ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (APP):Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Justice Javed Iqbal has ordered inquiry against Minister for Interprovincial Coordination Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada and Director General Sports Board (PSB) Akhtar Ganjeera to probe allegations of corruption and misuse of authority as per report.
Taking notice of the alleged corruption in PSB, Chairman NAB had directed DG NAB Rawalpindi to inquire alleged corruption in various departments of Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and funds provided to different Sports Federations especially the non transparent grant of funds to Narowal Sports City, Liaquat Gymnasium etc would be probed.
Besides investigating the foreign tours of Ministers, Secretaries, Director General Pakistan Sports Board and their family members on federation’s expenses and causing losses to national exchequer by lavish expenses.
DG NAB Rawalpindi has been directed to also probe illegal appointments made in PSB, dilapidated condition of country’s different stadiums despite release of funds, devouring of funds allocated for maintenance of stadiums and nonexistent training camps for players instead of arranging practical training campus of players and alleged corruption in release of funds in issuing sports equipments and booking of stadiums and Liaquat Gymnasium.
Chairman NAB also directed DG NAB Quetta to probe against Balochistan MPA Ms Aneeta Irfan for misuse of authority. The MPA is accused of allotting plots of Christian Welfare Housing Authority Bashirabad Quetta to non deserving Christians. The chairman ordered NAB DG to submit report of the alleged corruption in accordance with law.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (APP):Federal Minister for Climate Change, Mushahidullah Khan Thursday said that the government was paying attention on the issue of climate change in the country.
Speaking in the Senate Session, the minister said the prim minister had also participated in the international conference on climate change and talked about the issue.
He said that emission of gases in Pakistan had been increased during last two decades due to initiated of the energy and communication projects.
Pakistan, he said had intention to control the emission of gases but due to some technical reasons and construction work on development projects, it was impossible at the moment.
National Policy for Climate Change had been formulated and a Climate Change Council had also been constituted which would be headed by the prime Mmnister, he informed the upper house.
The government had initiated programs for the safety of the forests and atmosphere friendly projects in agriculture sector, he added.
The Minister urged the provinces to follow the National Policy on Climate Change and the projects of Green Pakistan.
He also stressed the media to play its vital role for awareness among the people about climate changes and their affects.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (APP):Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal Thursday chaired the 62nd meeting of the National Logistic Board (NLB) and reviewed administrative and financial matters of the organization.
Officer Incharge of NLC Lieutenant General Javed Mahmood Bukhari and Director General NLC Major General Mushtaq Ahmed Faisal briefed the participants about the operational, administrative and financial matters of the Organization with special reference to the accomplished tasks and future development plans of NLC.
The board approved the Audited Financial Statements of NLC for Financial Year 2016/17 and appointment of external auditor for Financial Year 2017/18.
The NLB discussed proposal for establishment of international standard rest areas astride National Highways with the brand name of Drivers Emergency & Rest Area (DERA) as envisaged in the National Trucking Policy.
The proposed DERAs will act as multipurpose parking and resting facilities at locations alongside N – 5 to serve as logistical facilitation point by having requisite support infrastructure.
The project will subsequently be extended to Indus Highway, KKH, Quetta–Taftan Road and CPEC Western Route. The Board discussed the proposed business model of project and granted approval for execution of the project.
The NLC management briefed the board about the voluntary projects undertaken by NLC for the welfare of community under the Corporate Social Responsibility domain and approved framework for conduct of CSR programmes by NLC encompassing budget allocation, organizational structures for monitoring, system of feedback and selection of priority areas like free education, water supply schemes, health facilities and provision of logistics support to the calamity hit areas.
Establishment of Dry Port at Gujranwala was also discussed by NLB. The proposed Dry Port will be set up under Joint Venture (JV) arrangement between NLC and Gujranwala Impex Terminal Services (GITSL) – a company of Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce & Industries (GCCI). The Board accorded principle approval to the proposal.
Ahsan Iqbal appreciated the performance of NLC and its valuable contributions in the nation building process.
Giving policy guidelines to NLC, he said like every progressive institution, NLC should keep pace with emerging technologies and innovative concepts in its core business operations.
He said professionalism, hard work, strict financial discipline and adherence to the best practices is the key to sustained growth and hoped that NLC would continue to play its due role as leading logistics organization of the country.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (APP):Former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Thursday said the decision to deprive him of the presidentship of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was violation of the people’s mandate and trust.
“This decision was not unpredictable for me. The judicial verdicts are against the expectations of the masses, who have trust in me and my party,” he said this while talking to media persons here outside the accountability court.
He said earlier powers of executive were taken away from him and now he was deprived of the right to lead the party. Had there been any constitutional provision he would also be deprived of his name ‘Nawaz Sharif’, he added.
Nawaz Sharif there was no law under which he was disqualified as prime minister after being declared ‘guilty’ of not taking salary from his son under `Iqama’. Now his disqualification from politics forever was being considered, he added.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (APP):Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Thursday decided to treat Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) candidates for the Senate elections as independent contenders in the wake of Supreme Court judgment regarding the party’s leadership.
In the post-judgment scenario, the commission deliberated upon four option for the smooth and timely election of the Senate and bye elections, said an ECP order.
Option ‘a’ was to postpone the forthcoming election of the Senate and bye election for PP-30 Sargodha-III and PS-7 Ghotki-III, while in option ‘b) the commission discussed that the election be held on time to the exclusion of candidates nominated by PML-N, in ‘c’ it deliberated on extension of time to the candidates affected as a result of order of the court to produce fresh party affiliation certificates, while in ‘d’ it discussed to treat the candidates affected as a result of the order as independent candidates as to hold election on time.
After having gone thorough the preceding options and not finding them feasible, the commission decided to go for option (d) to consider and treat the affected candidates as independent candidates in order to conduct the election on time and protect rights of all contesting candidates besdies providing them level playing.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (APP):Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Media Affairs Dr Musadik Malik Thursday said Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) was a popular and biggest political party in country.
The PML-N government had launched number of welfare projects including China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with aimed to bring prosperity and uplift, he said talking to a private news channel.
He said judgment of the court could not affect the popularity of former Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.
Musadik Malik said the workers and supporters were disappointed on the decisions against Nawaz Sharif.
He said the PML-N had won bye-polls of Chakwal and Lodhra with thumping majority which reflected his party popularity and roots among the masses.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (APP):Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal Thursday said peace and development were linked and
Pakistan could not move ahead without political stability and continuity
of policies.
The minister was speaking at a seminar on “Disparities in Police System in Provinces and
Federal Capital” organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute
(SDPI) here.
The minister said the state of Pakistan had been facing an uncertain situation for the last
70 years.
He said in 2013, Newsweek declared that the most dangerous country of the world was not
Iraq but Pakistan.
In 2017, the situation changed and Pakistan was declared one of the fastest growing economies
in the world, he added.
The minister said, “better policing is needed for the implementation of development projects
and help people in positive contribution towards progress of the country.”
“Police hold the key to stability and development,” he remarked.
He said police should be citizen friendly and play a leadership role in the communities. “Police
should be source of strength for the weak.”
Ahsan Iqbal said police reforms could not be successful without taking all stakeholders on
board.
If there was uncertainty in the country, reforms could not be undertaken in any sphere of life,
he stressed.
One reason for lack of reforms in police was the differences between different
stakeholders, he noted.
He appreciated the sacrifices of personnel of armed forces, civil armed forces and
police and said the forces remained in the forefront in the battle against
terrorism.
He said a unit of anti-riot police was trained for Islamabad, adding a 500-member counter terrorism
police force was also raised.
The minister said role of individuals was important in creating effective institutions.
He said the government was in contact with foreign governments to arrange training sessions
for police.
He said a project was underway to set up 22 model police stations in Islamabad.
Ahsan said human systems were organic in nature and change did not come at once but with
sustained efforts spread over years.
He said according to experiences of developed countries, change comes gradually with
constant training and change in old habits.
“If we want to reform, we give up our old habits and adopt new habits. It has to be a
collective effort.”
Executive Director SDPI, Dr Abid Suleri, Dr Shoaib Suddle, Lt Gen(R) Moinuddin Haider,
Humaira Masiuddin and others spoke on the occasion and highlighted different
aspects of police laws and reforms undertaken in the past.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (APP):Turkmenistan has completed construction of gas pipeline in its section under TAPI project, following which a groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled to be performed at the Turkmen border city of Serhetabat on Friday to take the pipeline to Afghanistan.

