The decision to this effect was taken during the ECC meeting chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad.
Dar said the government has allowed the special price relaxation despite already dropping prices owing to low level of inflation.
Finance Division would provide upfront payment of Rs 1 billion to the Utility Stores Corporation to buy the items before Ramazan. These include flour, sugar, ghee/oil, pulses, baisen, dates, basmati rice, sella rice, broken rice, squashes and syrups, black tea, milk and spices.
The ECC allowed levy of 2% regulatory duty on petroleum crude oil, motor spirit oil and furnace oil.
Approval was also accorded for imposition of 2.5 % regulatory duty on high speed diesel.
The meeting also gave approval for the balance amount of 35.96 million dikkar for induction of 15 aircrafts on dry lease in the PIA fleet.
According to ARY News bureau chief in Islamabad Sabir Shakir, the UK Police team has landed in Pakistan and expected to grill three suspects in Imran Farooq murder case – Moazzam Ali, Mohsin and Kashif.
Mohsin and Kashif – suspects in Imran Farooq murder case.
Besides, the team will also record statement of Saulat Mirza who made startling revelations against MQM chief Altaf Hussain. Mirza had alleged that he used to get directions from London-based chief for different tasks.
Imran Farooq, 50, a founding member of the MQM, was stabbed and beaten to death in Edgware, northwest London, as he returned home from work on September 16, 2010.
The two men UK police want to trace are both Pakistani nationals who left Britain in the hours after the murder.
The two men police want to trace are both Pakistani nationals who left Britain in the hours after the murder. At that time in a statement, Scotland Yard police said they are looking for 29-year-old Mohsin Ali Syed, who was in Britain from February 2010.
They also want to speak to Muhammad Kashif Khan Kamran, 34, who was in Britain from early September 2010.
Imran Farooq claimed asylum in Britain in 1999. He had twice been elected as a lawmaker in Pakistan but went into hiding in 1992 when the government ordered a military crackdown against MQM activists in Karachi.
According to details, Moazzam’s wife Saida Bano in her petition took the stance that some media reports suggest shifting of her husband outside Karachi and pleaded to the court to prevent the transfer of her husband.
In response, the court said a petition against Moazzam’s arrest is already pending, hence another plea in this regard is not admissible.
Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) had arrested Moazzam Ali a few days ago from Azizabad area of Karachi.
The suspect is currently on 90 days remand over his alleged role in London killing of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Imran Farooq, back in 2010.
On April 13, Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had confirmed that security officials have arrested the ‘prime suspect’ of Imran Farooq’s murder. The minister went on to say that the arrest will help resolving the case.
According to details, a joint investigation team (JIT) questioned Mirza at Machh prison on Wednesday.
Our correspondent Kamil Arif told that the team held three different sessions with the condemned inmate.
“Officials inquired Mirza about his earlier recorded statement and that was he pressurized to speak all that, to which the convict replied that he owns the statement and is firm on the stance he took,” Arif told citing sources.
The convict made further revelations with respect to target killing and named some more people.
Saulat Mirza reportedly proposed the officials to help resolve some cases under investigation by the law enforcement agencies (LEAs).
The process of interviewing the prisoner stopped after the third session, which will recommence tomorrow.
ARY News correspondent Abdullah Magsi exclusively reported from outside the Machh prison that the JIT officials questioned Saulat Mirza for around six hours, while the entire process was also recorded.
He added that the officials are analyzing Mirza’s statement from different angles, while the process of questioning will again start tomorrow.
The team after questioning the inmate returned to Quetta.
Earlier in the morning, the JIT headed by DIG Ameer Sheikh had arrived at the Machh prison to interview the condemned prisoner with stern security measures in place.
ARY News Islamabad bureau chief, Sabir Shakir told that the meeting between Philip Barton and Chaudhry Nisar took place at the Punjab House, Islamabad.
During the meeting, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan provided the British HC with the video statements of Babar Chughtai and Moazzam Ali.
He also handed over the telephonic record of Babar Chughtai’s conversation with a senior MQM leader in London, Moazzam Ali and Hammad Siddiqui.
ARY News anchorperson, Amir Ghouri told that Philip Barton, immediately after his meeting with Nisar, telephoned a ‘top UK official’ and informed him about the developments in money laundering and Imran Farooq murder cases.
He added that the British HC conveyed home all the details of his meeting with Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.
