Boeing, Australian air force say pilotless, fighter-like jet completed first test flight

SYDNEY: Boeing Co and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) said on Tuesday they had completed the first flight test on a pilotless fighter-like jet designed to operate in conjunction with crewed aircraft.

The “Loyal Wingman”, the first military aircraft to be designed and manufactured in Australia in more than 50 years, flew under the supervision of a Boeing test pilot monitoring it from a ground control station in South Australia.

The Australian government has invested A$40 million ($31 million) in development of the product, which Boeing last year said had also attracted interest from the United States and United Kingdom as potential future customers.

The Loyal Wingman is 38 feet long (11.6 metres), has a 2,000 nautical mile (3,704 km) range and a nose that can be removed to fit various payloads, including weapons. It can act as a shield to help protect more expensive manned fighter jets.

Defence contractors are investing increasingly in autonomous technology as militaries around the world look for cheaper and safer ways to maximise their resources.

“The Loyal Wingman project is a pathfinder for the integration of autonomous systems and artificial intelligence to create smart human-machine teams,” RAAF Air Vice-Marshal and Head of Air Force Capability Cath Roberts said in a statement.

During the test flight, the Loyal Wingman took off under its own power before flying a pre-determined route at different speeds and altitudes to verify its functionality and demonstrate the performance of the design.

The first Loyal Wingman is being used as a foundation for Boeing’s Airpower Teaming System, a service being developed for various global defence customers.

Boeing said additional Loyal Wingman aircraft are currently under development, with plans for teaming flights scheduled for later this year.

The plane maker has previously said up to 16 of the Loyal Wingman jets could be teamed with a crewed aircraft for missions.

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1,163 new infections, 42 coronavirus-related deaths reported in 24 hours

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has recorded 42 more coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 12,938, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

According to the latest statistics of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the COVID-19 has claimed 42 more lives and 1,163 fresh infections were reported during the said period.

The total count of active cases is 22,184 and the positivity rate stands at 3.64 per cent.

In the past 24 hours, as many as 1,035 patients have recovered from the virus in a day and 1,529 patients are still in critical condition.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), with the fresh inclusion of the infections in the country the national tally of cases now currently stands at 582,528.

Read more: Lockdown enforced in Mirpur amid rising coronavirus cases

A total of 31,948 tests were conducted across the country during this period. Overall 547,406 people have recovered from the deadly disease so far while 9,022,124 samples have been tested thus far.

As many as 258,412 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Sindh so far, 172,683 in Punjab, overall 72,615 cases have been detected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 44,516 in Islamabad, 19,066 in Balochistan, 10,280 cases in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 4,956 have been reported in Gilgit-Baltistan, so far.

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SC endorsed govt’s stance for transparent Senate polls: attorney general

ISLAMABAD: Attorney General Khalid Javed said on Monday that the Supreme Court (SC) has endorsed the federal government’s stance for holding transparent elections in Senate, ARY News reported.

Attorney General Khalid Javed told ARY News that the federal government has gotten what it was looking for regarding the Senate elections.

He said that the top court asked for a recognisable Senate paper and it was up to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) now whether to print bar code or write serial number. The Supreme Court (SC) also gave its opinion for holding transparent polls in the Senate.

Read: SC directed ECP to ensure transparency in Senate polls: Fawad

The apex court’s opinion was very important that secrecy of ballot papers was not absolute, added the attorney general.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court ruled that the forthcoming Senate elections are to be held through secret ballot under Article 226 of the country’s Constitution.

The apex court’s 4:1 majority decision, however, held that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is empowered to take all measures, including the use of the latest technology, to hold free and fair elections and curb corrupt practices under Article 218 of the Constitution.

Read: Political parties lawyers conclude arguments

A five-judge larger bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed and comprising Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Yahya Afridi pronounced the reserved opinion.

Justice Afridi dissented from the majority opinion.

The court reserved its opinion after all the lawyers had concluded their arguments. At the last hearing, Justice Gulzar Ahmed observed that Parliament only passes resolutions for transparency of the electoral process.

Read: ECP issues deadline for Senate election campaigns

Attorney General Khalid Javed after completion of the arguments of the lawyers in his rejoinder argued that the scrutiny of the vote could not hurt the secrecy. “The presidential reference is not based on a political question, but it seeks an interpretation of Article 226,” the AG argued.

“Will the supreme court’s opinion will be final,” Justice Yahya Afridi asked. “The government will be bound to the court’s opinion,” AG said. “A review plea could be filed over the court’s opinion,” Justice Afridi said.

“Review petition could not be filed over the reference,” the state lawyers.

“The court has no relation with the politics, it will only interpret the constitution,” the chief justice said.

