BISP chief may quit after rift with secretary

ISLAMABAD: Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Chairman Anwar Baig is likely to tender his resignation within a couple of days after severe administration crisis in multi-billion project, ‘The News’ has learnt reliably.

According to sources privy to Mr Baig, the powerful secretary of BISP has taken over the affairs of the multi-billion programme asking the junior staff not to engage with the chairman.Sources said the rift between the two top officials has jeopardized the future of 5.5 million families benefiting from Rs70 billion poverty alleviation programme.

This situation has put the entire BISP staff in a dilemma whether to follow the orders of the influential secretary or the chairman who was appointed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.Sources said no policy decision had been taken regarding the crucial affairs related to BISP for the last few weeks owing to complete breakdown of communication between the chairman and the secretary.

Sources said the foreign donors were also concerned over the internal crisis in the mega project.BISP is a flagship poverty alleviation programme which is partially funded by the international donors. An amount of Rs70 billion had been allocated for the programme for the financial year 2012-13 to provide cash assistance to 5.5 million families, which constitutes almost 18 percent of the entire population. The programme is aimed at covering almost 40 percent of the population below the poverty line.

The rift started when BISP Secretary Rab Nawaz made a payment of Rs2.6 million to an NGO owned by a US-national without approval of the scrutiny committee just a few days after assuming his post. The company chairman, however, said it was a Pakistani company registered with SECP and it had nothing to do with US. He said the company accomplished its task of conducting spot checking and holding surveys in 66 districts of the country and its work was approved by BISP but the payment of over Rs 220 million was pending since last June 2013 because of ongoing infighting in BISP.

The powerful secretary had also immediately removed an honest internal auditor who had unearthed the corruption of Rs150 million in award of a consultancy contract worth Rs2.63 billion.

The BISP chairman took strict notice of the irregularities and sought explanation from Rab Nawaz. However instead of giving any explanation, Rab Nawaz ordered the entire BISP staff not to engage with the chairman.

When contacted, BISP Chairman Enver Baig confirmed the rift and said he would request the prime minister to intervene for the future of 5.5 million families who are living below the poverty line.

The matter even came to the attention of Parliament where three ruling party MNAs and one legislator of Muttahida Quomi Movement (MQM) moved separate calling attention notices. However even the parliamentary notice could not improve the situation in BISP as sources said the secretary is backed by a group of very influential bureaucrats and a powerful cabinet member who are supporting the secretary despite his tainted past.

Sources said the issue had become a test case for the prime minister who would have to decide soon whether to allow Grade-20 bureaucrats to run the affairs of the government or let the politicians control their respective departments and be answerable for their performance.

Sources said the incumbent BISP secretary was removed twice by the PML-N’s Punjab government for dismal performance and negligence.

First he was removed from the post of the Punjab Irrigation and Power Secretary after he was found guilty of negligence during devastating floods of 2010 by a judicial commission constituted by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

The commission had not only recommended immediate removal of Rab Nawaz from the post but also asked for inquiry against him after he was found responsible for loss of hundreds of lives and of property worth tens of billions of rupees.

The report of the commission concluded that the officer had failed to meet the monumental challenge of two floods in the River Indus during the 2010 monsoon, causing widespread devastation. But the officer of the powerful District Management Group again managed to get the prize posting in the province as secretary energy. However, he could not satisfy the fast-paced chief minister with his performance in the energy sector and was subsequently removed for failing to initiate any new power project in the province.

Despite repeated calls and messages on his mobile phone for last five days, Rab Nawaz did not respond to The News for his version.However talking to this correspondent earlier this month, the BISP secretary denied committing any irregularity. He said the payment of Rs2.7 million was released on merit. He said the service provider had submitted his bill six months ago but the scrutiny committee never met nor examined his case.

“So I asked the service provider to hold a presentation in the presence of the committee members and when no one objected to the performance of the said service provider, I directed them to release the payment,” he said.

Referring to the transfer of the internal auditor, Rab Nawaz said the officer had completed his five-year tenure so he was transferred. He also claimed that there were certain audit paras against him.

The secretary added that he was asked to work in BISP on the basis of his past experience with poverty reduction programmes in Pakistan and abroad and with foreign funding agencies.When asked about the reports that he was removed twice in Punjab over poor performance, Rab Nawaz denied these reports and said that it was a matter of official record if someone would bother to check. And as far his integrity and repute was concerned, that could easily be verified from anyone in the offices he previously served.

He was asked about the reports that the Flood Enquiry Tribunal had held him responsible for poor management of the flood, he replied that Punjab government had not agreed to the commission’s findings and therefore, no action was initiated against him.

About the institutional issues in BISP, the secretary said that no proper rules had been framed in BISP to define the roles and guide the work of various offices. Once the rules were framed, there would be no issue in proper working of BISP, he said.

