Ambassador Aleksandar Borisov Parashkevov allegedly accepted graft money of USD 40,000/- for importing the car for a Pakistani guy; This newspaper wrote on September 03, 2020 that foreign diplomats have continuously been misusing their privileges available under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and selling duty-free imported luxury vehicles to local businessmen, official documents have revealed

EXCLUSIVE

Ansar M Bhatti/DNA

ISLAMABAD: Associate. Prof Aleksandar Borisov Parashkevov, the newly-appointed Ambassador of Bulgaria to Pakistan has been called back soon after his appointment, over corruption charges.

The ambassador, according to sources, was yet to present his credentials to the President of Pakistan. So this is quite rare in the diplomatic history that an ambassador is called back without presenting his credentials to the host country.

According to reports, the newly-arrived Bulgarian ambassador Borisov allegedly got himself involved in import of cars for Pakistani people and liquor beyond his stipulated quota.

He has been called back because of this Bentley car issue. Details reveal the car imported by the Bulgarian ambassador availing his diplomatic position, was in use of a Pakistani.

The Customs officials intercepted the car and asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to verify its credentials. When the case arrived at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry official outright said that the car was imported by the Ambassador, despite the fact Ambassador imported the car for his Pakistani friend.

Sources say the Ambassador Aleksandar Borisov Parashkevov allegedly accepted graft money of USD 40,000/- for importing the car from that Pakistani guy.

In a second instance, the Bulgarian ambassador also tried to make his fortunes by accommodating his Pakistani collaborators by importing liquor beyond his stipulated quota.

In November 2019 the ambassador placed an order for liquor. He was authorized to import consignment weighing 1482 KGs while when the container arrived it weighed over 2,600 KGs.

Upon knowing this the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote a letter to the Director General of Customs Intelligence, Islamabad asking him to thoroughly inspect the container.

“ While this Ministry is coordinating with the concerned embassies for inspection of these consignments ( For possibility of mis-declaration/smuggling of liquor above approved quantity) you are requested to please ensure that these consignments must not be released/cleared or exported back by the Customs authorities with inspection”, the Ministry further wrote to the Customers Intelligence Director General.

It may be mentioned there that a total of 15 embassies consignments were seized by the Customs that month, on same charges and the Bulgaria ambassador’s consignment was at the top of the list. List of all those 15 countries is available with Islamabad POST and shall be made public in coming days with complete details.

This newspaper had already published a news regarding misuse of diplomatic status by some of the diplomats and diplomatic missions. This newspaper wrote on September 03, 2020 that foreign diplomats have continuously been misusing their privileges available under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and selling duty-free imported luxury vehicles to local businessmen, official documents have revealed.

Pakistan Customs seized nine very expensive vehicles that were imported by foreign diplomats but were in the use of private persons.

This has not only caused a Rs250-million revenue loss in nine cases but also put the security of other diplomats at risk due to the use of fake or duplicate diplomatic number plates.

The report further stated that in 2019 Pakistan Customs confiscated at least 16 very expensive vehicles, including nine in July alone that were imported in the names of diplomats but had been in the possession of private persons, according to the FBR official record.

At the prevailing taxes and duty rates, the estimated tax evasion in the 16 cases is Rs444.6 million, which also indicates how pricey the vehicles were.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 04 (DNA): Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali
Haider Zaidi on Sunday said that for the first time, the government
would appoint a permanent representative at the International Maritime
Organization (IMO) to safeguard the shipping interests.

In a statement on social media networking site, he said “Once again
Ministry of Maritime Affairs is setting a tradition.” He said that
Pakistan would also be contesting to secure a seat in category “C” in
the upcoming IMO elections of 2021.

The minister said the ministry has invited applications from the
interested candidates for the post to represent Ministry of Maritime who
will be based at London, UK. DNA

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CHINIOT, Oct 04 (DNA): Three students have prepared a smart cane to
assist visually impaired, blind people to walk more independently and
safely.

The smart white cane has been prepared by three students of the
University of Lahore’s Sargodha Campus namely Naveed Ahmed, Zaafar and
Ghulam Ahmed.

A visually impaired or blind person can easily detect obstacles on
ground, surface textures, pot holes etc while travelling with a standard
white cane. Designed to replace the traditional white cane used by the
visually impaired around the world, this smart cane offers users hazard
detection including a hurdle or water on surface.

In case of a mishap with the person carrying the smart stick, pressing a
button in it will communicate three relatives of the visually impaired
person. With development of technology, inventors in different parts of
the world, working to help the people with blindness to walk more
independently and safely with smart canes. DNA

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KARACHI, Oct 04 (DNA): As many as 3,409 police officials and personnel
have contracted coronavirus in the Sindh province while performing their
duties.

The police spokesman said that 19 personnel embraced martyrdom while
discharging their duties due to coronavirus. Currently, 24 cops are
undergoing treatment while 3,366 of the infected personnel, have
recovered from the infection.

Sindh Chief Minister has said on Saturday that 267
new cases of coronavirus and three more deaths were reported during the
last 24 hours.

The total count of coronavirus deaths reached 2,520 and 81 more patients
recovered from the virus, had said Sindh Chief Minister, adding that 1,397,676
samples were tested in Sindh. In Sindh, 138,050 confirmed cases were
reported so far and 130,811 patients recovered from the coronavirus.

Earlier on September 30, the Sindh government had imposed “micro smart
lockdown” in several neighborhoods of Karachi to prevent the spread of
deadly coronavirus. DNA

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ISLAMABAD – The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has blocked thousands of anti-Islam and anti-Pakistan URLs on internet in the country, according to a report issued by the internet regulator.

