A 35-member violent gang of boys enrolled in different private schools in Lahore is operating in the city, Geo News has reported. As per details, the gang operates under the name ‘102’.
Police have arrested a member of the gang for torturing a young boy in the Gulberg area of Lahore.
According to the police, the accused gang member tortured a young boy in a snooker club, taped the assault and uploaded the video on social media.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Jamat-e-Ulema Islami-Fazl (JUI-F) on Saturday requested the Supreme Court (SC) to constitute a full bench to hear the suo moto proceedings of election date for Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
However, as per their request, the three parties have asked that Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan & Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi are excluded from the full bench.
Earlier, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition government has on Friday asked Supreme Court’s Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi to “recuse themselves” from a larger bench that is hearing suo motu
The request was presented in a joint statement by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamat-e-Ulema Islami-Fazl (JUI-F), read by lawyer Farooq H Naek, on behalf of the three parties when the nine-member bench resumed the hearing of the suo motu notice today.
“All three political parties respectfully request that the two-member bench’s order of suo motu notice is available. Hence, both judges should not sit on the bench in the context of the provision of justice and fair trial,” Naek told the court.
The PDM lawyer requested Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi to recuse themselves from the nine-member bench currently hearing the suo motu notice.
Naek replied that he did not want to go into the details, adding that he also believed that the case should be heard by a full-court bench.
At that, CJP Bandial said that the court will first discuss the admissibility of the request.
Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday raised questions on the dissolution of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial said that the SC will not tolerate the violation of the Constitution as the top court began its suo motu hearing to determine who has the constitutional responsibility to announce the date for elections of a provincial assembly.
At the outset of the hearing, the court observed that the authority for giving the date of the elections after the dissolution of the assembly needs clarification.
It stated that the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assemblies were dissolved on January 14 and 17, respectively, and the elections have to be held in 90 days after the assembly dissolution under Article 224/2.
The SC remarked that Punjab Governor Baligh ur Rehman says that he has not dissolved the provincial assembly on the chief minister’s advice.
“It will be determined through the suo motu case that who has the authority to give the election date,” the court remarked.
It said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had also complained about not getting the funds for polling day.
The Chief Justice observed that elaboration was needed on the issue of elections and assured all the parties that the court would listen to their arguments.
“We have suspended our schedule for the next week so that we can hear this case,” CJP Bandial said.
CJP Bandial said that the court will restrict itself to essential things, adding that the detailed hearing of the case will be held on Monday.
A nine-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial will hear the suo motu notice of an apparent delay in the elections of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies today (Thursday).
CJP Bandial on Wednesday evening initiated a suo motu proceeding to determine who has the constitutional responsibility and authority to announce the date for elections for a provincial assembly.
The bench, headed by CJP Bandial, will consist of Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah. The case will be taken up on Thursday (today) at 2pm.
According to the apex court’s statement, the bench will assess who is eligible to issue the date for polls, the constitutional responsibility of the federation and provinces and who will fulfil the constitutional responsibility of conducting elections and when.
“It is the government’s responsibility to conduct elections in Punjab and KP according to the Constitution,” the top court’s statement read.
The Supreme Court added that the two provincial assemblies were dissolved on January 14 and 18, respectively.
“Under Article 224 (2), polls should be held within 90 days of the assembly dissolution. The Constitution mandates that polls be held within 90 days.”
The Supreme Court had taken suo motu notice on Wednesday two days after President Dr Arif Alvi fixed April 9 as polling day for the provincial assemblies.
Senior Vice President Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Maryam Nawaz hit back at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Twitter after he called her a spoilt brat in a tweet.
“Shameless & calculated attacks on SC judges by PDM & spoilt brat Maryam, nurtured on corruption money, have one purpose only – to run away from elections even by violating Constitution,” tweeted Imran Khan in the afternoon.
“By attacking SCP, they are damaging the Federation & ensuring law of jungle prevails in Pak,” he wrote.
Responding to Khan’s accusations, Maryam tweeted, “Oh, how the mighty have fallen! Your squeals are not amiss as you have been the king of conspiracies,thriving & surviving on them with the help of your Godfather Faiz & his vestiges.”
“Now watch the ‘spoilt brat’ checkmate you so Godsons & pawns like you are relegated to irrelevance,” tweeted Maryam.
On Thursday, February 23, Maryam Nawaz Sharif showed pictures of the “cabal of five” she blames for conspiring against her father Nawaz Sharif. Among the photos were two pictures of serving judges of the Supreme Court- Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Mazahir Naqvi. The next day, PML-N leader and federal minister Khwaja Asif criticized the judiciary during a speech on the floor of the National Assembly.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has confirmed in a speech that his party has “honoured” Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Pervaiz Elahi for standing with the party and appointed him as the President of PTI.
