Briefs

Qasmi takes additional charge of MD PTV

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has decided not to extend contract of Managing Director (MD) Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) Mohammad Malick after the end of his two year contract and Chairman PTV Attaul Haq Qasmi has assumed the charge of additional MD PTV. Sources said that Col (retd) Hassan has been transferred in sports section while notification has been issued for appointment of Waseem as Finance Manager.

Institutions on the brink of collapse due
to corruption: Siraj-ul-Haq

LAHORE: Chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Siraj-ul-Haq, said that all the state institutions are on the brink of collapse due to corruption in the country.

Addressing a ceremony in Lahore on Friday, the JI chief said that the so-called democracy and martial law benefited the politicians. The situation of the nation will not improve even if a thousand elections are conducted under the corrupt electoral process, Haq said. He added that those propagating Dr. Asim Hussain’s innocence have also been exposed. The JI chief said that the rulers who are spending billions of rupees on their extravagant expenses do not have any sympathy for the masses.

Hujra destroyed in Nowshera attack

NOWSHERA: A hujra was destroyed when an accused threw a hand-grenade and explosive into it in the Cherat area on Friday, official sources said. Nisar Khan reported to the police that he was present at his house when Latifur Rehman and Tariq hurleda  grenade and dynamite into his hujra. The motive behind the incident was stated to be an old enmity. The police have registered the case.

NAB challenges Sher Ali’s bail in SC

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday challenged the Lahore High Court verdict pertaining to Chaudhry Sher Ali’s bail in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.The accountability bureau alleged that Sher Ali was involved in graft and corruption as mayor and member of the National Assembly (MNA). The bureau official stated that Sher Ali allegedly allotted and sold pieces of land owned by the government. He rendered losses worth crores of rupees to the national exchequer, he added.Notably, a trial court had sentenced Sher Ali to 10 years imprisonment besides Rs20 million fine. But the Lahore High Court granted him bail.The Supreme Court was requested to uphold the trial court’s verdict and annul the LHC order.

110 passport agents nabbed countrywide

ISLAMABAD: A crackdown has been launched against agents and mafia outside the passport offices across the country on the instructions of Interior Minister Ch Nisar.Around 110 agents were arrested as a result of the crackdown and cases were registered against the accused, interior ministry said on Friday. The interior minister said action should be taken against the officials of passport offices who were colluding with the agent mafia and touts.He instructed the director general Passport Office to devise a coordinated strategy to uproot the menace by continuing the operation against touts and agent mafia.

UN’s body nominates Muniba Mazari as goodwill envoy

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women announced Muniba Mazari as Pakistan’s first female goodwill ambassador to combat gender discrimination and injustice to women.On her nomination, she expressed her whole-hearted association to the cause and purpose of women empowerment and gender equality.She wants to work for women education and liberation as a whole. In her tweet, she mentioned her intentions of empowering the Pakistani women through education and strengthening the upcoming generations at the same time.