Rental power case: SC orders arrest of PM Ashraf

The Supreme Court ordered the arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in the Rental Power Plants case on Monday,

The court also ordered all other respondents in the case to be arrested, and gave 24 hours deadline to the authorities to implement the orders.

The court maintained that National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will be responsible if any of the respondents manage to escape.

The Supreme Court’s order came at a time when Minhajul Quran International (MQI) chief Tahirul Qadri was leading a long march in Islamabad to demand electoral reforms.

Participants of the march were seen celebrating while chanting “Long Live Supreme Court” when Qadri mentioned the court’s decision during his speech.

The Karachi Stock market also crashed immediately after the court’s order, as the 100-index fell by 450 points.

PM Ashraf was given the title of Raja Rental after he was accused of receiving kickbacks in the rental power projects. He was also accused of buying property in London from money earned through corruption in various scams.

He has been defending himself in the Supreme Court.

Levies refuse to perform duty in FR Peshawar

The personnel of Levies Force have refused to perform duty in Frontier Region of Peshawar till fulfillment of their demands regarding provision of arms and compensation to the families of their killed colleagues.

A reliable source in the force, pleading anonymity, told Dawn on Monday that 22 Levies men were killed by Taliban but government did not take any action in that regard.

Criticising the government, he said that none of the senior officials bothered to participate in the funeral prayers of the killed Levies personnel nor offered fateha for them at their homes.

“The administration had announced to compensate the affected families. We are still waiting for the compensation,” the source said and added that even sufficient arms and ammunition were not provided to Levies personnel.

He said that out of 230 Levies personnel in the area only 45 had been given official weapons while the rest of them were using their personal arms against militants. He said that it was impossible for them to perform duty in such condition any longer.

An elder of Hassankhel area said that the administration was forcing people to form anti-Taliban lashkar but they were not ready to do so. “We have already suffered a lot and are unable to take more risks,” he said, adding that government was not supporting the people and was using them for its own purpose.

Swabi jirga complains of insecurity

 Members of Turlandi jirga on Monday complained of the growing lawlessness in Razaar tehsil and urged law-enforcement agencies to do their duty diligently for the safety of public life and property. The complaint was conveyed to superintendent of police Abdul Rashid by jirga member Mumtaz Khan, Swabi District Bar Association president Arshad Khan and others during a meeting here.

Mr Mumtaz said law and order situation in Razaar tehsil had worsened over the last two months with a sharp increase in kidnappings for ransom, armed robberies and burglaries. He said around 12 families were looted at home during the said period causing a sense of insecurity among the people.

The jirga member said law-enforcement agencies should take tangible steps for controlling crime. Mr Arshad said police had arrested nine people for looting houses and they were being quizzed for a clampdown on crime.

He said better cooperation and coordination between the people and police could help contain criminals.

The SP told visitors that police would dealt criminals with an iron hand and would leave no stone unturned for restoring peace in the district.

Low-grade officers continue as deputy commissioners in KP

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has opted to continue with low-grade officers as deputy commissioners in several districts in clear violation of its notified official rules and announced decisions, according to officials.

The provincial cabinet had decided on Dec 12 last that the re-designated office of deputy commissioner would be a BPS-19 post, allowing the provision of additional deputy commissioner in BPS-18 in each district, according to an official document available with Dawn.

The cabinet’s decision stands violated as, according to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Establishment and Administration department’s notification dated Dec 27 last, in the case of 16 districts junior officers, who were notified as deputy commissioners.

The BPS-18 officers, who were performing as district coordination officers under the previous local government system, have been retained as deputy commissioners following the introduction of the new local government system that took effect on Jan 1, 2013.

On Dec 27 last, the Establishment and Administration department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, had notified the integration of ‘the functions of erstwhile district coordination officer and district officer (revenue & estate) in the deputy commissioner office in all districts.’

The notification, according to an official source, was based on the provincial cabinet’s decision on Dec 12, 2012 as a result of which the office of the administrative head of each district was downgraded from BPS-20 post to BPS-19 under the new local government system.

The move, said official sources, was necessitated because of the lack of interest on the part of BPS-20 officers, who seldom agreed to take the assignment of DCO under the previous local government system introduced in Aug 2001.

“It was one of major reasons for the failure and debacle of the previous local government system as the senior district management group officers of BPS-20 and above did not take assignments as DCOs, leaving the system at the mercy of junior officers,” said an official.

However, the new local government system, too, faces the same challenge as the provincial government does not seem to have competent senior officers to perform as deputy commissioners.

Physiotherapy centre in Peshawar planned

A South Korean hospital will build a physiotherapy centre in Peshawar for rehabilitation of people affected in natural and manmade disasters, said Pohang SM Hospital director Dr Kim Jin Eui in a meeting with vice-chancellor of the University of Peshawar, Prof. Qibla Ayaz.
The hospital will also donate sports therapy machine and laboratory equipment needed for experiments to the university’s biotechnology, pharmacy and chemistry departments.
Accompanied by a four-member delegation, Dr Kim called on Prof. Ayaz, according to a UoP press release. Dr Kim said that South Korea would provide the equipment in compliance with the MoU signed recently between the two institutes. The sports therapy machine would take care of injuries of the university’s athletes, which in turn would lead to their enhanced performance.
The Pohang hospital would also provide free treatment to the university students and faculty members subject to its availability in the hospital and on the UoP recommendation, he added.
The hospital is planning to establish a physiotherapy centre with the consent of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government. Prof Ayaz thanked the Pohang institute and Korean government for pledging support to the university and people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that Korea was one of good destinations for research students of the UoP.

