The weeks Top stories
• Extortionists using web-based phone: PMA—PMA President in Karachi and Chairman of the Doctors’ Joint Action Committee Dr Idrees Adhi disclosed on Friday that extortionists were using “web-based telephone” to remain untraceable.
“Police have no device to trace these calls,” he said. “Only the ISI has the capability to do so, but then it makes police dependent on the ISI,” he said.
• Body proposed to check use of banned fishing nets—The 14th meeting of the National Maritime Affairs Coordination Committee (NMACC) held in Islamabad on January 5 suggested forming a committee comprising representatives of the Maritime Security Agency (MSA), and the Sindh and Balochistan governments to look into the issue of illegal nets being used and suggest ways to address it.
The meeting said there had been widespread complaints against such nets which were environmentally destructive, according to sources privy to this development and documents obtained by The News on Tuesday.
• 224 juvenile offenders languishing in Sindh jails: Sparc—As many as 224 juvenile offenders were languishing in prisons across Sindh by the end of December 2010, said a report released by a child rights NGO, Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc), on Friday.
The number of juvenile offenders decreased in the province last year, as in 2009 there were 292 juvenile offenders. By the end of 2010, out of the total juvenile prisoners, around 212 were facing trials. The report said that the majority of the juveniles were detained in the Youthful Offenders Industrial School (YOIS) in Karachi.
• Govt springs into action after WHO warning—The city district administration has directed health, revenue, education and community development officials to suspend all their routine activities from January 29 and concentrate on making the 111th anti-polio campaign successful.
This and other related directives came on Thursday after the World Heath Organisation (WHO) warned that it would wrap up its operations, reduce aid and slap a ban on travelling abroad on families with children under the age of five in case of detection of any further polio case.
• SHC dismisses shipping carriers’ tax exemption plea—The Sindh High Court dismissed appeals of shipping carriers seeking tax avoidance under the French and Danish double taxation agreements and held that these carriers were liable to pay the freight tax in Pakistan.
The court, however, allowed the cases of Japanese shipping carriers, observing that such carriers freight charges were not taxable in Pakistan on account of the Pakistan-Japan double taxation treaty.
The order came on 785 reference applications filed by Japan NYK lines, CMAGGM lines, Mearsk lines and others who assailed the orders of an Income Tax appellate Tribunal that declared that freight receipts in respect of cargo embarked outside Pakistan was taxable in Pakistan.
• Gharibabad encroachments being removed, SHC told—The Sindh High Court directed the provincial law officer to hand over 2,739 square-yards of land worth over Rs205 million in Gharibabad area within a day to its owner who had been engaged in litigation for getting the possession of the land since 1973.
The direction was once again issued by the court on the petition of Syed Ahmed Hashmi, who had purchased the 2,739-square-yard plot near the Gharibabad furniture market from the settlement department through an auction on July 7, 1971.
• Retired judge under pressure over free legal service—The free legal aid service being provided to underprivileged prisoners under the supervision of Nasir Aslam Zahid is under attack as the retired justice claims that the Karachi Bar Association has issued him a notice raising objections to the service.
“In a notice dated January 8, the KBA stated that I have no right to run this service and that I should seek permission from the Bar Council, the statutory organization, for providing free legal aid. Whereas in my humble opinion, I feel that no such permission is required.”
• City-bound arms for militants seized, two killed—Two people, including a suspected arms smuggler and a police informer, were killed early on Wednesday morning in an encounter in the Sohrab Goth area where law enforcers seized arms being smuggled into Karachi for militant groups from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Personnel of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) also recovered a large quantity of drugs after the encounter. An arms smuggler was also arrested.
• Blasts create fear among mourners—Last year’s Ashura and Chehlum blasts were still haunting the city on Tuesday when news of the Lahore suicide attack and then a blast in Karachi’s Malir area created fear among mourners of the Chehlum of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) and law enforcers on duty along the procession.
However, the mourners observed the Chehlum of Hazrat Imam Hussain and his 72 companions with religious solemnity amid tight security.
As the procession was heading along its traditional routes, news of a bomb blast near Data Darbar, Lahore, and later another blast in the Malir area of Karachi spread like a wild fire, which created fear among the faithful.
• Sacked KESC workers reinstated—In a major breakthrough on Sunday night, the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) agreed to reinstate over 4,000 employees who were sacked a few days ago in a downsizing drive.
Water and Power Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf told a press conference after talks with the KESC management at the Governor’s House that the sacked workers could resume duty from today (Monday).
• Floods revive fishing at Manchar Lake—The devastating floods of 2010 wreaked havoc, displaced thousands and caused mass destruction in the province of Sindh. However, for the fishing community of the Manchar Lake, they proved to be a blessing in disguise. The supply of fresh water pumped into the Manchar Lake increased significantly after the floods, bringing in fresh water and a wide variety of fish, some of which were never seen before in these waters. The fishermen belonging to the area have taken full advantage of this by reestablishing fishing villages.Read More ...
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