ECP is not sure to use of EVMs in next election

Despite the required legislation to hold elections using electronic voting machines (EVMs) going through, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is still not sure if EVMs will actually be used in the next polls.

This observation from the ECP came during a meeting of the members of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Law and Justice, chaired by PTI MNA Riaz Fatyana.
It took India 20 years and Brazil 22 years to start using these machines, ECP Secretary Omar Hamid Khan told lawmakers, explaining that it will also take them "a while" to get EVMs up and running.

The ECP official said there are challenges in using EVMs and they cannot say anything with surety on whether the use of EVMs will be applicable in the next elections or not.

Khan said EVMs would have to go through 14 steps before they can be used in the next general elections. There would be three to four more pilot projects related to the use of the EVMs, he maintained.

“How many EVMs will there be at a polling station also remains to be figured out,” he said, adding that the state institution is working to facilitate overseas Pakistanis.

On this occasion, MNA Aalia Kamran raised some very pertinent questions, including how the EVMs would be used in areas without internet.

“[The] people of Balochistan barely go to cast votes. How will they cast a vote on an EVM?” she asked.

On Friday, the PTI government bulldozed 33 bills in a joint session of Parliament, including the election amendment bill, making way for the use of EVMs in the next elections.

The Opposition has continually objected to the use of these machines, saying they are prone to hacking and not reliable.
Meanwhile, senior PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal says EVMs are vulnerable to rigging even if they do not operate online

“The machines will work under the government’s supervision. They can be tampered with,” he said while addressing the media outside Parliament House alongside PPP parliamentary leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman, JUI-F's Shahida Akhtar and PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb.

“What happened yesterday will go down as a black day in Pakistan’s history, where a red line was crossed by the government and the world saw the worst demonstration of Pakistan's government pass controversial, polarising legislation with an artificial majority, created by coercion and carrots,” Rehman said.

Iqbal said there was information that the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) chairperson was allegedly using organisational resources and data for the government's upcoming election campaign.

"If NADRA is found leaking national data to the government, they will be liable to face treason charges,” he said.

Iqbal, too, said it was the "blackest" day in the history of Parliament, expressing the hope that the courts would now uphold the Constitution.

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Surprised PTI govt on another 'fishy' EVM mission after RTS failure in last polls: CM Sindh

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has a bone to pick with the federal government over its initiation of an "unrealistic" rotation policy of transfers and postings of bureaucrats and police officials and over the approval of controversial bills about the population census and the use of an electronic voting machine (EVM) in the joint session of Parliament.

The Sindh CM expressed his views at a press conference following a provincial cabinet meeting Thursday.

“It is a wrong impression that officers of the PAS [Pakistan Administrative Service] and PSP [Police Service of Pakistan] are the employees of the federal government, who in fact are employees of the Federation and the federal government is legally bound to have a 'meaningful discussion' with the chief minister before transferring or posting any of them from the province,” the Sindh CM was quoted as saying by The News.

The federal government has withdrawn the services of four grade BS-20 PAS officer and seven PSP officers from Sindh and sent four PAS and eight PSP officers in their place under its rotation policy, informed the Sindh CM, protesting the transfer of nearly 50% or 12 officer from Sindh against 26 sanctioned posts of PSP officers of Grade BS-20.

In the case of PAS officers, he said that against 67 sanctioned posts, only 30 were working – which means Sindh has a shortage of 37 officers. Similarly, the Sindh government has a sanctioned strength of 16 officers of grade BS-21 against which only four officers are working, he said.

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ECP is not sure to use of EVMs in next election

Despite the required legislation to hold elections using electronic voting machines (EVMs) going through, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is still not sure if EVMs will actually be used in the next polls.

This observation from the ECP came during a meeting of the members of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Law and Justice, chaired by PTI MNA Riaz Fatyana.
It took India 20 years and Brazil 22 years to start using these machines, ECP Secretary Omar Hamid Khan told lawmakers, explaining that it will also take them "a while" to get EVMs up and running.

The ECP official said there are challenges in using EVMs and they cannot say anything with surety on whether the use of EVMs will be applicable in the next elections or not.

Khan said EVMs would have to go through 14 steps before they can be used in the next general elections. There would be three to four more pilot projects related to the use of the EVMs, he maintained.

“How many EVMs will there be at a polling station also remains to be figured out,” he said, adding that the state institution is working to facilitate overseas Pakistanis.

On this occasion, MNA Aalia Kamran raised some very pertinent questions, including how the EVMs would be used in areas without internet.

“[The] people of Balochistan barely go to cast votes. How will they cast a vote on an EVM?” she asked.

On Friday, the PTI government bulldozed 33 bills in a joint session of Parliament, including the election amendment bill, making way for the use of EVMs in the next elections.

The Opposition has continually objected to the use of these machines, saying they are prone to hacking and not reliable.
Meanwhile, senior PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal says EVMs are vulnerable to rigging even if they do not operate online

“The machines will work under the government’s supervision. They can be tampered with,” he said while addressing the media outside Parliament House alongside PPP parliamentary leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman, JUI-F's Shahida Akhtar and PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb.

“What happened yesterday will go down as a black day in Pakistan’s history, where a red line was crossed by the government and the world saw the worst demonstration of Pakistan's government pass controversial, polarising legislation with an artificial majority, created by coercion and carrots,” Rehman said.

Iqbal said there was information that the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) chairperson was allegedly using organisational resources and data for the government's upcoming election campaign.

"If NADRA is found leaking national data to the government, they will be liable to face treason charges,” he said.

Iqbal, too, said it was the "blackest" day in the history of Parliament, expressing the hope that the courts would now uphold the Constitution.