The grand inaugural ceremony would be preceded by a Steering Committee meeting of the project’s participating countries – Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (TAPI) – at Mary City in Turkmenistan.

Talking to APP, Managing Director Inter State Gas Systems (Pvt) Limited (ISGSL) Mobin Saulat, who is in Turkmenistan to attend bilateral and multilateral meetings on the TAPI project, called the event “historic and substantial positive turn in the pipeline’s history.”

Answering a question, he said the ISGSL, which is the project execution company in Pakistan, had initiated FEED (Front End Engineering Design) activities of the TAPI gas pipeline project’s Pakistan section in March, 2017.

“Since then the company has moved diligently towards TAPI gas pipeline’s practical implementation,” he said.

The TAPI gas pipeline, first envisaged in the 90’s had been lying in the back-burner for many years but saw revitalization in the present government’s tenure, which made it a key component of the government’s National Energy Policy to import gas.

The MD said the pipeline would substantially add cheap, reliable and environment friendly energy into Pakistan’s national pool and help in achieving socio economic progress in the region.

Highlighting importance of the project, Mobin Saulat said the pipeline would help increase the power generation capacity to meet the country’s future energy needs, create more job opportunities in backward areas along the pipeline route and further strengthen the national economy.

Under the project, a 56-inch diameter 1,680km pipeline, having capacity to flow 3.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) gas, would be laid from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and Pakistan up to Pak-India border, which is scheduled to complete in the year 2020.

Through the pipeline, funded by Asian Development Bank, Pakistan and India would be provided 1.325 bcfd gas each and Afghanistan would be getting the share of 0.5 bcfd gas.

Meanwhile, official sources told that in Pakistan, financial close of the TAPI gas pipeline was expected to be achieved this year, following which construction work would start on this multi-billion dollars project.

“The construction work on the project will start after the completion of technical studies and achieving the financial close, which expected to be completed during this year,” they said.

They said TAPI Pipeline Company Limited (TPCL), the project executing company, had been jointly formed by the four TAPI parties, which appointed the consultant to undertake the Pre-FID activities including the detailed survey of the entire route, environment impact assessment studies and Front End Engineering Design (FEED).

The sources informed that the procurement process for lines pipe, long lead items and appointment of Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor had been started. While, the company has appointed a legal counsel for rendering legal services on the agreements to be executed by the company, they added.