US health secretary resigns after website fiasco

Kathleen Sebelius (65), Barack Obama’s Health and Human Services Secretary, resigned on Thursday a few months after the disastrous rollout of the ‘Obamacare’ website, healthcare.gov, which became a magnet for criticism of the President’s landmark Affordable Care Act.

Although Republicans, many of whom have been fiercely critical of the healthcare reform policies of the White House, called for Ms. Sebelius’ resignation last fall, she ended her five-year tenure only after the enrolment period ended at the end of last month.

A White House official noted that Mr. Obama would formally make announce that Ms. Sebelius would step down on Friday and that he would also nominate the White House Budget Office Director Sylvia Matthews Burwell to replace her, subject to Senate confirmation.

“The President wants to make sure we have a proven manager and relentless implementer in the job over there, which is why he is going to nominate Sylvia,” said Denis McDonough, White House Chief of Staff.

He added that Last month, Ms. Sebelius had approached Mr. Obama earlier and said to him that the March 31 deadline for sign-ups under the healthcare law “provided an opportunity for change,” and that he would be “best served by someone who was not the target of so much political ire.”

Ms. Sebelius departs from the Obama administration as strong favourite of top Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi who defended the Secretary’s record, saying, “From Day One, [Ms.] Sebelius has remained laser-focused on a single purpose: to make health care a right, not a privilege, for all Americans. Her leadership has been forceful, effective and essential.”

Notwithstanding the controversy over the healthcare.gov website, which at points appeared to collapse under the sheer momentum of enrolments last year, Ms. Sebelius also departs with at least part credit for exceeding the ‘Obamacare’ enrolment targets to more than 7.5 million people.

However the website controversy has apparently come at a high political cost for the President and his party, leading to Democrats’ poll numbers to plunge from its highs during the 2013 government shutdown. Some predict that the issue may also fuel Republicans’ midterm elections campaign this November.

US Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius quits over Obamacare

KARACHI: The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s ceasefire of 40 days which it announced to initiate peace talks with the government has expired.

The militant outfit denounced terrorist attacks which took place during the ceasefire period.

The TTP had declared ceasefire after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced to hold talks with the militant organization in a bid to establish peace in the country.

However, during the ceasefire, only one formal meeting was held between the Taliban and the government committee.

The TTP had announced ten-day extension after the expiry of one-month ceasefire. They, however, said that the government had not responded positively over their ceasefire.

ETA will help boost tourism in India: Tourism Secretary

 

 

The Hindu A file picture of Secretary, Tourism Mr. Parvez Dewan. Photo: Nagara Gopal.

The move to grant in principle approval for Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to travellers from 180 countries to India will boost tourism in the country, Tourism Secretary Parvez Dewan said on Tuesday.

“Travelling to India will be made easy once the ETA to visit the country becomes operational,” he said.

ETA, which will allow foreign travellers to apply for a visa from home and receive an online confirmation in five working days, is expected to become operational by October. Barring eight prior reference countries, which include Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Nigeria and Sri Lanka, government has decided to give e-visa to all the 180 countries.

Mr. Dewan added that during the past year, India had considerably relaxed its visa regime and expanded the Visa-on-Arrival (VoA) scheme.

India launched the VoA scheme in January 2010 for citizens of five countries – Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore — visiting India for tourism purposes. The scheme was later extended to six more countries in January 2011.

Further, the secretary said that a dedicated helpline for inbound tourists will be launched in a year. "Tourism Infoline in 12 languages will become operational in about a year," he said.

The Infoline – a dedicated call centre -- will provide information regarding tourist-related facilities and services available in the country.

People dying in Balochistan while chief secretary visiting US: SC

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday observed that the Balochistan chief secretary was visiting the US while people in the province were dying.

The apex court gave these remarks when it was informed that the meeting of the chief secretary, the counsel for the FC Irfan Qadir, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) and Balochistan Advocate General Nizamud Din could not be held as the chief secretary had proceeded on a visit to the US.

A two-member bench of the apex court comprising Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Mushir Alam was hearing the cases on the law and order situation in Balochistan, missing persons and the Khuzdar mass grave.

The court asked the Balochistan government what the solution of missing persons issue was and directed the chief secretary to submit a detailed report in this regard in the first week of April.

The court also directed the chief secretary, the counsel for FC Irfan Qadir, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) and Balochistan Advocate General Nizamud Din to hold a meeting and decide how to proceed against the army officers, allegedly involved in the enforced disappearances of the people in Balochistan.

The court also directed the Punjab advocate general to appear on the next date of hearing and explain why a long time was required for finalising the DNA report of the bodies found from a mass grave in the Khuzdar district.

During the proceedings, the Balochistan Home Secretary, Asad Gilani, informed the court that 14 samples had been taken and now they had to be matched and it would take at least four to five months.

It means that the bodies would not be buried till the DNA report, Justice Amir Hani Muslim observed.The home secretary, however, replied that two persons had been identified and other bodies would be handed over after their identification.

