ISLAMABAD: The scrutiny committee of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday started the investigations into PTI’s foreign funding case afresh after an initial report submitted by the panel on August 17 was rejected for being incomplete and not in detail.

It was rare that the scrutiny report was prepared after over 70 meetings and two and half years of the committee deliberations that was initially mandated to complete scrutiny in one month, according to a report published in The News Friday.

PTI foreign funding case is pending since November 2014, witnessing various hiccups. However, even today, it is hard to speculate as to when it will be decided, the publication reported.

Sources told the publication that in the meeting, the scrutiny committee restarted from scratches by seeking to verify the evidence submitted by the petitioner that includes evidence on illegal funding, money laundering, concealment of bank accounts, and receiving funds in private bank accounts of PTI employees.

On Monday, the ECP had rejected the report on PTI’s foreign funding accounts, terming it neither complete nor well detailed in all respect.

The commission had ordered the committee to conduct afresh the scrutiny and complete the process in six weeks.

The ECP in its order dated August 27, 2020, stated that “the Commission has thoroughly gone through it and came to the conclusion “that the Committee neither scrutinised the record nor evaluated the evidence from the documents”.

It goes without saying that the much-awaited order validates the concerns of the petitioner Akbar S Babar, expressed repeatedly regarding the transparency and credibility of the scrutiny process by the committee formed in March 2018 on the order of the commission.

The foreign funding case, filed by Babar, who remained a close confidante of PTI Chairman Imran Khan, way back in November 2014 and alleged financial irregularities in the party funding, which poured in from abroad.

The ECP, in its order, had reprimanded three-member committee by stating that “it was the duty and responsibility of the committee to scrutinise the authenticity and reliability and credibility of each and every document submitted by both parties and after proper scrutiny of documents”.

It is painful to say that directions were not followed in the strict sense despite lapse of more than 28/29 months, the order stated.

ISLAMABAD : The Supreme Court (SC) has directed attorney general to make judicial commission’s report on Army Public School (APS) incident public.

The apex court directed the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan to publicise judicature comments on the JC report on APS attack case. Amanullah has been amicus curiae to assist the court.

The suo motu case of the 2014 APS attack was heard by a two-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed.The attorney general informed the top court that culprits involved in the terrorist attack had been pronounced sentences after being arrested, whereas, the federal government is continuing maximum efforts on the humanitarian grounds. He added that it was a matter of fact that he could not make eye contact with the affected parents.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed remarked, “How can we know about what happened there?” He asked the affected parents to apprise the court for what they were seeking from the government.

He directed authorities to provide copies of the government’s response in the case and inquiry commission’s report to the parents. Justice Ahmed continued that AGP must listen about the requirements of the affectees.

The chief justice asked the attorney general to take steps for ending the tradition of putting the responsibility for any incident on low-grade officials. He added that the authorities will have to start imposing punishment from higher-ranked officers.

CJP Gulzar Ahmed said that the government must ensure to stop such incidents from happening and what was the reason for the major security lapse.

Later, the top court adjourned that hearing of the case for one month.

The chief justice also accepted the invitation to attend a memorial ceremony in Peshawar on December 16.

On Dec 16, 2014, six terrorists had stormed the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar and martyred around 150 students and teachers. After this tragic incident, the government chalked out the National Action Plan (NAP) to eliminate terrorism from the country.

PESHAWAR : British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Christian Turner visited Peshawar museum to explore beautifully preserved cultural treasures in Peshawar.

Christian Turner shared his video message via his Twitter handle, starting with Pashtu. He added that the UK is helping the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in various sectors.

He appreciated the efforts of the provincial government to ensure women education and making them independent.

Last week, the United Kingdom’s (UK) credit financing agency, UK Export Finance (UKEF) has increased its financing limit to three times for British businesses looking to export to and invest in Pakistan to £1.5 billion, said British High Commissioner to Pakistan Dr. Christian Turner.

The high commissioner had met with the Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood today to discuss trade ties and business potential between the two countries.

Shibli Faraz, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, aptly said, “Despite aggressive inroads of digital broadcast, online and social media, relevance of print media, newspapers, can hardly be underestimated

KARACHI (DNA)- The President of Pakistan, Dr, Arif Alvi and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Imran Khan have commended All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) for celebrating 25^th September as National Newspaper Readership Day, endorsing the importance of the initiative as it will help promote reading habits in our society.

The President of Pakistan, Dr. Arif Alvi, in his message for National Newspaper Readership Day highlighted it’s importance by saying, “Despite the growth of electronic and digital media, newspapers still play a significant role in creating awareness and educating the people about various economic and social issues. Currently, the world is facing the challenge of fake news and newspapers need to discourage this trend by promoting responsible, impartial, truthful and authentic journalism. Furthermore, newspapers are required to play its role in countering fake news and inculcating goods moral values in society.”

The President also urged all citizens of the country, particularly the youth, to develop the habit of reading to keep themselves abreast of the latest developments in the arena of international politics, economy, science and technology, particularly in the fields of artificial intelligence, cloud computing and big data.