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PPP’s Palwasha Khan eligible to contest Senate election: SHC

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) dismissed on Monday an appeal challenging the acceptance of PPP candidate Palwasha Khan’s nomination papers for the coming Senate elections.

A two-judge bench of the SHC, comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Amjad Ali Sahito, heard the appeal.

Also Read: Senate elections to be held through secret ballot: SC gives opinion on presidential reference

During the hearing, the appellant’s lawyer Aqib Rajpar contended before the court that the PPP candidate got her vote transferred to Karachi through forgery to contest the Senate polls from Sindh.

At this, the court observed that there exits law that allows vote transfer. “How a person could be disqualified through a writ petition?” asked the bench. “How did vote transfer from Punjab to Sindh violate the law?”

“This court is not an appellate tribunal to examine documents,” Justice Mazhar observed.

Also Read: SHC declares PTI’s Saifullah Abro eligible to contest Senate election

Earlier, on Feb 22, an election tribunal had rejected a plea against the acceptance of Palwasha Khan’s nomination papers for the upcoming Senate elections. Subsequently, an appeal challenging the tribunal’s verdict was filed before the SHC.

The appellant stated that Palwasha Khan got her vote transferred from Punjab to Karachi overnight to contest the Senate elections on a reserved seat for women from Sindh. The vote transfer is a violation of Article 220 and 226 of the Constitution, he said.

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People want progress, not chaos: CM Buzdar

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that business activities affected amid the Covid pandemic are being speedily restored. In a statement issued on Sunday, he added that the people of the province wanted progress and prosperity, not chaos. “Those who were engaged in the politics of chaos should display better sense,” Buzdar said. He added, “Pakistanis would not be hoodwinked by these reckless elements nor would they allow anyone to create obstacles in the process of development and progress. Those who were trying to spread chaos in the country have been exposed.” Read more: Punjab sees highest number of deaths during last 24 hours: NCOC The CM emphasised that national resources were ruthlessly wasted on exhibitory projects by the former rulers in the past. The national exchequer was the trust of the people and now it would be spent only for their welfare and betterment, he promised and said that the government’s direction was right and intention good. Buzdar said, “Those who were leveling allegations should look into their past, which was rife with corruption. Published in The Express Tribune, March 1st, 2021.

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PBF demands subsidy package for agri sector

Pakistan Businesses Forum (PBF) urged the government to announce a comprehensive package for uplifting the agriculture sector. “The farmers comprised 65 per cent of the country’s workforce,” stated PBF Vice President (VP) Ahmad Jawad. Speaking to the media on Sunday, he said that farmers wanted fixing of the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat at Rs2,000 per maund. “They also wanted the MSP of sugarcane at Rs30.” In addition to setting a flat electric power rate of Rs5 per unit for agri tube-wells, subsidies on seeds, fertilisers and other expenses should also be offered as the farmers had had a tough 12 months, which affected the food supply chain, especially fruit and vegetable growers, the business forum VP asserted. Read more: Meeting considers lifting moribund farm sector “While the coronavirus pandemic posed a unique challenge to the entire world, Pakistani farmers also had to simultaneously cope with their annual nemeses - climate change and water scarcity - as the drought further exposed the country's agricultural fault lines.” The VP said, “The food industry of the country faced the worst crises over the past two years.” He elaborated that the performance of agriculture sector declined particularly after the 18th Amendment because of a lack of uniformity in policies, funding and expertise among the provinces. He stressed that a pro-farmer enabling environment was imperative to make the agriculture sector globally competitive and, for the purpose, the sector needed to be given back to federal authorities. The 18th Amendment, he said, made food and agriculture predominantly provincial subjects while food security and exports were in federal domain.   Published in The Express Tribune, March 1st, 2021.

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Pindi CPO transferred to K-P after 16 months

The establishment division has transferred services of the Rawalpindi Central Police Officer (CPO) Ahsan Younas from Punjab to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) under the Rotation Policy 2020, a spokesperson shared on Saturday. As per policy, no officer can remain posted in Punjab for more than two years while Younas served as CPO for 16 months. During his tenure, he introduced digital technology in police proceedings and also tried to improve the station culture through the conducting of open courts and biometric attendance at the police stations. The former CPO also established separate units to change the traditional investigation culture prevailing in the department while also introducing a mess facility at the Rawalpindi Police Lines where officers and personnel are provided free Wi-Fi, food, indoor games, and medical facilities round the clock. He introduced an investigative culture to get the suspects of serious cases sentenced by the courts by accelerating the preparation of challans against the offenders, which assisted the courts in meeting the judicial requirements. With Younas at the helm, the practices of unwarranted summoning of citizens and illegal detention in police stations were also terminated. Upon his transfer, police officers and citizens have put posts on social media in recognition of his services.   Published in The Express Tribune, March 1st, 2021.

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