Karachi: Police arrested late last night 185 people suspected to be involved in terror operations in Karachi, capital of Sindh province south of the country.
The arrested also include 16 illegal immigrants and 43 absconders, police said.
The arrests follow after the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Federal Cabinet Wednesday empowered the Rangers to launch operations to ferret out criminals from targeted areas of Karachi.
This decision was taken at a special session of the Federal Cabinet after extensive consultation for two days by Sharif with all stakeholders, including Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, leaders of different political parties, representatives of business community and media persons at the Governor’s House.
The para-military forces started operations to find and arrest elements that undermine the security and stability of the city, security sources confirmed.
Karachi is Pakistan’s largest city in terms of population and is home to about 20 million people. It is the main business center, strategically located in the south on the shores of Arabian Sea with the country’s largest seaport.
PTI may face poll eligibility
ISLAMABAD: Confusion prevails over the eligibility of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) to contest the October 7 by-elections for three provincial assembly seats as it has failed to submit the consolidated statement of accounts with the Election Commission of Pakistan, a requirement under the Political Parties Order 2002.
Instead of submitting the statement of accounts, the party sent an application to the ECP last week, seeking one month’s extension.
The ECP is yet to take a decision on it. In its application, the PTI cited its engagement in the Aug 22 by-elections as the reason for its failure to meet the requirement.
The law is silent on the issue of ECP power to give relaxation to a political party and extend the date. However, there are some confusions.
Under article 13 of the Political Parties Order, every political party is required to submit within 60 days after the close of a financial year the consolidated statement of accounts to the ECP, duly audited by a chartered accountant.
And according to article 14, if a party fails to submit its statement of accounts it will not be eligible to obtain an election symbol for contesting the elections.
But the law does not specifically mention if the term ‘election’ also covers the by-polls.
Ranking loss for Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: At a time when the new Pakistani government is striving to re-strengthen institutions, Pakistan has slipped down to 133 on competitiveness ranking among 148 countries reflecting weaknesses in its institutions and capacity of the economy to create space for innovation.
The competitiveness ranking is part of the Global Competitiveness Report 2013-14, which was released here yesterday by Mishal Pakistan, a local partner institute of the World Economic Forum.
Pakistan was ranked at 124 in 2012-13 and 118 in 2011-12.
The gradual slipping of Pakistan’s rank shows the areas of public and private partnerships for cooperation for improving competitiveness are also diminishing as well.
Agencies
