11 November 2018

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Sunday, November 11, 2018
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Nine killed, 35 missing in California
wildfire; Malibu threatened
PARADISE: Wildfires
burned out of control across
California, killing at least
nine people in a mountain
town and forcing residents
to flee the upscale beach
community of Malibu in the
face of a monster fire storm.
All nine victims were
found in and around the
Northern California town of
Paradise, where more than
6,700 homes and businesses
were burned down by the
Camp Fire, making it one of
the most destructive in state
history, according to
California Department of
Forestry and Fire protection
data.
“This event was the
worst-case scenario. It was
the event we have feared for
a long time,” Butte County
Sheriff Kory Honea said at
ISLAMABAD: The
Election Commission of
Pakistan has constituted
‘Post Election Review
Working Groups’ to examine
anomalies occurred
during the July 25 general
elections.
The ECP has formed at
least 13 working groups
tasked with different
assignments including
delimitations, preparations
of electoral lists and enlistment
of political parties.
The working groups
a press conference.
“Regrettably, not everybody
made it out.”
The remains of five of
the victims were discovered
in or near burned out cars,
three outside residences and
one inside a home, Honea
said.
Another 35 people had
been reported missing and
three firefighters had been
injured.
The flames descended
on Paradise so quickly that
many people were forced to
abandon their cars and run
for their lives down the sole
road through the mountain
town.
A school bus was among
several abandoned vehicles
left blackened by flames on
one road.
The Camp Fire, which
broke out on Thursday at
the edge of the Plumas
National Forest northeast of
Sacramento, has since
blackened more than
90,000 acres and was only 5
percent contained as of
nightfall on Friday.
ECP forms working groups to
find flaws in electoral process
will also examine anomalies
in allotment of electoral
symbols, deployment
and training of election
staff, constitution of
polling stations, printing
and dispatchment of ballot
papers, malfunctioning of
result transmission system
(RTS), monitoring of elections,
formation of appellate
tribunals and security
for overall elections.
The groups will also
give suggestions for better
management of the next
general elections.
The ECP had received a
number of complaints on
the election day, with ones
related to RTS on the top.
RTS is an android application
which enabled election
officers to send the
results to the ECP in real
time, but the app malfunctioned
soon after it was
made functional by the
ECP on the election day.
An inquiry was later
also conducted on failure
of RTS, which caused
President Rouhani: New US
sanctions have no effect on Iran
TEHRAN: President
Hassan Rouhani says the US
administration is seeking to
exert pressure on the Iranian
people through imposing
"inappropriate" sanctions
that he said would affect
their livelihood.
Rouhani made the
remarks at the end of a meeting
of the heads of the three
branches of power in Tehran
on Saturday.
He rejected Washington's
claim that it is not after putting
pressure on the Iranian
nation, but rather on the
Iranian government and the
Islamic establishment. The
claim, Rouhani said, is
"totally incorrect and inaccurate,
and they (the American
officials) have themselves
exposed this fact."
He further stressed that
the Iranian people were
already standing against US
sanctions contrary to what
Washington expected.
"The Iranian nation have
demonstrated their resistance
and withstanding and it is
clear that the one who is
thinking about pressure and
oppression against the people
is the ruling US administration
not the other side,"
Rouhani said.
"They are the ones who
want to negatively affect
people's lives and their
everyday livelihood through
inappropriate and wrong
sanctions," he added.
The Iranian chief executive
also said that the US had
targeted the country's banking
system as well as its
exports of oil and other
goods to hit the Islamic
Republic's revenues and its
import of basic goods.
However, Rouhnai said,
the fresh round of anti-Iran
sanctions, which took effect
on November 5, "had no
impact on the country's economic
trend because the US
had already used all the
weapons at its disposal and
had nothing new to use
against us."
The US just filled in a
long list of sanctions only to
have "psychological effect"
on the Iranian nation, he
noted.
Earlier this week, the
administration of US
President Donald Trump
unleashed a second round of
sanctions against Iran. The
punitive measures targeted
700 individuals, banks, aircraft,
ships and companies
tied to Iran’s energy and
financial industries.
They came months after
Washington scrapped the
2015 Iran nuclear accord,
called the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA), despite
international objections.
APC used for carrying Shahbaz
to airport goes out of order
LAHORE: The
Armored Personnel
Carrier (APC) which
used to bring Shahbaz
Sharif (arrested in
Ashiana Housing
Scandal) at Lahore airport
went out of order on
Saturday. Police officers
re- started APC by pushing
it.
