DNA

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan categorically rejected completely unwarranted assertions by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in connection with the Hindu temple incident in Karak. This is not the first time the Indian Government has tried to feign concern for minority rights elsewhere while being the most egregious and persistent violator of minority rights itself.

From discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to National Register of Citizens (NRC); from the Gujarat massacre of 2002 to the Delhi pogrom of 2020; from the reprehensible demolition of BabriMosque in 1992 to the despicable acquittal of all the accused by Indian court in 2020; from blaming Muslims for spreading Coronavirus to banning of inter-faith marriages; from cow vigilantism and mob lynchings to terming the Muslims of West Bengal ‘termites’ and threatening to ‘throw them into the Bay of Bengal’; from extra-judicial killings of innocent Kashmiris to blatant attempts to turn Muslims into a minority in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK) through distribution of ‘fake domicile certificate’, the RSS-BJP regime’s record is replete with instances of gross and systemic violations of the rights of minorities, in particular Muslims.

As a perennial purveyor of state-sponsored discrimination against its minorities, India is in no position to pontificate on the issue of minority rights elsewhere.

The clear difference between India and Pakistan in respect of minority rights can be gauged from the fact that the accused in the Karak incident were immediately arrested, orders were issued for repair of the temple, the highest level of judiciary took immediate notice, and senior political leadership condemned the incident. Whereas, in India, the blatant acts of discrimination against Muslims and other minorities take place with state complicity. The Indian leadership is yet to condemn the perpetrators of the Delhi massacre in February 2020, let alone bring those criminals to justice.

Given these incontrovertible facts, the Indian Government would be well advised to set its own house in order rather than feigning concern for minority rights elsewhere.

DNA

ISLAMABAD, JAN 2 – Fatma Azim, Acting President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) said that the economic reforms process of the government was quite slow due to which recovery of business and economic activities was not picking up momentum up to desired level and stressed that the government should put the reforms process in fast gear to create a conducive environment for better growth of business activities. She said the Prime Minister has already announced that the new year will be the year of economic growth for Pakistan and added that this goal could only be achieved by putting the reforms process in top gear.

She said this while talking to a delegation of local industrialists that called on her led by Mian Akram Farid, Chairman Founder Group, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry and discussed with her the key issues of the economy. Tariq Sadiq, Mian Shaukat Masud, Ch. Waheed ud Din, Nasir Qureshi and Aslam Khokhar were in the delegation. Abdul Rehman Khan, Vice President ICCI was also present at the occasion.

Fatma Azim said that one of the better options for the government to accelerate the pace of business and industrial activities is to bring down the policy interest rate to at least 3 percent level, which would make significant reduction in credit cost for the private sector and give a boost to business and investment activities in the country. She said that the businesses were still struggling to combat the impact of Covid-19 pandemic and in these tough times, reducing policy interest rate to 3 percent would provide them great relief.

Speaking at the occasion, Mian Akram Farid Chairman Founder Group Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that industrialization should be the priority focus of the government to put the economy on the path of sustainable growth and create employment opportunities. She said that PM had announced an attractive package for the construction industry due to which the construction activities were now flourishing in the country as many big construction projects have been launched recently. She demanded that the similar kind of relief package should be announced for other major industries that would accelerate the pace of industrialization in the country. She further emphasized that the government should reduce import duties and taxes on industrial machinery, equipment and plants so that the local industry could upgrade its manufacturing set up and produce value added products that would increase our exports significantly.

Mian Akram Farid said that women were over 50 percent of the country’s total population and the government should form conducive policies for economic empowerment of women so that they could play a more effective role in the national development of the country. She said that the government should make new policies for promoting women entrepreneurs that would bring progress and prosperity to the country.

Abdul Rehman Khan Vice President ICCI said that FBR remained short of Rs.16 billion in collecting the projected tax target of Rs.2.21 trillion during the first half (July-Dec) of the current fiscal year, which necessitated the speedy reforms in the tax authority to improve its performance. He said that high tax rates in Pakistan were a major cause of tax evasion in the country and stressed that government’s reforms efforts in FBR should focus on reducing tax rates and broadening the tax base that would help in fostering tax culture and improving tax revenue of the country.

DNA

ISLAMABAD: A senior Indian diplomat was summoned to foreign office on Friday to register Pakistan’s strong protest over ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation Forces along the Line of Control on 30th December 2020, resulting in serious injuries to one innocent civilian.

In a statement on Friday, the foreign office spokesperson said that due to indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian occupation forces in Kotkotera Sector of the LoC, 34 year old Muhammad Sarfaraz at Phalni Bazar, sustained serious injuries.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Indian occupation forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary have been continuously targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars, and automatic weapons.

Fazal comes down heavy on the establishment for supporting the PTI government; announces to direct all their criticism towards the establishment

Abid Raza/DNA

LAHORE:  The leaders of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on Friday addressed a press conference and said that the 11-party alliance is stronger than before, adding that rumours about conflicts within the party are false.

Speaking on behalf of the alliance, PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman reiterated that the government only has one month to resign, after which PDM members will join heads and start planning the long march.

He once again came down heavy on the establishment for supporting the PTI government. He announced to direct all their criticism towards the establishment.

He said on January 19 PDM will hold a protest demonstration in front of Election Commission of Pakistan. He also hinted at similar protest demonstrations in front offices of the National Accountability Bureau.