Similarly, the Prime Minister of Pakistan also expressed his support towards the day and congratulated APNS for such a step. “Newspaper is an important source of information for all. Despite variety of challenges faced by newspaper industry in the present age of modern media, importance of print media remains intact especially in combating the challenge of fake news and false information,” said Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Imran Khan on National Newspaper Readership Day.

Initiated last year, All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) declared 25^th September as National Newspaper Readership Day to promote newspaper reading habit in Pakistan. In the wake of the pandemic of Covid-19 where news travelled fast, it became extremely challenging to distinguish between fake and authentic information. This caused chaos and unrest in societies. Hence, it became all the more relevant and important to promote newspaper reading in the country so that our masses can identify real news against the fake one.

Furthering to the cause associated with the day, the Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Chief Minister Punjab and Chief Minister Sindh also shared their messages highlighting the importance of National Newspaper Readership Day and congratulating APNS for their efforts.

Shibli Faraz, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, aptly said, “Despite aggressive inroads of digital broadcast, online and social media, relevance of print media, newspapers, can hardly be underestimated. It becomes even more credible because the menace of fake news has wracked havoc on the authenticity of information available for the public consumption; especially after the sensationalism of photo shopped videos and infographics in the social media.”

“Reliance on well-researched facts for filing a news story so that it could pass the rigorous editorial check, before finding a place in print edition of a newspaper lends credibility to a print media story vis-à-vis hastily drafted and sometimes unscrupulous content of readily available means of dissemination of information”, Shibli Faraz further added. 

Newspapers have always been the source of authentic information with sources. Nothing goes into print without verification and absolute check and balance of truthfulness in content. This makes our traditional media first choice for accurate information. To promote newspaper reading habit for a balanced and well aware society, APNS introduced National Newspaper Readership Day with a message to fight fake news, adopt newspaper reading habit and also teach your children to read newspapers for a balanced news and happenings.

For this, Chief Minister Sindh, Murad Ali Shah, appreciated the APNS and urged all citizens to stand together with the cause. “Let’s all join hands and vow to develop a habit of reading newspapers and checking facts before falling prey to fake news and rumours.We should also instil the habit of reading newspaper in our children as well so that they grow up to become responsible and socially aware citizens of Pakistan,” shared Murad Ali Shah, CM Sindh.

This year APNS launched the National Newspaper Readership Day with a number of messages from “Don’t spread rumours. spread verifiable news” to “We don’t cover up the fact. We uncover them” and from “Fight fake news. Pick a copy of a newspaper today and every day” to “Encourage your child to read. Start with a newspaper.” All these messages hold immense importance keeping in mind the time we live in and our social structure.

With the advent of social media, it was considered that newspapers will be dead in no time. However, with the influx of fake news and incorrect information, it made the existence of newspaper more important and relevant than ever. Print is completely based on facts and information with sources, which other media may not pay much importance to. Also, the stories in print are investigative and detailed, which the limited word count stories cannot compete with.

Chief Minister of Punjab, Sardar Usman Buzdar also highlighted the importance of print media by sharing, “Newspaper reading is the need of the hour. The electronic media, in their fight for breaking the news, is damaging its own roots while social media, without any check and balance, is out of control and often false. Hence, in this time and age, newspaper reading becomes all the more important. I believe the habit of newspaper reading should be instilled in our people once again. Regular newspaper reading provides information and news to people as per their needs, interests and requirements, and keeps them updated.”

He further stated that newspapers represented the voice of our people that inculcated the spirit of freedom and independence pre 1947, when we were struggling for our identity and a separate homeland. These newspapers were at a forefront to fight for our cause and help unite the nation towards one single aim of achieving Pakistan. Today, he is proud to say that our newspapers have grown and developed themselves over the years, and can stand competition with any international newspaper across the globe.

Hameed Haroon, President APNS, said, “APNS is honoured to receive encouraging remarks from the Government. Newspapers have always played their part in the betterment and progress of the country by highlighting important issues and providing feasible solutions to those. We are pleased that the Government understands the importance of newspapers in society. It is due totheir unwavering support and cooperation that APNS can thrive and make the messages associated with the day grow with time.”

Sarmad Ali, Secretary General APNS, shared, “National Newspaper Readership Day is in its natal phase but with the support of the Government of Pakistan, it will continue to work on meaningful reading habits of the people of Pakistan, putting special emphasis on newspapers.”

The Government of Pakistan appreciated the remarkable initiative of APNS to celebrate 25^th September as National Newspaper Readership day in order to educate readers about the importance and utility of reading newspapers for gaining access to reliable news in the times of massive proliferation of fake news through digital, online and social media outlets.

As the Prime Minister of Pakistan rightly said, ”I strongly believe that a free press is a key to building an aware, self-reliant and educated society that exercises its will through democratic government.”

The President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi also stated, “I really appreciate the initiative of APNS in promoting the habit of reading among the people which would significantly help in educating them about modern day’s problems and issues. I would also like to extend my heartfelt felicitations to the entire nation, APNS and newspapers on National Newspaper Reading Day.”