‘Qualified’ doctors eye prized posts in management cadre

The promotion of doctors in management cadre has caused unrest among their colleagues working on general cadre posts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department, sources say.

The government in 2008 introduced management cadre in the health department and 325 administrative posts were identified to ensure better administrative and financial management and improve patients’ care.

The posts were created on the insistence of about 300 doctors, who had done diploma in master in public health (MPH) but were denied administrative posts in the province.

The introduction of management cadre was aimed at taking benefits from the experience and skills of qualified doctors but their colleagues, who had already been working on administrative posts occupied those positions, sources said.

They claimed that the recent promotion of about 20 management cadre doctors to basic pay scale (BPS) 19 and 20 by the health department was a violation of law as the a case was in the court

The government, according to National Health Policy, 2001 had designated 25 posts in BPS-20, 128 in BPS-19, 71 in BPS-18 and 101 in BPS-17 (101) to be filled by the doctors having MPH.

However, the doctors, who had already been working on management cadre posts such as directors, district health officers, medical superintendents, deputy medical superintendents, agency surgeons and programme managers without having had MPH, got admission in private institutes and received diplomas to be able to retain their prized posts.

Regional languages authority set up

The provincial government has approved establishment of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Authority for Promotion of Regional Languages.

A statement issued here on Monday said that setting up of the authority was approved by Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti. It said that provincial assembly had already approved an Act regarding setting up the authority for promotion of regional languages.

“An amount of Rs18100 million has been approved for the authority during financial year 2011-12 while the financial implications on the approved posts are Rs2,712,752,” it added. According to the statement, 14 posts were also approved for making the authority operational.

The posts include one each of executive director (BPS-19), deputy director (BPS-18), account officer (BPS-17), personal assistant to executive director (BPS-16), watchman and sweeper while two posts each of assistant (BPS-14), computer operator (BPS-12), driver (BPS-4) and naib qasid (BPS-1).

Charsadda by-election today

Polling for by-elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s constituency PK-22 Charsadda VI will be held today (Tuesday) in which around 105,666 voters would exercise their right to vote.

The voters include 63,816 male and 41,850 female voters. Polling would start at 8:00am and end at 5:00pm.

The provincial assembly seat had fallen vacant after the death of Mohammad Ali Khan, a leader of Qaumi Watan Party. Three candidates, including Babar Ali Khan, Raz Mohammad Durrani and Gul Yousaf, are in the run for the seat.

According to the provincial election commissioner, they have adopted measures for conducting free and impartial election. He said that all the officials involved in the election process had been directed to abide by the rules.

There would be a local holiday in the constituency today. A total of 85 polling stations, including 36 for women voters, are being set up for the polls.

India-Pakistan ping-pong

In times of tension, the general approach is to think of strategies to make the “other side” feel the pinch. If you are smarting from a reverse, soldiers think of getting even.

We, who inhabit India and Pakistan, are more than conversant with such scenarios. They have been part and parcel of our lives since the emergence of two independent nations in 1947.

In the last week, India and Pakistan have exchanged fire across the Line of Control (LoC), with Delhi asserting that two of its soldiers were killed and their bodies mutilated on January 8, a charge that Islamabad has denied.

On January 7, Indian Deputy High Commissioner Gopal Baglay was called to the Pakistan Foreign Office, where he was told of an unprovoked attack by Indian troops in the Hajipir sector on January 6.

Again, on January 11, the Pakistani side stated that one soldier was killed in unprovoked Indian firing.  This, and other incidents of firing, went against the spirit of the India-Pakistan peace process, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani told Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal.

On January 12, Indian air chief N.A.K. Browne said Delhi might have to look at other options in the wake of Pakistani violations of the LoC.

Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, however, said in an interview on the same day: “We think this will pass. We think we have enough agreements in place between the Pakistanis and ourselves to counter these issues … the mutilation and the beheading that took place is tragic …”

Earlier, Pakistani Foreign Minister ruled out a Pakistani hand in the killing of two Indian soldiers on January 8 and offered a third-party inquiry into the incident.

Six security personnel killed in Khyber tribal region

Militant attacks on  Arjali and three other check posts in Shalobar area of Khyber tribal regions Bara Tehsil claimed the lives of six security personnel and injured 28 others on Tuesday.
Security sources told Dawn.com that four  FC and two Khasadar personnel died during the night-long skirmishes.
The militants attacked with heavy weapons causing major structural damage to one of the check posts.
The number of militant attackers and their casualties figures could not be confirmed till the filing of this report.
The attack took place at check posts re-established recently in the area, dominated by Mangal Bagh’s