Probe Sharif for corruption: court
Pakistan PM gets reprieve
ISLAMABAD, April 20, (Agencies): Pakistan’s top court ordered the prime minister be investigated for corruption Thursday, in a highly anticipated decision that granted Nawaz Sharif a temporary reprieve as judges said there was insufficient evidence to oust him from power.
Sharif and his children had been accused of graft in an ongoing case that had threatened to topple the prime minister and captivated Pakistan after the Panama Papers leak last year linked the family to offshore business.
The Supreme Court issued a split ruling calling for a joint investigation team of anti-corruption officials along with the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence to probe the claims.
“A thorough investigation is required,” Justice Asif Saeed Khosa told the court, announcing the decision.
Two of the five judges went further, branding Sharif “dishonest” and saying he should be disqualified, but they were outnumbered.
The court has disqualified leaders before, holding former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in contempt in 2012 for refusing to re-open corruption investigations into then president Asif Ali Zardari, resulting in his disqualification.
“We respect the court verdict ... It will be implemented in all its spirit,” government Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said immediately after the verdict.
Around 1,500 police commandos and riot forces had been deployed around the court in Islamabad ahead of the highly anticipated decision. Dozens of baton-wielding police were also seen along some roads leading into the capital.
The controversy could mean turmoil for Sharif’s governing party ahead of general elections that must be held by the end of next year, and as security and the economy improve in the militancy-plagued country.
It erupted with the publication of 11.5 million secret documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca last year which documented the offshore dealings of many of the world’s rich and powerful.
Among the global elite implicated were three of Sharif’s four children — his daughter and presumptive political heir Maryam, and his sons Hasan and Hussein.
Sharif
US still battling IS:
US troops are still battling suspected Islamic State fighters near the site where a massive bomb was dropped in eastern Afghanistan last week, a US military official said on Wednesday.
Nicknamed “the mother of all bombs”, the GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb was dropped last Thursday from an American MC-130 aircraft in the Achin district of Nangarhar province, bordering Pakistan.
Since then questions have surrounded the decision to use the weapon, which is one of the largest conventional bombs ever used in combat by the US military.
Afghan estimates of heavy militant losses and no civilian casualties have been impossible to verify in the remote region, with access to the area where the bomb fell still blocked.
The strike drew condemnation from some prominent figures, including former Afghan president Hamid Karzai and Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan.
India bans red car beacons:
India said Wednesday it will ban ministers and senior officials from using red beacons on their cars to cut through traffic, a longstanding privilege that has caused resentment and accusations of elitism.
From May 1 only emergency services will be allowed to use the flashing beacons to move swiftly through India’s notoriously congested streets.
“We are removing the rule which allows state and central government to specify who can use the red lights,” finance minister Arun Jaitley said at a news conference in New Delhi.
“From May 1, no vehicle will have a red light. There will be no exceptions.”
The red beacon, perceived as a symbol of privilege and arrogance, is used by ministers and top bureaucrats to cut through traffic while on official business.
But often even lower-level politicians and officials misuse the beacons to show off their importance, especially in smaller towns.
It is also common for policemen to put up barricades and block routes to allow free passage to dignitaries while the rest have to wait for the roads to open.
Power looms muffle desperation:
Udhiya Behera sat in a windowless room in the Indian textile hub of Surat, staring blankly at a small television as the ground shook with the noise of power looms on the floor below.
For Behera, though, this was a moment of lateevening calm in a room he shares with 35 others, just off a lane crammed with frenetic, sleepless looms.
“I operate 12 power looms through the day and the sound bothers me a lot. My head hurts,” Behera, 45, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, speaking loudly to be heard over the din that enveloped the room. “It is quieter here.”
Nearly 8 million people, mostly migrants from the eastern state of Odisha, like Behera, work on 600,000 power looms in the Western city of Surat in conditions that damage their hearing and often ruin their health.
While the workers said they choose to work here due to a lack of jobs at home, campaigners also suspect that some are trafficked across India.
“The older workers become the recruiters. These are poor people hit by crop failure and cyclones and need work,” said Umi Daniel, a migrant rights activist with Aide et Action in Odisha.
The fabric they weave is durable, easy to care for and low cost, which has led to its popularity in both the Indian and international markets.
India exports $6 billion worth of synthetic fabric per year. This is used worldwide — in Europe and the United States for “wrinkle-free” school and hotel uniforms, and by the garment hubs of Bangladesh and Vietnam in high-street fashion.
Textile weavers are exposed to around 102-104 decibels of sound according to a study by India’s National Institute of Occupational Health, much more than the legally permissible 90 decibels and putting them at severe risk of hearing damage.
Sanjay Patel of migrant labour rights group Aajeevika Bureau said: “Those working here for 10 to 12 years are not able to hear well. Many are unable to work beyond the age of 45, and return to their villages.”