As APC which was
used for bringing
Pakistan Muslim League
(PML-N) President and
leader of Opposition in
National Assembly
Shahbaz Sharif (arrested
in Ashiana Housing
Scandal) to accountability
court reached Lahore airport,
it went out of order
and police officers started
APC by pushing it.
delay in transmission of
results to the election commission.
Nadra teams had to go
to the offices of Returning
Officers to activate the
RTS software, and according
to the ECP, the RTS
software was installed in
the smartphones of all
Presiding Officers (PO)
who were able to transmit
Form 45 (containing tabulated
results of the polling
station) via their phone to
the ECP on election day.
PM for expediting
implementation of
Tobacco track,
trace system 2005
ISLAMABAD: Prime
Minister (PM) Imran Khan
while expressing concern
over delay in implementation
of Tobacco Track and
Trace System 2005 has
directed to enforce the system
early.
The PM took notice of
delay in implementation of
Tobacco track and trace system
menace of fake cigarettes on
Saturday besides issuing
directives for putting in
place this system as soon as
possible. Competition commission
has raised objection
over bidding procedure of
this system saying that the
bidding procedure should be
simple so that international
A total of 6,453 homes
had been destroyed in
Paradise and elsewhere,
Honea said, along with 260
commercial buildings. The
Tubbs Fire, which
destroyed 5,636 structures
in Napa and Sonoma counties
in October 2017, is listed
by Cal Fire as the most
destructive in state history.
In Malibu, some 500
miles (800 km) to the south,
flames driven by hot Santa
Ana winds gusting up to 50
miles per hour (80 kph)
raced down hillsides and
through canyons toward
multi-million dollar homes.
Thousands of residents
packed the Pacific Coast
Highway to head south or
took refuge on beaches,
along with their horses and
other pets.
Court extends
interim bail of
Malik Riaz, 9 others
RAWALPINDI: An anticorruption
court (ACC) in
Rawalpindi on Saturday
extended the interim bail of
Bahria Town Chairman
Malik Riaz, as well as nine
other suspects, in a case pertaining
to land-related fraud
and forgery of 1,170 Kanal
of land belonging to the
Punjab Forest Department.
The property tycoon, who
initially was not present on
Saturday, later appeared
before the court.
On October 23, Riaz was
granted interim bail by the
court after a FIR was registered
against him as well as
other government officials in
the Rawalpindi Anti
KARACHI: After a
few days of action the
operation to remove
Saddar and Empress
Market area from
encroachments seems
slowing down.
It was learnt that the
pace of operation was
slowed down after the
shoppers of illegal
bazaars around the
Empress Market staged
protests and sit-ins. On
Saturday morning the
bazaars around the
Empress Market were
closed, and a few shopkeepers
were present in
their protest camp in front
of the Empress Market
building.
Operation was carried
out for one day at motorcycle
market of Akbar
Road, but it was cosmetic
Four civilians critically injured as
Indian forces open fire across LoC
RAWALPINDI: Indian
forces on Saturday resorted
to unprovoked fire in Leepa
Sector along the Line of
Control (LoC) employing
heavy calibre weapons.
According to media
wing of armed forces, the
Inter Services Public
Relations (ISPR), as usual
the Indian forces deliberately
targeted civilian population
and injured four
innocent civilians.
The injured namely
Zaheer, Nasir, Munir and
Shaukat are the residents of
Bijildar and Battlian villages.
Pakistan Army effectively
responded by targeting
Indian posts, said the
ISPR.
The Indian forces along
the LoC and the Working
Boundary are continuously
targeting Pakistani side
with heavy weapons.
In 2018, the Indian
forces have carried out
more than 2312 ceasefire
violations along the LoC
and the Working Boundary,
resulting in killing of 35
innocent civilians, while
injuring 135 others.
This unprecedented
escalation in ceasefire violations
by India continued
from the year 2017 when
the Indian forces had committed
1970 ceasefire violations.
On November 3,
The Indian Deputy High
Commissioner J.P. Singh
was summoned by the
Foreign Office to lodge
protest over death of 22-
year-old Munazza Bibi,
who was martyred in
unprovoked ceasefire violations
by Indian forces
it said.
The providers should
also cut down on game
shows, reality shows and
singing contests that feature
celebrities.
along the Line of Control
(LoC) in Bhimbar Sector.
