Will meet IMF conditions before sixth review on Jan 12: Tarin

The federal government will introduce the amended finance and SBP autonomy bills in Parliament for approval on December 28, (Tuesday), sources within the finance department said Sunday, ahead of the sixth review of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) by the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) executive board on January 12.

The IMF has demanded Pakistani authorities seek parliamentary approval for the passage of the Tax Laws (Fourth) Amendment Bill and SBP’s Autonomy Bill.

Sources privy to the matter said that a $1 billion tranche depends on the passage of the bills.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister's Adviser on Finance Shaukat Tarin reiterated Pakistan's plan to fulfill the conditions imposed by the IMF as prior action before the sixth review on January 12.

He said a tax exemption of Rs350 billion will be withdrawn through the mini-budget.

Earlier, the finance ministry had confirmed the date for the sixth review.

Sources said that since the IMF has demanded to get parliamentary approval for the bills, it will not be passed through a presidential ordinance.

The government had recently retracted the mini-budget, including the Tax Laws (Fourth) Amendment Bill, for the time being from the federal cabinet after the IMF staff turned down the government's proposal that it would present the budget through a presidential ordinance.

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More than 4,500 flights cancelled, delayed due to Omicron variant

Over 2,000 flights have been cancelled and thousands delayed around the world as the highly infectious Omicron variant disrupts holiday travel.

According to tracking website Flightaware.com at 1540 GMT on Friday, a total of 2,118 flights had been cancelled worldwide, including 500 flights originating from or headed to US airports, and over 5,700 delayed.

Pilots, flights attendants and other staff have been calling in sick or having to quarantine after exposure to Covid, forcing Lufthansa, Delta, United Airlines and many other airlines to cancel flights.

According to Flightaware, United cancelled more than 170 flights on Friday, or nine percent of those that were scheduled.

"The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation," United said in a statement.

"As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport," the airline said, adding that it was working to rebook passengers as quickly as possible.

Similarly, Delta cancelled over 145 flights, saying it has "exhausted all options and resources -- including rerouting and substitutions of aircraft and crews to cover scheduled flying."

"We apologize to our customers for the delay in their holiday travel plans," the company said.

More than 10 Alaska Airlines flights were axed, after employees said they were potentially exposed to Covid-19 had to self-isolate in quarantine.

The cancellations added to the pandemic frustration for many Americans who were eager to reunite with their families over the holidays, after last year's Christmas was severely curtailed.

According to estimates from the American Automobile Association, more than 109 million Americans were scheduled to travel by plane, train or car between December 23 and January 2, a 34 percent increase since last year.

But most of those plans were made before the outbreak of the Omicron variant, which has become the dominant strain in the United States, overwhelming some hospitals and healthcare workers.

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Pakistan edge India in thriller to reach U-19 Asia Cup semis

Fast bowler Zeeshan Zemeer’s five-wicket haul backed by a fine 81-run knock by Mohammad Shehzad steered Pakistan to a nail-biting two-wicket victory over arch-rivals India in their group ‘A’ match of the U-19 Asia Cup in Dubai on Saturday.

Chasing 238 for victory, Pakistan achieved their target off the very last ball when Ahmed Khan drove Indian pacer Ravi Kumar for a boundary.

Earlier, right-handed Shehzad played a fighting knock off 105 balls while striking five sixes and four fours.

At 230-7, Pakistan required eight runs for victory in the final over. On the first ball of the over, Pakistan lost Zeeshan, who was the wrecker-in-chief of the Indian innings with five wickets, for a duck to Ravi. But Ahmed (29 not out) with Ali Asfand (1 not out) survived the tense moments and achieved the target on the last ball.

Besides Shehzad and Ahmed, other notable scorers for Pakistan were Maaz Sadaqat (29, four fours), Irfan Khan (32, three fours) and Rizwan Mehmood (29).

For India, pacer Raj Bawa was the main wicket-taker with four for 56.

Earlier after being put into bat, India made a moderate total of 237 all out in 49 overs. Wicket-keeper/batsman Aaradhya Yadav top-scored with an 83-ball 50 containing three fours while opener Harnoor Singh made 46 off 59.

Right-armer Zeeshan was expensive conceding 60 runs in 10 overs but captured five wickets including that of Yadav. Awais Ali claimed 2-43 in his eight overs.

Shehzad for his brilliant match-winning innings was named man-of-the-match.

Pakistan have remained unbeaten so far in the event winning both their matches to lead the group ‘A’ table with four points.

India are second on net-run-rate basis followed by Afghanistan; both have two points each and they are to play each other in the last match, which will decide the second semi-finalist from this group.

In their next match Pakistan face the UAE on Monday.

From group ‘B’, Bangladesh have also qualified for the semi-finals as top team while second-placed Sri Lanka (two points) have bright chances to qualify for the semi-finals. Sri Lanka are to face as to face Nepal and Kuwait in their remaining group matches.

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Body of missing Pakistani-American woman found from Lakki Marwat: police

The body of Wajiha Swati, a US citizen of Pakistani origin who went missing from Rawalpindi in October has been found, police said on Saturday.

City Police Officer Rawalpindi Sajid Kiani, addressing a press conference, said that the case is under investigation and the police will not divulge too many details at this point.

Kiyani did reveal some aspects that came to light during investigations, such as Swati arriving in Pakistan on October 16 and being received by her former husband, Rizwan Habib.

He went on to say that three people — Habib, his father and one other suspect — have been arrested in connection with the case.

The CPO said that Wajiha's body was found from Lakki Marwat's Pizu area and that it is being brought to Islamabad.

He said that further investigations are underway and further arrests are expected.

The police officer said that the probe team gathered sufficient evidence after which the arrests were made. He added that the US embassy sought details from the police owing to Swati being a US citizen.