Ghouri told that Pakistan has conveyed to the British authorities that it has provided all the assistance required in the cases and now it rests up to British law to take its due course.
He added that British government had time and again complained of non-cooperation by the former PPP-led Pakistani government regarding Imran Farooq murder case.
On a typical Sunday afternoon when denizens of Karachi take to the seaside to cool off their heels and seek respite from the unrelenting summer heat, 12 year old Sajid Khan pounces at the opportunity to score a big payday. Clad in a blue kurta shalwar, camera slung around his shoulders, he goes about hounding potential customers, in hopes that they would oblige him to take a snap of theirs and pay him twenty rupees for it. Just like every other child his age, Sajid has aspirations, expectations and envisions a life for himself which is far better than the one he is living. Disclosing the fact that he used to work on a weekly basis every Sunday, the plump boy disclosed how much he earned.
Sajid Khan, the child photographer
“For every photograph that I take, I charge people Rs.20 for it,” Sajid explained. “On weekdays, I make around 100 bucks but on Sundays, I can earn up to Rs.400, as people in huge numbers gather here.”
Sajid aspires to learn and become an educated man one day so that taking photographs won’t be his forte. Yet financial constraints have forced his hand to abandon any educational ambitions he might harbor.
Another tender aged boy (12 precisely), sat on a dilapidated structure made of stone blocks and cardboard cuttings. Whilst others were busy in the usual fun and frolic, Abid’s unwavering attention was towards his stock of corn. Perched atop a cardboard box, the lad was immersed in cooking a corn for his customer. After pocketing a mere rupees 30 for his corn, Abid sat patiently idle, waiting for his next customer.
Abid busy selling corn to customers
The fact that adolescents like Abid and Sajid are left to fend off for themselves (and their families) is deplorable, insensitive and appalling to say the least.
Abid’s ‘shop’; composed on cardboard cutouts and blocks of stone
With minimal assistance and maximum neglect, the government has failed to provide financial relief to countless children across the country. As a result, these unfortunate souls have to barter education for labor from an early age and earn scraps for arduous tasks. According to research facts obtained by the Federal Bureau of Statistics, there are 40 million children in Pakistan. Out of these, 8-10 million are engaged in child labor. According to SPARC, more than 1.1 million child laborers are found in KPK alone. Almost 50% of these children drop out of primary schools in order to find work. Also, 50% of children who work in KPK live with parents who are illiterate, which ultimately leads to child labor.
Child labor is not the only dismal sight when one takes a trip to Karachi’s seaside. Absence of hygiene, lack of supervision and an abundance of littering dominate the landscape.
A view of the littered beach
People throng a boat
Instead of providing a proper place of shelter or sanitary facilities where people can cleanse themselves, the public resorts to washing their feet in the open.
A woman washes her feet
Cleaning the vessel with murky water
Arguably the metropolitan city’s crown jewel, the seaside has much to offer Karachiites. It has everyone flocking to it in huge numbers whenever the heat turns up a notch. The vast expanse of sea and sand enthralls citizens a great deal, who have grown weary and tired of hazards such as crime and terrorism.
People cooling their heels off in the ocean
Due to inadequate facilities combined with the element of inept management, people have been forced to set up their own small business ventures. One such activity is conducted by two brothers Shabbir and Bilawal.
Tending to shoes, for a living
Shabbir detailed a sorrowful story of how his father became paralyzed and as a result, bedridden. The responsibility of earning bread and butter fell on his frail shoulders. As he talked, his younger brother Bilawal ran to and fro to provide fresh water to customers, who wanted to wash their feet. For this endeavor, he charged a nominal fee of 10 rupees. Whilst people enjoy a dip in the ocean, Shabbir, 12, watches over their footwear. Placed inside wooden crates, shoes and slippers are given back to their rightful owners once the price has been paid for their safekeeping; 20 rupees.
At a safe distance from the sea, these shoes remain unsullied
Shabbir and Bilawal expressed their longing to seek education and become medical doctors one day. When asked about their favorite cricketer, both brothers revealed they were avid fans of Pakistani swashbuckling all-rounder Shahid Afridi.
The government of the day should enact concrete measures to uplift the living standards of these poor souls. Providing these child laborers with an adequate amount of education and their parents with employment opportunities will ensure a more skilled labor. Via TVCs, print ads and awareness campaigns, NGOs and the government should join hands in promoting hygiene at seaside. If these vendors are provided with properly structured shops to sell their wares and merchandise, their lives would become more convenient.
