ISLAMABAD : Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood has said on Thursday that the final decision regarding the reopening of educational institutions will be taken with consensus on August 7.

He said this while speaking at a meeting of the National Command and Operation Center in Islamabad here today.

Briefing the NCOC, Shafqat Mehmood emphasized that the educational institutions must ensure compliance to all Covid-19 protocols and prepare accordingly before the final decision.He said that government is formulating a strategy about reopening of educational institutions.

The education minister said that the institutions be opened on top to bottom approach starting from the Universities to the High Schools on rotation basis, and added that extra curricular activities would not be allowed.

According to a Gallup survey, seven to eight million children have been getting education through the Telechool, an educational television channel, launched by the prime minister in April to make up for academic losses suffered by students due to closure of education institutes.

LAHORE: An accountability court on Thursday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif’s son Suleman Shehbaz, in a money laundering reference.

The court has ordered authorities to arrest Suleman and present himself before the court at the next hearing of the reference. The court also asked authorities to submit a report in this regard at the next hearing.

Earlier in June, the National Accountability Bureau said it will contact the National Crime Agency in UK and Interpol to bring back Suleman from London in its ongoing investigation into money laundering charges.

According to a spokesperson of the Bureau, Suleman’s non-bailable arrest warrants had been issued on the money laundering charges. “The Lahore High Court has declared Suleman Shehbaz a fugitive in the money laundering case against the Sharif family,” he had said.

In April last year, the PTI leadership and NAB had alleged that Hamza Shehbaz and Suleman, who is currently in London, are involved in laundering money worth Rs85 billion.

Suleman had rejected the charges as baseless and frivolous allegations by the PTI government and said Prime Minister Imran Khan has questions to answer about his own “unexplained assets worth Rs4 billion”.

“I brought money from abroad into Pakistan for investment and that’s not money laundering. Each and everything that I own is declared with the FBR. Every penny that I invested in Pakistan is declared and on-board, and record of each and every asset and business that I have ever owned is available with relevant Pakistani authorities,” Suleman had said.

Last year in December, the anti-graft body had issued orders to freeze 23 properties belonging to the former Punjab chief minister and Hamza and Suleman over the allegation that they acquired assets beyond their known sources of income and committed money laundering.

ISLAMABAD : The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) on Thursday suggested that all educational institutes in the country should be reopened with a top to bottom approach (i.e universities first, then colleges, then high schools and so on) and on a rotational basis.

The suggestion was made during a meeting of the NCOC to discuss the reopening of educational institutions across the country. However, it is clarified that a final decision on reopening of educational institutes will be made on September 7, as earlier intimated by the government.

The meeting was attended by representatives of various educational institutions, including public and private sector institutions and madaris, to reach a consensus-based decisions on the opening of various institutions from university to school levels.

All the provincial, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan focal representatives joined the meeting via a video link.

According to a statement released by the NCOC after the meeting, it has been suggested that the timings of various institutions should be reduced by suspending various activities which involve mass gatherings, including co-curricular activities.

All participants were briefed on the current coronavirus situation prevailing globally, regionally and in the country. They were also informed about the risks and challenges involved in the opening of educational institutions as it involved children of all ages.

The educational sector representatives were informed that the NCOC’s suggestions had been finalised after hectic and lengthy consultations with international experts, academia and think tanks, particularly those who had been working on the reopening of the educational sector.

Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood told the meeting participants that the basic challenge to open educational institutions was founded on two questions: what are the indicators for opening, and what measures will be taken to ensure that health guidelines ensuring the use of face masks, social distancing and hygiene measures.

Mehmood said that the final decision to reopen schools would be taken on September 7 after agreement and input from all relevant stakeholders.

The meeting suggested that the best way to reopen schools, as recommended by health experts, has been to reopen institutions gradually.

The NCOC added that all educational institutions must ensure all relevant COVID-19 protocols are in place before a final decision is taken.

The NCOC apprised the participants that tracking, tracing and testing will help arrest any spread.

“For this, enhanced testing of symptomatic children, teachers and school staff will be very beneficial,” the NCOC said.

All provinces, AJK and GB apprised the NCOC forum about measures being taken, including consultations with various educational institutions in their respective areas, on teachers’ training and coronavirus awareness.

Dr Faisal Sultan told the participants that while the eventual opening will be undertaken after a consultative process, the NCOC and the Health Ministry would closely monitor disease statistics on a daily basis, particularly to assess the likely impact of tourism and Muharram on the opening of educational institutions.

He added that an IT-based monitoring mechanism is being developed to ensure health guidelines and COVID-19 containment measures in this regard.

KARACHI : The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday turned down a request by PTI MNA Aamir Liaquat Hussain to issue notices on his petition challenging the Sindh government’s decision of carving a seventh district out of Karachi.

Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, who headed a two-judge bench, observed that the court can’t put the Sindh government on notice in the case until a notification regarding the formation of Keamari district in question is submitted to it.

He said the court has to determine what unlawful act the provincial government has committed?“Karachi used to be a district and then was divided into four districts. Malir district was carved out of it and Korangi was later given the status of a district and now Keamari has been declared the seventh district. We have to see what illegal act was committed,” the judge remarked.

When asked, the Advocate General told the bench that no notification regarding the formation of the Keamari district was issued yet.

A lawyer representing the petitioner said the Sindh Assembly passed a bill in this regard on August 24.

The hearing was adjourned for an indefinite period.

Aamir Liaquat stated in his petition that the PPP-led provincial government’s move to create Keamari district by bifurcating Karachi’s West district reeks of bias. It didn’t even take the local government into confidence on the creation of the new district, he added. He requested the court to declare such a move illegal.

DNA

ISLAMABAD :  Pakistan Air Force achieved yet another remarakble milestone by inaugurating  the ‘Centre of Artificial Intelligence & Computing’ at Islamabad today.  Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force was the chief guest at the occasion.

The Air Chief formally inaugurated the newly established centre by unveiling the plaque. Addressing the ceremony, the Air Chief said that establishment of CENTAIC was indeed a landmark initiative in the evolutionary journey of PAF which would lead Artificial Inteligence Research & Development in both civil and military spheres.He further said that technology had altered the characteristics of warfare in the 21st century and the vision of establishing the centre was to harness the potential of Artificial Intelligence and its integration in PAF’s operational domain.

Earlier, Air Marshal Aamir Masood, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (Training), in his welcome address, gave a broad overview of the newly established centre.  The event was attended by former Air Chiefs, Principal Staff Officers and senior serving and retired PAF officers.

LAHORE : An accountability court here on Thursday resumed hearing a money laundering and assets beyond means case against Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and his family.

Judge Jawadul Hassan heard the case as the PML-N president appeared before the court.

At the outset of the hearing, the judge asked the government lawyer present in court as to where Hamza Shehbaz was, to which he replied that he will be presented before the court in a short while.Shehbaz stated before the judge that he had not been involved in corruption of even a single penny. “I served the masses for twelve and a half years but never received TA/DA of a single rupee,” he continued.

At this, the accountability judge assured the opposition leader that he will be delivered justice. “You will be acquitted if you are found not guilty.”

“I swear to God, I saved billions of rupees of the nation,” the PML-N president maintained, claiming he was implicated in a trumped-up case.

The court allowed Shehbaz Sharif to leave the court after recording his attendance and issued arrest warrants for Suleman Shehbaz and Haroon Yousuf Aziz. It also issued summons to Shehbaz’s wife Nusrat Shehbaz and daughters, Rabia and Javeria.