Major crack down will be launched on all illegal housing societies: Zulfi Bukhari

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on overseas Pakistanis Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari said Thursday a "major crack down will be launched on all illegal housing societies" that engaged in hoodwinking expatriates.

Making the announcement on Twitter, Bukhari said the crackdown was aimed at "all illegal housing societies selling to Overseas Pakistanis through external channels", such as expos, as well as digital and overseas offices, and promising them fake investment opportunities.

"No one will be allowed to cheat innocent OPs [overseas Pakistanis]," he said. "Will share mechanism to provide better real estate investment channels."

According to a senior official at the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (OP&HRD), most of the complaints lodged by the expatriates were related to the property disputes.

That was why the government had been moving forward briskly with its plan of setting up the first-ever "fast-track" court in Islamabad to ensure a speedy retrieval of the expatriates’ properties from land grabbers, the ministry official told APP.

The project had entered its final stages as the Ministry of Law and Justice would finalise the related summary shortly by approving the official definition of an "overseas Pakistani", he added. One that was done, a final draft would be presented to the cabinet and the parliament for approval.

The official said his ministry had submitted the summary to its Law and Justice counterpart a couple of months ago on Bukhari's instructions. The SAPM had originally come up with the idea of establishing a dedicated fast-track court for the overseas Pakistanis.

Speaking to APP, the special assistant said the primary goal was "to move forward for swift retrieval of valuable properties of Pakistanis living abroad from mafias and bring them to justice".

Bukhari said the fast-track court would ensure disposal of cases within a one-month period. "On special directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the government would extend all possible facilities to expatriates for investment in diverse fields of economy.

”The special assistant said the fast-track court in the capital city would be taken as a pilot project after which similar courts would be set up in other cities of the country," he added.

He regretted that the previous government had not paid any attention towards the overseas Pakistanis' challenges despite the fact that they repeatedly highlighted their miseries.

Moreover, the SAPM said a special desk had been set up at Islamabad's police facilitation centre to make sure the overseas Pakistanis' issues were swiftly resolved.

The Overseas Pakistanis Foundation's officials had been working at the special desk round the clock to establish a strong connectivity among the concerned departments to instantly resolve the expatriates' complaints.

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Kremlin tells West not to rush to judge it on Navalny as sanctions talk starts

Peskov said Russia was eager to know what had happened to Navalny, but couldn’t do so without receiving information from Germany about the tests that had led to Berlin’s conclusions about Novichok.

OPCW, the global chemical weapons agency, said the poisoning of any individual with a toxic nerve agent would be considered use of a banned chemical weapon.

The European Commission said the bloc could only slap new sanctions on Russia after an investigation revealed who was responsible for Navalny’s poisoning. Lithuania said it would ask EU leaders to discuss the poisoning at their next summit.

Merkel said that any German or European response would depend on whether Russia helped clear up the case.

After her strong statement on Wednesday, she is under pressure at home to reconsider the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will take gas from Russia to Germany.

“We must pursue hard politics, we must respond with the only language (Russian President Vladimir) Putin understands - that is gas sales,” Norbert Roettgen, head of Germany’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, told German radio.

“If the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is completed now, it would be the maximum confirmation and encouragement for Putin to continue this kind of politics,” Roettgen, a member of Merkel’s conservatives, told German television separately.

Nord Stream 2 is set to double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream 1 pipeline in carrying gas directly from Russia to Germany. Led by Russian company Gazprom with Western partners, the project is more than 90% finished and due to operate from early 2021. This may complicate efforts to stop it.

It is fiercely opposed by Washington and has divided the European Union, with some countries warning it will undermine the traditional gas transit state, Ukraine, and increase the bloc’s reliance on Russia.

Peskov said the Kremlin regarded talk of trying to thwart Nord Stream 2 as being based on emotions. He said the project was a commercial one which benefited Russia, Germany and Europe.

“We don’t understand what the reason for any sanctions could be,” said Peskov.

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All KK’s foreign, local players to be available for remaining PSL matches: Dean Jones

Karachi Kings head coach Dean Jones has said that all the foreign and local players of his franchise would be available for the remaining four HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 matches, which were postponed on March 17 due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced that the four matches would be held in Lahore on November 14, 15 and 17 with only the Qualifier and Eliminator 1 to be a double-header. Eliminator 2 would be played on the following day, while the event will conclude on Tuesday, November 17.

The final four matches of the event would be played under COVID-19 protocols, including bio-secure bubble for the players, match officials and event-related staff. The matches were currently planned to be held behind closed doors, though the situation would be closely monitored and will be reviewed in October.

“My understanding is that all of our Karachi Kings overseas and local boys will be available for the PSL playoffs from Nov 14-17,” Jones tweeted

 

My understanding ALL of our @KarachiKingsARY Overseas and local boys will be AVAILABLE for the #PSLPLAYOFFS Nov 14-17#Lahore #PSLV #PSL5

— Dean Jones AM (@ProfDeano) September 2, 2020

Kings’ owner Salman Iqbal also appreciated the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) decision to announce the schedule and said that his franchise was ready to compete in the playoffs.

“Great decision by PCB regarding the eliminators and finals. Karachi Kings is ready!” he wrote.

 

Great decision by @TheRealPCB regarding the eliminators and finals . @KarachiKingsARY is ready !!!

— Salman Iqbal ARY (@Salman_ARY) September 2, 2020

South African cricketer Cameron Delport was also keen to return to Pakistan to represent Karachi Kings. “Yes Boss, so is your boys,” Delport wrote in his reply to Iqbal.

 

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With hand-wash and emotional support, pupils return to London school

Primary school children returning to the Harris Academy in London on Thursday will find themselves sitting in rows, regularly washing their hands and supported by teachers who have been trained to provide emotional support after lockdown.