The whole world places importance and emphasis on its labor. For now there remains little to no hope for Sajid, Abid, Shabbir and Bilawal who must toil daily or weekly for hours on end and extract measly pays. Despite all the financial burdens and constraints, these children still manage to smile and look to the future for hope.
According to details, the meeting took place in Islamabad during which the British diplomat held discussion with the interior minister relating to Imran Farooq murder case.
Chaudhry Nisar also showed the video statement of prime suspect Moazzam Ali in the case to Mr Barton.
Both the statesmen also discussed the statement of the prime suspect and its implications in the case.
During the meeting, the British HC assured Nisar that once convicted the accused will be handed stern punishment.
Here it is pertinent to note that yesterday Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had announced the arrest of Moazzam Ali, whom the law enforcers believe to be the central character of the case.
He had facilitated the two other suspected hitmen in travelling to UK on student visas and getting enrolled in courses there.
The area is plagued by violence, with separatists seeking greater control over the province’s rich oil, gas and mineral resources and gunmen have previously targeted outsiders seen as settlers.
“Armed gunmen stormed the camp of labourers in Gokh Don area of Baluchistan late Friday night and killed 20 labourers,” senior police official Tariq Khilji told AFP.
He said those killed were all from outside the province — 16 of them from Punjab and four from Sindh province.
The incident, which occurred around 1,050 kilometres (650 miles) southwest of Quetta, was confirmed by Akbar Hussain Durrani, a senior administration official in the province.
“The labourers were working on construction of a small local bridge,” he said.
Hussain said some of the labourers reported being woken from their sleep by the sound of gunshots and screams.
“They had lined them up and shot them at point blank range after identifying their identity,” he said.
Hussain said paramilitary troops were guarding the labourers but fled when confronted by a large number of armed attackers.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the incident but Hussain said insurgents have attacked non-Baluch settlers in the area in the past.
Law enforcement agencies have launched the search operation for the arrest of terrorists involved in the heinous killing.
CM Balochistan
Chief Minister of Balochistan, Dr. Abdul Malik has strongly condemned the killing and asked authorities to arrange helicopter to shift dead bodies of the workers to their home town.
Dr. Malik has also announced to hand Rs. 1 million each to the survivors of deceased and Rs. 50,000 each to those who got injured.
Furthermore, CM Balochistan will visit Turbat to chair high level meeting regarding the incident occurred.
Condemnation
Prime Minister Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif has strongly denounced the killing of twenty labourers.
In a statement, the Prime Minister has expressed deep grief and sorrow over the incident. He has sought report of the incident.
PM Nawaz has reaffirmed the government’s resolve to eliminate terrorism from the country.
Federal Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan contacted CM Balochistan Dr. Abdul Malik, and condemned the brutal killing of construction workers.
Chief of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Altaf Hussain while denouncing the incident demanded immediate arrest of terrorists.
In a statement, Altaf Hussain said those who shed the blood of innocent people have no religion adding that they neither deserve to be called a Muslim nor human.
Mawra Hocaine must be over the moon at the moment.
Her star crush Ranbir Kapoor recorded and released an exclusive, brief video message for Urwa Hocane’s sister. According to reports, Mawra is good friends with Bollywood director Imtiaz Ali and used that very friendship to persuade Ranbir into recording an exclusive message for her. This is what the Kapoor scion told his Pakistani fan in the video:-
“Hi Mawra, this is Ranbir here. You are extremely beautiful, extremely talented. I hope to see you sometime soon.”
The Pakistani actress wasted no time in posting a message online with the video and typed,”I hope to see you soon as well.”
Mawra Hocane is in India these days and sources had disclosed earlier that she was reading scripts to possibly choose a Bollywood film to work in. Mawra has starred in prolific Pakistani dramas such as Ahista Ahista and Main Bushra. Imtiaz Ali, with whom Mawra is goof friends with as mentioned above, worked with Ranbir Kapoor in the critically acclaimed 2011 film Rockstar. Keeping in mind Mawra’s strong relations with the director and her now recent contact via social media with Ranbir Kapoor, the possibility of both of them starring together in a movie cannot be denied!
Imtiaz Ali has also directed prolific movies such as Highway, Love Aj Kal, Jab We Met and Black Friday. If Mawra makes it into one of his movies, the lass could be headed towards a rising career in B-town!
