he added. A spokesman for the National Highways and Motorway Police (NHMP) said the tanker’s driver fled the scene. The injured were taken to hospital and at least six passengers
were reported in critical condition, wattoo added. Some of the bodies were burned beyond recognition and DNA tests will be conducted to identify the remains before the bodies are handed over to the families, wattoo also said. An employee at Daewoo’s Lahore office confirmed to reuters that its bus was involved in the incident, and that the driver was among the dead. Taking notice of the incident, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the chief minister, has sought a report from Aamir Khattak, commissioner of Multan Division. According to a statement issued by Elahi’s office, all aspects of the incident should be investigated and those re-
ISLAMABAD staff report
sponsible identified. Expressing grief over the lives lost, Elahi also extended his condolences to the bereaved families and directed authorities to ensure the best possible medical treatment was provided to the injured. Separately, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered his condolences in a statement and asked health authorities to provide the best possible treatment to the injured. EIGHT DIE, 38 INJURED: Meanwhile, eight persons died and 38 other including the driver and cleaner sustained multiple injuries when a Karachi-bound passenger coach, on the way from Swat, overturned near rohri on National Highway and plunged into a ditch.
The federal cabinet on Tuesday approved putting names of 10 individuals including former prime minister Imran Khan’s adviser on accountability and interior Shahzad Akbar on the Exit Control List (ECL). The cabinet also endorsed removing names of 22 individuals from the no-fly list and grant permission to three individuals to go abroad one-time only. The cabinet took the decision following recommendations of the Interior Ministry. It is to be recalled that on April 17, Shahzad Akbar left for Dubai after his name was removed from the FIA’s ‘stop list’ on the order of the Islamabad High Court (IHC). According to sources, Akbar departed via Islamabad International Airport for Dubai on an international airline at 3:30am, from where he was expected to depart for the United Kingdom. On April 12, IHC suspended the FIA’s notification of a flight ban on former PM aides Shahbaz Gill and Mirza Shahzad Akbar. The two PTI leaders had approached the court, requesting it to lift the ban. The cabinet also approved listing the name of Ziaul Mustafa Naseem on the ECL. Both names were recommended by NAB to be included in the ECL. The meeting of the federal cabinet was chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at PM House in Islamabad which discussed the current political situation in the country and other matters of importance, the PM Office said. The cabinet was given a detailed briefing by the Ministry of Climate Change on the impact of climate change in the country. Pakistan had been included among the top eight worst climate-affected countries of the world during the last ten years which is a matter of grave concern whereas it had added only just 1 per cent of emissions when compared with the rest of the world’s emissions, aggravating the global warming impacts, it was told. The climate changes had also badly affected the natural resources of Pakistan and the increase in population was one of the main reasons, it added. It was underlined that there was a dire need for immediate implementation of the “Mitigation and Adaptation” mechanism in this regard.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 05
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
28 perish in two deadly road crashes LAHORE/MULTAN/SWAT
Federal cabinet puts Shahzad Akbar, 10 others on ‘no fly-list’
Govt to lasso all culprits involved in trolling against copter crash ISLAMABAD staff report
The federal government has decided to arrest all those persons involved in propaganda campaign against Lasbela helicopter crash on social media. According to sources and reports, the government has decided to arrest all the people behind the negative propaganda against Lasbela helicopter crash on social media. Sources said that the people who led the campaign will be arrested after investigating the individuals involved in the propaganda. They added that the investigations have shown that Indian accounts were also involved in the social media campaign. They added that a campaign was launched against the Pakistan Army by the workers of a political party and Indian social media accounts actively
participated in it. The investigations show that at least 17 Indian accounts were linked to the campaign. Later, the government tasked the FIA with a probe into the malicious social media campaign. Last week, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cyber Crime wing registered a case and launched an investigation into the malicious social media propaganda following the martyrdom of army officers in the Balochistan helicopter crash. A joint investigation team headed by Additional Director General Cybercrimes Muhammad Jafar is carrying out the probe. The investigation team includes Director Operations waqar Chauhan, Additional Director Ayaz, and Assistant Director Imran Haider. The development came after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif characterised
the campaign as “horrifying”. “The social media campaign belittling and ridiculing the sacrifices of our martyrs was horrifying,” he wrote in a message on Twitter. The prime minister attributed such vitriol to “self-righteous political narratives”. “They poison the minds of the youth and weaponise hate speech. which way are we headed?” he asked. THE HElIcoPTER cRASH: A Pakistan Army helicopter had gone missing on August 1 in Balochistan during flood relief efforts and was reported crashed by the ISPr the following day. It was found near Musa Goth in the Lasbela district. Six military personnel were martyred. The military chopper had gone missing as it was en route from Quetta to Karachi at around 5:30pm. The personnel in the chopper were overseeing flood relief efforts in the southwest of the country.