Daily Digestible News- October 2, 2017

Contrary to expectation, Nawaz Sharif is not indicted Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday left the accountability court without being indicted in three graft cases prepared by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against him and his family. During the hearing, the PML-N lawyer argued that all of the accused in the case have to appear in court before an indictment can take place. Nawaz, his children — Hussain, Hassan, and Maryam — and Captain Safdar are expected to appear in court on October 9 and be indicted in the corruption cases. Read here about the Sharif family’s once-formidable political machine, the Pakistan Muslim League-N, which appears to be falling apart amid a cascade of political and legal challenges after the July 28 high-court ruling that permanently barred Sharif from parliamentary office for having been “dishonest” with the public. Yet against all odds, deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif seems determined to keep it standing.

Army Chief concludes ‘constructive’ talks in Afghanistan

Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed concluded “candid” and “constructive” talks on bilateral relations and ways to enhance mutual cooperation to fight terrorism in Kabul this Sunday. Accompanied by the chief of Pakistani spy agency, ISI, the general met Sunday with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the presidential palace in Kabul. “Both sides discussed regional security, bilateral relations, fight against terrorism, trade, and transit,” according to a brief statement issued by Ghani’s office after the meeting.

CPEC includes new plan for Pakistan’s digital future

A revamped communications framework, which includes components such as a fiber optic cable connecting Pakistan and China, a new submarine landing station for internet traffic flow, and digital TV for all will be part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Dawn reported on Sunday.

Outcry as video of child physically abused by teacher goes viral

A video of a 9-year-old girl who was physically abused by her teacher to the point of having bruises on her body went viral over the weekend and caused outrage among the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), police said on Sunday as they showed pictures of the girl with bruised  eyes and marks from flogging on her head and back. “The innocent child was ruthlessly beaten. Who resorts to such kind of torturous treatment with schoolchildren in today’s time?” Qazi Arsalan, second officer in Police Station Abbaspur, told  DawnNews .

PCB to offer $10k extra to foreigners for playing in Pakistan

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to offer $10,000 per match to each foreign cricketer who comes to Pakistan to play in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) series, sources told DawnNews.   The offer is being made as an incentive to foreign cricketers to play in Pakistan as the frequency of international tournaments hosted by the country has decreased since militants attacked the Sri Lankan team’s bus in Lahore in 2009, wounding six players and killing two civilians and six security officials. In March, calls for the return of international cricket picked up steam after the final of the domestic T20 Pakistan Super League, featuring high-profile foreign players such as World Cup winner Darren Sammy, was held in Lahore.

Government working on new round of regulatory duties to discourage imports

The government is developing a plan to address the growing difficulties on the external front in the immediate term, involving regulatory duties on imports of a large number of items in order to lower the budget deficit that currently stands at a high of 5.8 percent of the gross domestic product, a senior official in the loop told Dawn on Saturday. “The government is trying to both incentivize exports and reduce imports by coming up with a regime of regulatory duties,” he said. “This is something they are working on and is likely to be announced soon.”, he added.   Interior Minister lashes out at paramilitary Rangers

Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Monday lashed out at the Rangers paramilitary force for barring PML-N leaders, lawyers and supporters of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif from entering the accountability court in Islamabad where the former prime minister had appeared for a hearing into graft cases against him.

Speaking to reporters before he departed from the court in protest, Iqbal said courts are “open spaces” which supporters and lawyers of the defendant could enter.

The minister said it was only during martial law governments that closed trials were conducted, adding that trials held in democracies are “transparent”.  

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