"How the murder was carried out, what weapon was used, is something it would be too premature to comment on," the CPO said.

He vowed that the police will ensure the culprits get their just desserts.

Earlier in the day, sources within the police claimed that her ex-husband, Rizwan Habib, has confessed to killing her.

Habib "confessed to his crime" during police interrogation, the sources said.

The sources said that Swati came to Pakistan from England on October 16 to resolve property issues with her ex-husband.

The US woman was murdered the same day she arrived in Rawalpindi, they added.

A case relating to her abduction was registered at Morgah Police Station in Rawalpindi on the complaint of her son.

According to the sources, Habib said that he had killed Swati on October 16 and buried her body in Hangu.

On the directions of RPO Rawalpindi, a police team was sent to Hangu to recover the body.

DPO Ikramullah Khan said that the police arrested Habib's father last night from Hangu on charges of aiding and abetting the murder.

The DPO said that Swati's body has yet to be exhumed.

On December 23, the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench's Justice Raja Shahid Mehmood Abbasi ordered the city police officer (CPO) to recover Swati soon otherwise the court will summon the Inspector General of Police. The court had ordered the police to present her in court after recovering her.

Rawalpindi police arrested Habib and produced him before the judicial magistrate Zaheer Safdar. The court handed over the accused to the police on a four-day physical remand.

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PTI to learn from local bodies elections’ defeat in KP: Ghulam Sarwar

Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan on Saturday admitted that the PTI would learn from the defeat in local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and would repeat mistakes in Punjab.

He was talking to newsmen after performing inauguration of Sangjani-Paswal road rehabilitation project which would be completed at the cost of Rs700 million during the current fiscal year.

The minister, however, added that results had exposed the PML-N and PPP and they were restricted to Punjab and Sindh. The majority of seats in KP have won by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).

He said that PTI government had ensured transparent, free and fair elections in the province and contested polls without the support of other political parties and local pressure groups. He claimed that the ruling PTI had emerged as the lone political power of the country.

The minister announced that Prime Minister Imran Khan would perform the ground breaking ceremony of the Rawalpindi Ring Road project and Naya Pakistan Housing project in Sangjani next month. After completion the two projects would boost economic and trade activities in the region.

He said Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Wednesday approved the Rawalpindi Ring Road project which includes a main carriageway from Baanth (N-5) to Thallian (M-2) at a cost of Rs23.6 billion on the condition that the Planning Commission’s consent will be sought and the axle load management regime will be included in the project.

He said the project would be financed under the provincial Annual Development Programme (ADP) while the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) will execute the construction of the 38.3 km six lane access-controlled ring road.

He further said the present government was planning to construct over 2,000 housing units on the government land located in Sangjani area under Naya Pakistan Housing Project (NPHP) to facilitate the low-income citizens.

Member National Assembly Mansoor Hayat Khan and member Punjab Assembly Ammar Sadeeq Khan also spoke on this occasion.

The Attock Police on Saturday foiled a bid to smuggle narcotics from KP to Punjab and arrested a drug smuggler who confessed to be a member of inter provincial gang of drugs smugglers racket.

Police spokesman told newsmen that during checking of a Rawalpindi bound passenger van coming from Peshawar at Attock Khurd Search Park, 1.20 kilogram hashish was recovered from a woman.

The spokesman said that during the preliminary interrogation, she confessed to being a member of an inter provincial gang of drug smugglers racket.

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Pakistan Army soldier martyred in terrorist attack on North Waziristan checkpost

A soldier was martyred in North Waziristan's Shewa area after terrorists targeted a checkpost, a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said Saturday.

The military's media wing, in a statement, said terrorists fired at a military post.

According to the ISPR, the troops responded promptly and "effectively engaged the terrorists' location". During an exchange of fire, Naik Noor Merjan, who was 32 years old, embraced shahadat (martyrdom).

"Clearance of the area is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists found in the area," the statement read.

In October, a security forces personnel was martyred in North Waziristan's Ghariuom after terrorists targeted a check-post.

According to the ISPR, during an exchange of fire, sepoy Muhammad Amir Iqbal, who was 30 years old, embraced shahadat (martyrdom).

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Limited operations of much-awaited Green Line bus kick off in Karachi

Governor Sindh Imran Ismail on Saturday took a ride on Karachi’s new Green Line bus, kicking off initial operations for a much-awaited project which was stalled for the last five years.

Following the inspection of his bus, he told the media that the elevators of the Green Line bus "aren’t malfunctioning". He said that all stations of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) will be fully operational from January 10, 2022.

Ismail said that the minimum bus fare will be Rs15 and the maximum will amount to Rs55. Addressing the confusion regarding the card for the service, he clarified that the bus card is confusing people but this will be charged like any mobile phone card.

It may be recalled that Prime Minister Imran Khan had inaugurated the bus service project on December 10 during his one-day visit to Karachi.

The inauguration was held at the main station of the Green Line project at Numaish Chowrangi.

Travellers must note that 11 out of 22 stations will remain operational till January 10 with 25 out of the total 80 hybrid energy buses to operate for only four hours a day, from 8am to 12pm.

According to Sindh Infrastructure Development Company (SIDCL) officials, buses, stations, and working hours will be increased after January 10.

The buses will shuttle between Surjani town, Abdullah Chowk, and Numaish Chowrangi. These buses will arrive at the stations every five minutes.

The buses can accommodate more than 150 people at a time and special seats have been reserved for disabled people.

Those people who plan to travel on a daily basis can also have cards made that can be recharged just like mobile cards.

The bus service will be monitored by CCTV cameras and the name of the station where the bus will stop will appear on a screen inside the bus.

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