In its report to parliament, the PTA said it had identified at least 59,712 anti-Islam URLs on the websites. Of them, 46, 431 have been blocked.

According to the report, Pakistan’s internet regulator has also blocked 16,703 URLs over sectarian “hate speech”. The PTA said it had identified 20,041 URLs which had the content against “defence of Pakistan” and of them, it has blocked 13,620 URLs.

At least 5,607 URLs were blocked for posting anti-judiciary content, the report said.

The PTA said it has provided details to the FIA to initiate legal action against people involved in posting unlawful content.

ISLAMABAD – Information Minister Shibli Faraz on Sunday accused former prime minister Nawaz Sharif of “blackmailing Pakistan and its institutions” in order to get relief from the corruption cases against him.

“You (Nawaz) were elected by this country thrice and now you are going against it just because you want relief from your cases? You are blinded, you want to take revenge from the masses. You want to blackmail Pakistan and its institutions. This will not happen,” Faraz said in a press conference.

The information minister further said that the PML-N supremo had not “gotten along” with any of the institutions.

“You want judges like Justice Qayum. You have never gotten along with any army chief, from [retired Gen] Janjua to now. This is what you do: you destablise democracy. You are responsible,” Faraz declared and went on to say that the former prime minister was a “product” who came to power through the support of the establishment. The minister said that the incumbent government had a good relationship with the army because it was “full of honest people”.

The PML-N leader, Faraz added, was criticising the chairperson of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), who was appointed by Nawaz himself.

“Now you have become a revolutionary, [acting] like you are statesman. You are accused of theft! You were not sent to jail because of any political dispute, [it was because] of the crimes you committed,” the minister said.

The information minister went on to say that Nawaz “started a narrative” that had no connection to his cases. The PTI leader also said that Nawaz’s government had devalued the currency so much that, were it not for the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the country would have ended up in the same situation like Venezuela “where people take carts full of money to buy toothpaste”.

The information minister also cast doubt on the unity of the opposition parties that have formed the anti-government alliance named Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). The alliance includes almost all major opposition parties that seek the government’s ouster and has released its plan to launch nationwide protests and rallies. The first public meeting of the PDM will be held in Quetta on October 11.

PML-N is part of the alliance as well and the party’s supremo — who is currently in London — virtually addressed the first meeting of the PDM, where he cast doubt over the conduct of the 2018 general elections and workings of the parliament.

“How many parties agree with Nawaz’s point of view? They are already divided,” Faraz said in today’s press conference, adding that all politicians in the opposition wanted an NRO but Prime Minister Imran will never agree to give one. The federal minister said that the PTI had come to power with the promise to establish justice in the country and arrest politicians who were involved in corruption.

The minister also blamed previous governments, particularly that of PML-N, for expensive electricity and ruining the economy. He alleged that the Nawaz government had left the economy and the institutions “hollow”.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 04 (DNA): Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan
for political communication Shahbaz Gill on Sunday claimed that Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz held a meeting
with an Indian at Khokhar Palace in Lahore.

He claimed that the PML-N vice president kept waiting at the same place
after the press conference and after the signal, she reached the meeting
place.

The SAPM said that the narrative of Maryam Nawaz and her father former
prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif is against the country,
therefore no one can bear its burden.

Reacting to the statement of PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah, Shahbaz Gill
tweeted, “If Rana sahib was asking, I would tell him that according to
my information, the meeting with an Indian took place at Khokhar
Palace.”

“Rana sahib, you are with Shehbaz Sharif, she will not tell you,” he
said. On Saturday, speaking to a private channel, the Special Assistant
had claimed that words from PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif was making
statements at the behest of Indian establishment.

He said that Nawaz Sharif’s son had a meeting with three people from
India in London while Maryam Nawaz also met with some Indians in the
past 15 days ago.

Shahbaz Gill said that Nawaz Sharif is a criminal and he does not have
the same rights as an ordinary citizen. He said that no one is calling
him a traitor, he himself is making speeches like MQM’s founder.

Shahbaz Gill clarified that there would be no negotiation with anyone on
accountability and corruption cases. He said that Nawaz Sharif has a
problem with the army because he is corrupt, which is why Prime Minister
Imran Khan has no qualms with the army. Nawaz Sharif’s problem is that
he wants to do corruption but not be held accountable, he said.

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 04 (DNA): Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed
Ahmed will visit Railway Carriage Factory Islamabad on Monday where he
will inspect manufacturing of Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) coaches.

As per details, Sheikh Rasheed will also address the workers working in
the carriage factory. The railways’ spokesperson said the minister would
hold a press conference during the carriage factory visit.

In a major development, the federal and Sindh governments on Saturday
agreed to run local trains on a 12-kilometer track in Karachi on a trial
basis in the next two months. The understanding came during a meeting
between Sindh Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah and Federal Minister
for Planning and Development Asad Umar in Karachi.

The local trains will run on the railway track meant for Karachi
Circular Railway (KCR). The meeting decided to run the local trains from
City Station to SITE through Wazir Mansion. The project will be executed
in three phases.

On the occasion, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah informed the
meeting that encroachments on a five-kilometre-long portion of Karachi
Circular Railway (KCR) were due to be cleared for the complete revival
of an approximately 43-kilometre-long track.

“KCR project had been launched in 1964 and it remained functional till
1984 while it was halted in 1999. The Sindh government had taken
initiative for the revival of KCR in 2006. The estimated cost of the KCR
project was $2.6 billion at that time, however, JAICA dissociated from
the project after the feasibility process in 2012.”

Earlier on September 30, the Sindh cabinet had approved the release of
Rs97 million for Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project. The decision
was taken during a meeting of the Sindh cabinet chaired by Chief
Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah. DNA

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