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Tuesday, 4 October, 2022 I 7 Rabi ul Awwal, 1444 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XIII No 96 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition
IMran wIll have to Face law on ‘cIpher conspIracy’, says pM shehbaz sharIF
says ‘Thief’ wanTs To sully The name of insTiTuTions in order To avoid his punishmenT
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ISLAMABAD
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Shahzad paRacha
rime minister shehbaz sharif hit out at former premier and pTi chairman imran Khan for his malicious campaign against the state institutions saying that the ‘thief’ wants to sully the name of institutions in order to avoid his punishment. in a statement issued on monday, pm shehbaz while dubbing imran as a conspirator stated that after creating a chaos among people, the latter wanted to create a confusion among institutions now. he denounced the former premier’s attempt regarding making changes in the contents of the cipher, adding that by doing so he played with the national se-
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pm refuses To inauguraTe ‘digiTal dashboard’ developed by niTb
assistance. as per the details, the premier during a live briefing on flood relief efforts argued what kind of dashboard has been developed by the niTb. “it is a joke … it is not a dashboard that is required,” well placed sources quoted the premier as telling the meeting. according to the sources, the premier expressed dissatisfaction over the dashboard and said a real-time monitoring panel of international standards should be ensure which would help better coordination among institutions and enhance the country’s credibility. pm also instructed the niTb officials to add more features like the weather alerts to make it a “world-class” platform containing all relevant information. “we should design a dashboard which the whole nation should be proud of,” pm shehbaz said. he exemplified a dashboard on dengue outbreak by the punjab government during his stint as chief minister, which he said, got international recognition as it had contained all the relevant information like hotspot areas and the provided facilities. The pm also pointed out the shortcomings in the design and called for further improvements to enable it to meet the nation’s needs and effectively reflect the coordinated efforts being made by the government for relief and rehabilitation of the flood-stricken people. pm sharif said the flood relief dashboard must contain all the relevant information about every item where the relief items like quilts and baby food were sent and where they came from. he said the government would provide all required support for the development of the dashboard which should not be a makeshift arrangement but rather a facility usable even for decades.
curity. he said imran would have to face the law. “Those who have played with the interests of the state, they will have to answer the law,” pm shehbaz reiterated emphasizing that everyone was equal before the law. “if someone is popular, it doesn’t mean he is above the law,” he added. he said imran’s audio leaks had unmasked the grave conspiracy he hatched against the interests of pakistan. pm refuses to inaugurate ‘digital dashboard’ developed by niTb meanwhile, prime minister shehbaz sharif also refused to inaugurate the ‘digital dashboard’ developed by national information Technology board (niTb) officials to ensure transparency in flood relief
Dar asks Miftah not to worry about IMF deal anymore ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
finance minister ishaq dar on monday said that he knew how to deal with the international monetary fund (imf) and no one had to worry about anything regarding it any more. “i have to handle the imf matters, so from now on, neither miftah nor anybody else has to worry about anything,” he said during an interview with journalist hamid mir aired on geo news. dar’s statement comes a day after ismail, in a tweet, termed the government’s decision to not increase the petroleum development levy (pdl) this month without the approval of the international monetary fund (imf) “reckless”. The pml-n government on september 30 announced a cut of around five per cent in the prices of all petroleum products for the next fortnight. The development came just three days after ismail had resigned as finance minister (sept 27) to make way for ishaq dar. during the interview today, dar said that ismail was a colleague but the two had different points of view as he advised the former finance minister not to worry about the imf. “i know how to do it as i have solutions and have been dealing with them for the last 25 years. “prime minister shehbaz sharif himself told me that during the united national general assembly (unga) session, where miftah was also present, he proposed imf officials freeze taxes to which they did not refuse,” he said, adding that amid the floods, people should not be burdened any further. dar also said that the “actual value of the pakistani rupee is less than 200 against the dollar” and vowed to bring it down. under the deal with the imf, the government had to gradually increase the pdl on petroleum products to a maximum of rs50 per litre to collect rs855 billion during the current fiscal year. The previous pTi government had committed a monthly pdl increase of rs5 on petrol and hsd until it reached rs50 in january for petrol and april for diesel. however, before the former prime minister ’s ouster, he reduced the pdl to zero on march 1. as the international prices went up, the pTi government not only reduced the petroleum prices by rs10 per litre but also froze them for the next four months. after coming to power in april, the pml-n-led coalition government refrained from increasing the prices immediately. however, since may 15, the government has been increasing the prices in line with the imf deal. as pakistan battled with the flood catastrophe, the government had requested the imf managing director for a threemonth freeze on the pdl and fuel cost on electricity.
Imran dodges disqualification in contempt of court case g
ihc accepTs former pm’s apology over warning of legal acTion To junior judge ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
The islamabad high court (ihc) accepted an apology tendered by imran Khan for warning a junior judge of legal action and closed the suo motu contempt of court notice it opened against the former prime minister in august. The high court had been expected to indict Khan, a move that could have led to his exclusion from politics for life if convicted. but, in the last week of september, he apologised and promised not to hurt the dignity of the judiciary, in a move aimed at avoiding his disqualification. a convicted politician is liable to be disqualified, for five years at least, under the laws. pakistan has seen disqualification on contempt charges before. in 2012, the supreme court disqualified yousaf raza gillani, then-prime minister, from office after finding him guilty of con-
tempt for refusing to comply with its order to reopen dormant fraud investigations against asif ali Zardari, president at the time. The charges against Khan are related to a speech in which he allegedly threatened the chief of islamabad police and the judge in august after shehbaz gill, his former chief of staff, was denied bail in a trumpedup sedition case. “he stated that he realised during the proceedings that he may have crossed a red line,” the court said. Khan had previously denied being threatening. in his remarks announcing the case being discharged, chief justice athar minallah said the court was “satisfied” with the “bona fide apology” and conduct of Khan. To concerns from additional attorney general amir rehman that Khan had not submitted an “unconditional apology” the judge directed for a written
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Tells unconvinced governmenT lawyer To submiT apprehensions in wriTing
submission, noting it would be incorporated in the final order, to be issued at a later point. The verbal apology on september 22 had come after two separate written replies that were rejected as “unsatisfactory” by the court. The court, which had been set to indict him at the hearing, had then directed him to submit a written affidavit and postponed the indictment proceedings until october 3. in his latest response, Khan had once again avoided an “unconditional apology,” but admitted he “might have crossed a red line while making a public speech.” assuring the court that he was willing to explain to the junior judge that neither he, nor his party, had sought any action other than “legal” against her, Khan had vowed to not repeat a similar offense in the future. he had also assured the court that he was willing to take any further steps that the court deemed necessary to avoid criminal proceedings.