Children started to return to schools this week - for many the first time they have been back in full-time education since the spread of COVID-19 forced classes to shut in March.

To prevent large gatherings, schools are staggering arrivals, keeping pupils in smaller groups, controlling where they walk in communal areas and requiring the provision of water bottles and pencil cases to prevent sharing. Desks are likely to be placed in rows so pupils do not sit in groups on a table.

Sam French, executive principal at Harris Academy, said the staff were delighted to be back and while there have been many challenges, they wanted the school to look as normal as before.

“We’ve done our very best to keep (the challenges) at our level so when the children came back today, as far as possible they were coming back to the school that they left in March,” she told, over the sound of pupils in the playground.

Children were greeted by a teacher providing hand sanitizer when they arrived to an archway of balloons on Thursday.

While schools kept in touch with pupils during lockdown and provided regular work, teachers will now need to use the first term to assess how many children have fallen behind, and how many have pulled ahead in their learning.

“These first few weeks are just about finding out where the gaps are, finding out where the strengths are and then building, so that by October half-term we’re all back where we need to be and we can continue with the year,” French said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government is under pressure to ensure that schools can stay open after the long break and following a debacle over estimated exam results that affected whether some students went to university this year.

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Mahira Khan shares selfie with Turkish language caption

Pakistan's favorite superstar Mahira Khan on Thursday treated her millions of fans with a brand new selfie on Instagram.

The caption accompanying her picture was written in Turkish language which read, "Boşver" (Never mind).

People who are watching popular Turkish series "Dirilis:Ertugrul" were quick to identify the language while others were left clueless.

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Bangladesh keen to reschedule postponed Test against Pakistan

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is keen to reschedule the postponed Test against Pakistan in a bid to recover from the loss of five home and away series that could not take place due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The cancellation of the five series is adversely affecting Bangladesh’s chances in the ongoing World Test Championship.

The series against Pakistan, which was postponed, included the second and final Test along with a solitary One-Day International (ODI) encounter.

The Tigers called off a tour to Ireland while Australia’s tour to Bangladesh was also scrapped. The Bangladesh side was then supposed to tour Sri Lanka in July, however, the series was also called off as the pandemic raged on around the globe.

“You all know that we were forced to postpone four series [due to the pandemic], against Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Ireland. Other than that, we had a Test left to play with Pakistan. This [Test against Pakistan] can be rescheduled easily as it requires a small window. We will discuss that with Pakistan Cricket Board,” BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury told media on Tuesday.

“With New Zealand, we have discussed about rescheduling the Test series and we have agreed on confirming the series by the middle of next year. The series against Sri Lanka is already confirmed,” the BCB high-up added.

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IHC gives India, Jadhav second chance to clarify stance on pursuing case

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted on Thursday another opportunity to New Delhi and Kulbhushan Jadhav to clarify their stance on pursuing the case before the federal capital’s high court.

The direction came after the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Javed Khan informed the IHC’s larger bench, comprising Chief Justice IHC Athar Minallah, Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzaib, that the Government of Pakistan has not yet received a reply from the Indian Government.

He added that Indian spy Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav has maintained that he does not want to take the benefit of the International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Ordinance, 2020, for an effective review of the case, and requested considering his mercy plea, already pending before the Pakistan Army chief.

When the case was taken up, the AGP said that it appears that the Indian government was not interested in availing the opportunity of legal representation and its "focus is on embarrassing Pakistan".

A prompt response came from the Ministry of External Affairs in the past, said the AGP, adding, that a month has passed since the Islamabad High Court (IHC) directed the incumbent government to offer another chance of legal representation to New Delhi, but no reply was received.

The AGP observed that Pakistan is continuing the process of implementing the ICJ judgment but, apparently, India is busy obstructing the right to review.

Court order

“In order to remove any doubt, and to fulfill the requirements of a fair trial, we feel that another opportunity ought to be extended to the Government of India to consider taking appropriate measures so as to ensure effective compliance with the judgment of the International Court. It is also important to give an assurance to Commander Jadhav that his rights, particularly the right to a fair trial, is an integral factor of an effective review and reconsideration for a meaningful compliance with the judgment of the International Court. We, therefore, yet again restrain ourselves from proceeding in the matter in hand,” the court order stated.

To ensure effective review and reconsideration so as to give effect to the judgment of the international court, the court has directed the Attorney General for Pakistan to ensure that a copy of the order is provided to Commander Jadhav.

In addition, the court order stated that the Government of Pakistan shall, once again, convey the orders passed in this petition to the Government of India to enable the latter to consider taking appropriate measures in order to ensure compliance with the judgment of the international court.

The larger bench also stated that the IHC Registrar shall send copies of the petition and documents placed on the record to the amici curiae, appointed vide last order.

“They are expected to assist the court on the status of compliance with the judgment of the International Court in the event that Commander Jadhav or the Government of India decide against availing the remedy provided under the Ordinance of 2020,” the order read.

“We are of the opinion that these proceedings and judicial review, on the basis of the judgment of the International Court, may not be meaningful and effective if Commander Jadhav and the Government of India decide not to exercise the course of action highlighted in the judgment of the International Court,” the order read.

The Attorney General informed the court that “he has been informed by the officials of the Government of Pakistan that Commander Jadhav has reiterated his earlier stance and has preferred to pursue the remedy of clemency instead of invoking his right under the Ordinance of 2020.”

The order revealed that the court inquired from the IHC's registrar whether an enrolled counsel had filed a power of attorney on behalf of the Government of India, and the response was in the negative.

The hearing was adjourned till October 6.

Jadhav, a serving commander in the Indian Navy and working for India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), was arrested on March 3, 2016, in Balochistan on charges of espionage, and condemned to death by a military court the following year.

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