He told that all parties have received resignations of their members of the parliament therefore there should be no doubt about that.

He said PDM will take part in the by elections and in this regard the PDM parties have decided it with a unanimous vote.

Regarding PPP stance, he said PPP has shared all details regarding their decision to take part in the Senate elections. Regarding PDM decision to take part in Senate elections, Maulana said PDM was still thinking about this.

Regarding his meeting with Mohammad Ali Durrani he said Durrani came to him and shared with him his suggestion of dialogue, which I flatly refused.

He also dispelled the impression that PPP had linked taking part in the long march to the return of Nawaz Sharif. Maulana said there was no such thing and media was falsely propagating the issue.

“We will decide whether to hold long march towards Rawalpindi or Islamabad,” he said, adding that the alliance will announce the date and venue soon.

Speaking about the by-polls and Senate elections, Maulana Fazlur Rehman said PDM parties will participate in by-polls, adding that participating in the Senate elections will be taken by the alliance later.

Answering a question, the PDM chief said that many of the decisions taken during the meeting prior to the conference are confidential, therefore, the alliance is not under any obligations to share everything with media.

ISLAMABAD, JAN 01 (DNA) – Islamabad Police on Friday held a ceremony at police line headquarters in connection of its 40th Foundation Day and invited former Inspectors General of Police (IGPs) who served the force in various periods.

A smartly turned out contingent of Islamabad police presented guard of honor to incumbent IGP Islamabad and former IGPs.  All ex-IGPs expressed their views about policing and congratulated IGP Islamabad Muhammad Aamir Zulfiqar khan for inviting Prime Minister of Pakistan at passing out parade of the force. They also lauded the efforts of Islamabad police chief for effective policing measures in the city.

The IGP Islamabad Muhammad Aamir Zulfiqar  khan said that Islamabad police entered in the New Year with renewed commitment and to leave no stone unturned to ensure protection to the lives and property of the citizens. The ceremony was attended among others by DIG (Operations) Waqar Uddin Syed, DIG (Headquarters) Muhammad Saleem, AIGs , SSPS and all SPs of the district.

The IGP Islamabad Muhammad Aamir Zulfiqar khan thanked all former IGPs for attending the ceremony. They also reciprocated IGP Islamabad in the similar manner who remembered them on the Foundation Day of Islamabad police. = DNA

 ===========================

ISLAMABAD, JAN 01 (DNA) – Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated on Friday exporters for the December 2020 data showing 18 per cent growth in overall exports in year-to-year comparison.

On his Twitter handle, the PM bade “well done” to those catalyzing the achievement and encouraged them to “keep up the trend”. Congratulations to all the exporters on achieving record exports in Dec 2020 with a growth of 18 % over the previous year. Well done & keep up this trend

A major pillar of our govt’s economic policy is export enhancement & we will provide full support to promote export culture. He said export enhancement is the major pillar of his government’s economic policy and underscored “we will provide full support to promote export culture”.

It may be noted that earlier today, adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood noted a major achievement as Pakistan’s exports for the month of December 2020 grew by 18.3pc to $2.357 billion as compared to $1.993 billion in December 2019.

Taking to the social networking website, Twitter, Abdul Razak Dawood said that this was the highest export ever in the month of December. The PM’s economic advisor said in a tweet, “It gives me immense pleasure to inform that, Alhamdolillah, according to provisional data, Pakistan exports for the month of December 2020 have grown by 18.3% to $2.357 billion as compared to $1.993 billion in December 2019, an increase of $364 million over December.” = DNA

===========================

DNA

AJK – Jan 1, 2020: As a leading telecom and digital services provider in the country, Telenor Pakistan is committed to serve the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and continue to provide them with latest telecom and digital solutions in order to connect them to what matters most.

Recently, the Inland Revenue Department AJK sealed multiple Telenor Pakistan network sites over a disputed tax demand resulting in services disruption to majority of the population of AJK, thus adversely impacting the lives and livelihood of the people. In a latest development, the AJK High Court has granted a stay and suspended all coercive actions initiated by the tax authority. However, the tax authorities are still not desealing our sites and not allowing the network to be restored. In the meantime, we are doing our best to ensure provision of services to our valued customers.

Commenting on the situation Irfan Wahab Khan, CEO Telenor Pakistan said, “First, I would like to apologise to our valued customers in AJK who have borne the brunt of such drastic measures by the tax authorities and the resulting inconvenience they faced due to network unavailability. The lack of concern for the people during the ongoing pandemic and tough weather conditions is disheartening. We are committed more than ever to the people of AJK and thank our loyal customers for being part of Telenor Pakistan family.”

“Telecommunications is an essential service, even to the extent that under the Telecom Act interfering with telecom services is unlawful and punishable. We hope that the Prime Minister of AJK will take notice of this situation and advise the tax authorities to operate under the purview of the law.” He further added.

Telenor Pakistan is one of the largest investors and a leading taxpayer, and is proud to play its role in spearheading digitalisation in the country. Taking such extreme measures against law abiding and responsible corporate citizens without following the due process of law will send the wrong message and discourage investment in the country.

Telenor Pakistan understands the importance of the taxes it pays in supporting the development and growth of communities and therefore takes a responsible approach with respect to its tax obligations. We believe that a tax system must be stable, transparent, and predictable to create an investment friendly environment that will support ease of doing business and the country’s growth.