The advocate general said that the samples had been sent to the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PSFA), Lahore, for DNA tests, which had told them that it would take four to five months to finalise the DNA report.

The court asked the Balochistan advocate general as to why the meeting of the provincial chief secretary, advocate general and counsel for the FC Irfan Qadir was not held.The Balochistan AG said that March 24 was fixed for the meeting but the prime minister called the chief secretary to Islamabad.

Justice Hani said that the meeting could have been held on the next day. However, the advocate general said after that, the secretary had flown to the US and was still in America.The court observed that on March 7, it directed the chief secretary, advocate general and FC counsel Irfan Qadir to hold a meeting on the missing persons’ issue.

Irfan Qadir, however, informed the court that he had talked to the chief secretary on phone. The court observed as to how the meeting could be held on phone.Meanwhile, the court directed the Balochistan chief secretary to hold a meeting on his return from the US and adjourned the hearing for two weeks.

SC directs Secretary Interior to constitute new JIT for inquiry of court tragedy

ISLAMABAD: A two-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Tassadaqu Hussain Jillani directed Secretary Interior to constitute a new joint investigation team (JIT), headed by an independent and upright officer of Deputy Inspector General of Police for inquiry of Islamabad District Courts tragedy in which 11 persons were killed and 32 injured.
The bench also directed the Secretary to include representatives of the intelligence agencies with mandate to complete the inquiry within two weeks and submit report before the Supreme Court.
The bench of the Supreme Court expressed displeasure over the reports submitted by the Inspector General of Police and the Chief Commissioner of Islamabad pointing out some contradictions between the two reports and directed the Secretary Interior to submit a detailed report in the court after covering all areas of the tragedy including the numbers of assailants.
The bench also stopped all the stakeholders to issue statements on the issue saying that it could cause confusion during the conduct of inquiry.
Rao Naveed Advocate who is also son of deceased Rao Rashid advocate who was killed by the assailants on March 3, 2014 appeared before the court and requested the bench to allow him for the registration of separate FIR and directions may please be issued.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Tassadaqu Hussain Jillani and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed heard the point of view of Rao Naveed in detail and observed that "No separate FIR can be registered." However, the bench directed the Inspector General of Police Islamabad Sikandar Hayat to allow every one for recording statement before the police regarding the incident.
Mohsan Akhtar Kiyani, President Islamabad High Court Bar Association apprised the bench about compensation being paid to deceased and injured saying that the government announced Rs. 500,000 for each deceased and Rs. 75,000 for each injured which is not proper compensation.
The bench directed Secretary Interior to enhance compensation for deceased and injured even government should also consider jobs for a son or daughter of every deceased.
However, the bench asked Chief Justice Islamabad High Court to continue inquiry being conducted through a judge of the Islamabad High Court with direction to submit the report as completed.
Inspector General of Police appeared before the court and apprised the bench about the progress of the inquiry being conducted by the police and said that statements of 154 witnesses have already been recorded. Statements of lawyers will be recorded without delay.
The Inspector General of Police also briefed the bench about security measures taken and being taken for the security of District Courts Islamabad.
To a question raised by the bench regarding number of assailants, the Chief Commissioner Islamabad apprised the court that inquiry is in progress and "No final figure has been determined so far".
Tariq Asad Advocate and Riaz Hanif Rahi advocate appeared before the court and requested the bench to entertain the petitions filed by them separately on the same issue.
The bench accepted the request and directed the office to fix their petitions along with the suo motu case in future.
On the request of Taufeeq Asif Advocate, the bench directed the office concerned to club the petition filed by lawyers of Rawalpindi regarding security of lawyers of the twin cities.
The hearing of the case was then adjourned for March 17 (Monday)

SC directs Foreign Secretary to submit report over issuance of Passports to overseas in China

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs to contact Pakistan Embassy in China and submit report regarding the issuance of Machine Readable Passports to the overseas Pakistanis there.

The three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, resumed hearing of a suo-moto notice case on an application sent by an overseas Pakistani regarding non-issuance of Machine Readable Passports to 7500 overseas Pakistanis, residing in China.

During the course of proceedings, Additional Attorney General Shah Khawar informed the court that a modern machine had been installed at the Pakistan Embassy in Beijing and problems of the overseas Pakistanis would be solved in a short span of time.

On this, the Chief Justice remarked that an E-mail has received from an overseas Pakistani which stated that no tangible measures were taken to resolve the problem.

Naveed Khan Deputy Project Director National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) appeared before the bench and told that System Administrator Muhammad Waseem and Technician Aamir Mahmood had been appointed as data entry operator and they would start work within three to four weeks after reaching China.

Justice Azmat Saeed remarked that NADRA was reluctant to issue a clear stance on the issue.

Later, the court adjourned hearing till March 17.