“The deliberate targeting
of civilian populated areas
is indeed deplorable and
contrary to human dignity,
international human rights
and humanitarian laws. The
ceasefire violations by India
are a threat to regional
peace and security and may
lead to a strategic miscalculation,”
said Director
General (SA & SAARC) Dr
Mohammad Faisal.
The FO spokesperson,
urged the Indian side to
respect the 2003 Ceasefire
arrangement, investigate it
and other incidents of
ceasefire violations,
instruct the Indian forces to
respect the ceasefire in letter
and spirit and maintain
peace on the LoC and the
Working Boundary.
China cracks down on celebrity
hype and fake click-through rates
SHANGHAI: Chinese
broadcasters and online
entertainment sites should
avoid celebrity hype and
crack down on fake audience
and click-through
rates, state media quoted the
National Radio and
Television Administration
as saying.
The edict comes after
Beijing ordered A-list
movie star Fan Bingbing to
pay about 884 million yuan
($129 million) in taxes and
fines, spurring widespread
discussion on the moral
health of China’s film
industry.
Some programs overpaid
celebrities, destroying
industry order and leading
teenagers into worshipping
stars and money, Xinhua
Establishment news agency said, citing the
administration.
Radio and television stations,
along with online
audio-visual service
providers, should scrap vulgar
content, promote core
socialist values and keep
children away from entertainment
and reality shows,
Corruption
police station on Oct 5. In
addition to Riaz, the FIR
named forest department
officials, revenue officers as
well as former Punjab chief
minister’s secretary GM
Sikandar, who were accused
of providing support in the
land-related fraud.
Addressing a reception
in Brussels, he said
India by all means of
brute tactics is trying to
suppress the popular liberation
struggle of gallant
people of Kashmir.
Farooq Haider said
Kashmiris are struggling
hard against all odds to
achieve their goal of liberation
from India which
has also been promised
to them by the world
in nature as hundreds of
shops erected on footpaths
were left
untouched. Only some
In a letter posted on her
official account on the
Twitter-like platform Weibo
last month, Fan said she
would overcome “all difficulties”
to pay her penalties.
AJK PM seeks world role in settlement
of Kashmir dispute
designed for curbing ISLAMABAD: AJK
Prime Minister has urged
civilized world to help in
achieving a peaceful settlement
of Kashmir issue
under the UN Security
Council resolutions.
companies could also participate
therein.
The competition commission
also objected that
the international companies
did not take part in the bidding
for want of procedure
of bidding and competition
and only one company participated
in bidding.
Saddar anti-encroachment drive slows down
KARACHI: A large number of people have gathered as the workers of Karachi
Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) use heavy machinery to demolish the buildings during
an anti-encroachment operation at Akbar Road.
body.
He appreciated the
Kashmiris living in
Europe for making untiring
efforts to highlight
the Kashmir issue at
international level.
Zardari extends greetings to Hindu communities
KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Chairman on
Saturday extended greetings to Hindu
communities all over the world in general
and Pakistan in particular on the
eve of Diwali festival being celebrated
on Wednesday.
In his message on Diwali, the PPP
Chairman held out assurances to the
non-Muslims living in Pakistan that his
Party will always stand for their protection
and promotion as equal citizens of
the state as per the vision of the founding
fathers of the country and teachings
of our religion Islam.
Bilawal said that Diwali is celebrated
as a triumph of good over evil and
light over darkness, adding that philosophy
of PPP is also fight against darkness,
injustices and inequality.
The PPP urged all those celebrating
Diwali to hold special prayers for the
peace, prosperity and progress of the
country as well as for interfaith harmony
and cohesive coexistence in the society.
He also asked the PPP leaders,
especially those of Minority Wing, to
celebrate and share festivities with the
have-nots among who need more attention
and care.
sunshades before these
shops were pulled down,
but illegal structures constructed
over footpaths
were not razed, allegedly
due to political pressure.
However, sources in
administration said the
operation was continued
and each and every illegal
structure would be razed,
albeit gradually, as the
apex court has already
ordered them to clear
Saddar, Regal, Empress
Market and surrounding
areas of illegal encroachments.
However, illegal intracity
bus terminals in
Saddar area were seen
fully operating, as the
long arm of the law was
yet to reach them.
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Chief Editor and Publisher Muhammad Taqi Alvi, Office No.509, Land Mark Plaza, I.I. Chundrigar Road Karachi. Tel. 021-32214988/32214990 Fax: 021-32214989 Printed by Jilani Printing Press ST-8 Block-10/A Gulshan-e-Iqbal Karachi.