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Surprised PTI govt on another 'fishy' EVM mission after RTS failure in last polls: CM Sindh

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has a bone to pick with the federal government over its initiation of an "unrealistic" rotation policy of transfers and postings of bureaucrats and police officials and over the approval of controversial bills about the population census and the use of an electronic voting machine (EVM) in the joint session of Parliament.

The Sindh CM expressed his views at a press conference following a provincial cabinet meeting Thursday.

“It is a wrong impression that officers of the PAS [Pakistan Administrative Service] and PSP [Police Service of Pakistan] are the employees of the federal government, who in fact are employees of the Federation and the federal government is legally bound to have a 'meaningful discussion' with the chief minister before transferring or posting any of them from the province,” the Sindh CM was quoted as saying by The News.

The federal government has withdrawn the services of four grade BS-20 PAS officer and seven PSP officers from Sindh and sent four PAS and eight PSP officers in their place under its rotation policy, informed the Sindh CM, protesting the transfer of nearly 50% or 12 officer from Sindh against 26 sanctioned posts of PSP officers of Grade BS-20.

In the case of PAS officers, he said that against 67 sanctioned posts, only 30 were working – which means Sindh has a shortage of 37 officers. Similarly, the Sindh government has a sanctioned strength of 16 officers of grade BS-21 against which only four officers are working, he said.

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1st T 20: Pakistan to take on Bangladesh in first T20I in Dhaka today

The Men in Green will look to continue their form against a dangerous Bangladesh side at home as the two sides lock horns in the first of the three-match Twenty20 International series today in Dhaka.

The clash will take place at 1pm PST. The two teams yesterday took part in a practice session ahead of their first faceoff.

Earlier, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced a 12-member team for today's T20I.

Skipper Babar Azam will lead the team with Shadab Khan as his vice-captain. Pakistan fielded the same line-up in all six World Cup matches and have retained almost the same squad for the Bangladesh series.

Babar's side stormed through the Super-12 phase of the ICC's Twenty20 World Cup in the UAE with five straight victories before they were handed a five-wicket defeat in the semi-final at the hands of Australia, who went on to win the T20 World Cup.

From the World Cup squad, Mohammad Hafeez is the only player who opted out of the team, with Iftikhar Ahmed brought on as his replacement.

Bangladesh are missing several senior players who have been ruled out due to injury or rested after a disastrous World Cup campaign, where they failed to win a single Super-12 match.

Captain Mahmudullah Riyad said his side were looking to start afresh and put the Dubai debacle behind them. "Whatever happened happened. If we think much about it that would affect us negatively. We want to think positive," he said.

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Govt strives for a better, easy taxation system: Imran Khan

Prime Minister Imran Khan on yesterday said that the government was striving for a better and easy taxation system in the country.

The prime minister, in a meeting with economic expert Arthur Betz Laffer, who called on him, said the record tax collection by the incumbent government manifested people’s trust on the government.
The discussion focused on multiple aspects of Pakistan’s taxation system as well as pros and cons of worldwide taxation system.
They also deliberated on the measures to widen Pakistan’s tax base, modernization of the system, easing burden on the masses as well as improvement of the system.
Finance Advisor Shaukat Fayaz Tarin also attended the meeting.

 

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LHC orders private offices in Lahore to halve staff attendance to tackle smog

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday ordered the Punjab government to issue a notification directing private offices in Lahore to halve staff attendance in an effort to tackle smog.

Justice Shahid Karim issued the directives while hearing a set of petitions on the provincial government’s failure to appropriately deal with environmental issues. Advocates Azhar Siddique And Sheraz Zaka represented the petitioners.

The court's directives come as Lahore on Wednesday once again topped the list of cities with the most polluted air in the world after air quality levels turned hazardous in the afternoon. However, the air quality slightly improved in the evening, bringing Lahore down to the second spot as New Delhi climbed to the top.

Smog occurs when smoke mixes with fog. While air pollution is a persistent issue in most urban centres in Pakistan, every October and November contaminates in the air in Punjab shoot up as farmers burn rice stalks or stubble left behind after harvesting to clear their fields to plant wheat.

During these cooler months, Lahore, which is surrounded by rice-growing districts, is covered with thick smog.

During today's hearing, the Judicial Water and Environmental Commission recommended closing down schools in smoggy areas. However, the court did not agree.

Justice Karim directed the provincial government to set up a smog cell at the offices of Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). The court also sought a traffic plan and directed authorities to set up an emergency helpline that citizens could call to complain about traffic issues.

According to the smog emergency plan submitted by the commission, stubble burning will be monitored by the PDMA on a daily basis and a thermal anomalies map will be shared with the district administration and agriculture department.

It also said that the PDMA will monitor the progress of each deputy commissioner and submit reports to the commission before the next meeting, which will be held on Wednesdays till the smog season subsists.

"The chairman of the commission [...] issued a direction that if the Air Quality Index (AQI) of a particular area exceeds 400 AQI, a notice shall be issued through the education department for the closure of the respective schools or to conduct online classes as the case may be," the report said.

AQI is a metric used by governments to inform the public about the quality of air. The higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution and the greater the health hazard. AQI values at or below 100 are generally thought of as satisfactory. Anything above that is considered unhealthy.

"It is being directed by the chairman of the commission that if the AQI for a particular area reaches 500AQI, then all the activities being committing by the respective industries shall be shut down. The traffic volume of the area having high AQI will be reduced to 50pc using the technique of odd and even numbers which in turn shall be enforced by the local police and traffic police," the report said.

The report also noted that according to the Environment Protection Agency, 4,761 brick kilns were inspected across the province and fined Rs35.9 million. Further, 797 cases were registered, 22 people were arrested and 274 kilns were sealed.

It said that the transport department had inspected 3,075 vehicles and issued warnings to 324 while 921 were challaned for emitting smoke.

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