NAB arrests Agha Siraj Durrani from outside SC

Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani was arrested from outside the Supreme Court after the apex court had earlier ordered him to surrender before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The orders were given during a hearing of the provincial assembly speaker's plea seeking bail in an assets beyond means case.

A three-member bench, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, was hearing the plea.

During the hearing, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah observed that the Sindh High Court rejected Durrani's bail plea on the basis of merit.

"Supreme Court cannot conduct a hearing on this plea without the high court's verdict," he remarked.

"You must have been in the jail if SHC had rejected your bail plea," Justice Sajjad Ali Shah said while addressing Durrani.

"Why should the court offer you leniency when you didn't surrender to the police?" he asked.

The apex court ordered Durrani to turn himself in, saying: "First comply with the SHC's order and surrender before NAB and then [the court] will conduct a hearing on this case next week."

Meanwhile, the SC also rejected Durrani's request to restrict NAB officials from arresting him from the courtroom.

"We have turned ourselves in before you [apex court]," Naqvi said.

At this, Justice Bandial directed Durrani to first surrender before NAB. "We had given you concession earlier as well. There is a high court's order against you."

"We will not interfere in NAB’s matter,” the judge stated.

The court later adjourned the case till next week.

Earlier, the apex court had nullified the SHC's orders pertaining to his release on bail in the case.

Durrani and 18 others accused have been indicted in the case by an accountability court in Karachi.

The case

The anti-graft watchdog had filed a reference against the PPP leader, his family members and others for allegedly accumulating assets worth Rs1.6 billion through illegal means.

The anti-graft watchdog claims Durrani was unable to account for a difference of Rs1,610,669,528 between his declared income from 1985 to 2018, and assets including properties and vehicles.

The bureau's report said Durrani misrepresented the value of 27 declared and undeclared assets including properties and investments. NAB said the assets were valued at Rs479.4 million but the PPP leader showed them to be worth Rs151.6 million.

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Minister informatio urges opposition to review decision to boycott briefing on national security

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry, in reaction to the Opposition's announcement to boycott the upcoming in-camera briefing of the national security committee, said that the decision is unfortunate.

The Opposition parties announced on Thursday their decision not to participate in the meeting to be held on December 6, citing the government's "dictatorial" behaviour as its reason.

Taking to Twitter, Fawad urged the Opposition to review its decision and earnestly attend the meeting.

اپوزیشن کا پارلیمان کی قومی سلامتی کمیٹی کی میٹنگ کا بائیکاٹ افسوسناک ہے، سات دہائیوں میں پہلی بار کوئ حکومت اپنی سیکیورٹی پالیسی پارلیمان کو پیش کر رہی ہے یہ سیاسی معاملہ نہیں بلکہ قومی سلامتی کا معاملہ ہے، اپوزیشن اپنے فیصلے پر نظرثانی کرے اور سنجیدگی سے اجلاس میں شرکت کرے

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) December 3, 2021

 

"It is the first time in seven decades that a government is presenting its policy on national security in the Parliament," he wrote.

"It is a matter of national security, not a political affair," Chaudhry said.

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Google delays office return until January as COVID-19 worries linger

Google is extending its voluntary return-to-office policy through January next year, CEO Sundar Pichai said on Tuesday, citing uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in many parts of the world.

The rapid spread of the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant is also making companies reconsider their mask mandates and vaccination policies.

Pichai said in an email to employees,"Beyond January 10, we will enable countries and locations to make determinations on when to end voluntary work-from-home based on local conditions". 

In the last few weeks, companies including Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Lyft (LYFT.O) delayed their return-to-office timelines to 2022 for U.S. workers due to the pandemic. 

Google had earlier delayed its return-to-office policy from September to October. It was one of the first companies to ask its employees to work from home due to the health crisis.

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US government shutdown averted hours before deadline

The US Congress has passed a stopgap bill to fund federal agencies until 18 February, avoiding a costly government shutdown over the festive season. In a 69-28 vote, the Senate backed the measure approved earlier by the House of Representatives. President Joe Biden is now expected to sign it into law.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, "I am glad that, in the end, cooler heads prevailed". The bill was passed hours before the funding would have stopped on Friday.

This would have left unpaid millions of workers in the public sector over Christmas and New Year, and museums and parks would have been shut.

A group of Republican Senators had threatened to derail the funding bill in protest over Mr Biden's push for the federally-mandated Covid vaccination for employees at large companies.

But their attempt to attach an amendment preventing the enforcement of the vaccine initiative was thwarted by Democrats.

The funding bill was approved by the House of Representatives earlier on Thursday in a 221-212 vote.

It is the latest example of the bitter political tug-of-war around government funding that has resulted in several shutdowns in recent years.

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Musk exercises more options, sells Tesla shares worth $1.01 bln

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has sold another 934,091 shares of the electric vehicle maker worth $1.01 billion to meet his tax obligations related to the exercise of options to buy 2.1 million shares, regulatory filings showed on Thursday. In early November, the world's richest person tweeted that he would sell 10% of his stock if users of the social media platform approved. A majority of them had agreed with the sale.

Since Nov. 8, Musk has exercised options to buy 10.7 million shares and sold 10.1 million shares for $10.9 billion.

Following a flurry of options exercise, Musk still has an option to buy about 10 million more shares at $6.24 each, which expires in August next year.

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China app giant Didi plans US stock market exit in move to Hong Kong

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global has announced plans to take its shares off the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and move its listing to Hong Kong. The firm has come under intense pressure since its US debut in July.

Within days of the initial public offering (IPO) Beijing announced a crackdown on technology companies listing overseas.

Earlier on Thursday the US market watchdog unveiled tough new rules for Chinese firms that list in America.

"Following careful research, the company will immediately start delisting on the New York stock exchange and start preparations for listing in Hong Kong," the company said on its account on Weibo, China's Twitter-like microblogging network.

In a separate English language statement Didi said its board had approved the move, adding: "The company will organise a shareholders meeting to vote on the above matter at an appropriate time in the future, following necessary procedures."

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Pakistan rejects India's 'mischievous spin' given to Kartarpur photoshoot

Pakistan has summoned a senior diplomat from the High Commission for the Republic of India to convey the "categorical rejection" of India's response to the recently surfaced incident involving a Pakistani model who posed bareheaded at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Pakistan "categorically rejects the mischievous spin given by India" to the matter.

It was conveyed to the Indian diplomat that the incident was swiftly addressed and clarified, stating that the "Government of Pakistan accords the highest primacy to the rights of the minorities. Sanctity of religious places and revered sites of every community is ensured in the country."
The statement further stated that the Indian diplomat was told to urge their government to investigate the incidents of gross and systematic persecution of minorities in India which continue with impunity and state complicity, instead of pointing fingers at Pakistan.

"Given its systematic marginalisation and brutalisation of minorities, India has no locus standi to even feign concern for minorities elsewhere."

Pakistan urged the Indian authorities to focus on ensuring effective protection of their own minorities and places of worship from repeated instances of desecration, hate crimes and mob lynching in the country.

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