Addressing his followers through a video link on Thursday, the PTI chief started off by claiming that the establishment pressurised Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q). “They even were offered money and were threatened that there is no future for them with PTI”, he said.
Stating that despite all this, the father and son stayed loyal, Imran Khan appreciated Pervaiz Elahi and Moonis Elahi for their efforts, especially for dissolving the Punjab Assembly on Khan’s directives.
“Despite all the pressure, he agreed to a merger. We told him [Elahi] that we are honouring him by making him the president of the party,” Khan said.
On Tuesday, Moonis and his father formally joined PTI with ten other former Members of the Provincial Assembly (MPA) of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).
On the same day, addressing a press conference in Lahore alongside PTI Vice President Fawad Chaudhry, Elahi said he had stood with Khan during “hard and testing times”. Fawad also announced that Pervaiz Elahi will be the President of PTI.
PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain dismissed Elahi from his party post and terminated his basic membership on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Finance and Revenue has instructed the Accountant General Pakistan Revenues (AGPR) to stop clearing bills, including salaries, due to the current economic crisis and the deteriorating financial situation of the country. The ministry has also directed the halt of clearings of attached departments until further notice.
According to The News, official sources have confirmed that operational cost-related releases have faced difficulties due to the economic hardships of the country. However, attempts to obtain a comment from Finance Division officials were unsuccessful, and the Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar promised to respond after confirming the report’s accuracy, which he had not done by the time of the report’s filing.
Sources who went to the AGPR office for clearance of their outstanding bills were informed that the Ministry of Finance had directed them to stop clearing all bills, including salaries, due to the prevailing financial difficulties. The reasons for the immediate stoppage of the clearance of bills were not ascertained.
The lingering financial difficulties are considered to be a significant reason for this move. However, salaries and pensions of defence-related institutions have already been cleared for the following month.
During a meeting with a delegation of M/s Rothschild & Co on February 22, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that the government is committed to steering the economy towards stability and growth, and completing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, and fulfilling all international obligations.
To this end, on February 20, the National Assembly unanimously approved the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2023, or ‘mini-budget’, which is mandatory for seeking the $1.1 billion tranche of the IMF. The bill increases sales tax from 17 to 25 per cent on imports ranging from cars and household appliances to chocolates and cosmetics, while a general sales tax was raised from 17 per cent to 18 per cent.
As the bill was passed, the minister told the lower house of parliament that the prime minister would unveil austerity measures in the next few days, adding, “we will have to take difficult decisions.”
UPDATE:
The Finance Ministry has rejected the rumours that the government has instructed to stop payment of pay and pension.
The ministry stated in a press release, “There are rumours floating around that Government has instructed to stop payment of pay, pension, etc. This is completely false as no such instructions have been given by Finance Division, which is the concerned federal ministry. AGPR has confirmed that pay and pension have already been processed and will be paid on time. Further, other payments are being processed as per routine.”
Faisalabad native Majid Zia has been found guilty of sexual harassment and was given a 17-month prison term by a local court on Saturday.
In addition to the prison term, the judge fined the defendant Rs. 1.5 million.
The FIA’s Cyber Crime Circle had filed the case against Zia, and under the 2016 Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, the convict was subject to punishment.
An FIA spokeswoman said that in 2022, Majid posted objectionable images of a woman on social media.
The Punjab police have transferred leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) from Adiala jail to Shahpur jail.
Those who transferred include Zulfi Bukhari, Fayaz ul Hassan Chohan among others who were arrested in Rawalpindi after they presented themselves for arrest before the police.
Other than that, police moved 41 PTI activists from Adiala jail to Hafizabad jail.
The move came after Adiala Jail was found occupied above its capacity.
Earlier, Chohan claimed that the police van dropped him and others off on the way and left them there.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Zulfi Bukhari and Fayaz ul Hassan Chohan gave themselves up for voluntary arrests in Rawalpindi as part of the party’s Jail Bharo Tehreek (voluntary arrest movement) on Friday.
A police prisoner van took them away from Committee Chowk. PTI leader Amir Kayani, Awami Muslim League chief and former Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed, and others reached Committee Chowk in Rawalpindi to voluntarily surrender to the police.
While talking to the media in Rawalpindi, Ghulam Sarwar Khan said that he will not give himself over for arrest but some leaders and some workers will give an arrest.
On Thursday, PTI activists, led by their leaders, reached Central Prison Peshawar and stayed there till the evening, however, no one was arrested.
In the evening, the sit-in staged by the party came to an end with PTI claiming that the police were reluctant to arrest them. They then announced that PTI chairman Imran Khan had ordered them to end the protest and sit in. They also announced that they would go to Rawalpindi for the campaign on Friday.
Meanwhile, several petitions have been filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) seeking the recovery of leaders — including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, and Azam Swati – who were arrested on Wednesday and are serving time in jail.
Leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday voluntarily gave themselves up for arrest to Lahore police as part of the party’s Jail Bharro Tehreek (voluntary arrest movement).
In videos taken at the protest at Charring Cross, PTI leaders including Senior Vice President Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Senator Azam Swati and others can be seen wilfully climbing into a prison van.
Later, PTI Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said, “Around 500-700 PTI workers have given themselves up for arrest.” Chaudhry claimed that the police had arrived prepared with police vans but were “worried after seeing the thousands of people and are contemplating what they should do”.
The arrests took place as part of the PTI’s Jail Bharo Movement. Following the arrests, PTI Chairman Imran Khan summoned a meeting of his legal team at his mansion in Zaman Park, Lahore. The meeting aims to thrash out a legal strategy for obtaining bail for the arrested PTI leaders.
A day earlier, the police confirmed that the number of people arrested is around 80, including central leaders of the PTI. However, now according to the list of accused detained in Central Jail in Lahore, the number is 77.
Following are the names of PTI leaders who were arrested and the jails they have been transferred to.
Omar Sarfraz Cheema (District Jail, Bhakkar)
Asad Umar (District Jail, Rajanpur)
Shah Mahmood Qureshi (District Jail, Attock)
Muhammad Azam Khan Swati (District Jail, Raheem Yar Khan)
Murad Ras (Central Jail, Dera Ghazi Khan)
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has de-notified Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan from six seats of the National Assembly (NA) that the former Prime Minister won last year in by-elections.
According to a notification issued by the commission, Imran has been de-notified from the NA-22 Mardan-III, NA-24 Charsadda-II, NA-31 Peshawar-V, NA-108 Faisalabad-VIII, NA-118 Nankana Sahib-II, NA-Korangi Karachi-I seats. These seats are now vacant.
In October, Khan had broken a record by winning six out of seven seats of NA against candidates of various parties that are part of the ruling coalition.
Later, he also won NA-45 (Kurram seat), the only seat he is left with after ECP’s notice.
The PTI chairman broke his own record of victory on five seats which were the most by a single candidate in any election.
According to official data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Pakistan’s weekly inflation has remained high, with an increase of 2.78 per cent week-on-week and 41.54 per cent year-on-year for the seven-day period that ended on February 23.
The latest figures of the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) reveal that the rise is due to an increase in gas prices for Q1 (108.38 per cent), cigarettes (76.45 per cent), bananas (6.67 per cent), chicken (5.27 per cent), sugar (3.37 per cent), cooking oil 5 litre (3.07 per cent), vegetable ghee 2.5kg (2.79 per cent), vegetable ghee 1kg (2.20 per cent) and prepared tea (1.09 per cent).
The government of Pakistan almost doubled the gas charges for up to 3.3719 mmBtu to secure the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) approval for the $1.1 billion tranche out of the $6.5 billion bailout package under the Extended Fund Facility. Previously, the rate was Rs147.57, which now stands at Rs295.
The PBS attributes the YoY increase in SPI to the rise in prices of onions (372.03 per cent), cigarettes (164.71 per cent), gas charges for Q1 (108.38 per cent), chicken (85.65 per cent), diesel (81.36 per cent), eggs (75.81 per cent), rice irri-6/9 (75.41 per cent), rice basmati broken (74.16 per cent), bananas (72.22 per cent), pulse moong (70.39 per cent), petrol (69.87 per cent), tea (62.76 per cent), pulse gram (57.02 per cent), bread (55.36 per cent), pulse mash (53.90 per cent) and LPG (52.59 per cent). However, there was a decrease in the prices of tomatoes (67.93 per cent), chilli powder (7.42 per cent) and electricity charges for Q1 (6.64 per cent).
Analysts had predicted that inflationary pressures would intensify due to tax measures and adjustments in electricity, petroleum and gas prices made by the government to unlock the IMF programme.
Consumers have been facing the burden of rising prices of essential kitchen items, particularly edibles. The average price of 1kg broiler chicken was Rs469.81 during the week under review compared to Rs446.29 last week. For the groups spending up to Rs17,732; Rs17,733-22,888; Rs22,889-29,517; Rs29,518-44,175; and above Rs44,175; WoW SPI increased 2.42, 2.86, 2.32, 2.18, and 3.10 per cent respectively.
The YoY SPI for the expenditure groups went up 37.81, 39.80, 40.95, 41.94, and 42.98 per cent respectively. For the week under review, SPI was recorded at 241.29 points against 234.77 points registered last week and 170.47 points recorded during the week ended February 24, 2022.
Shehnaaz Gill, famous for being part of Big Boss, delayed a performance in respect of Namaaz. In a viral video she can be seen receiving an award for Digital Personality of Year before which the presenter asked her to sing a few lines.
When Shehnaaz was asked to sing, she paused as Azan call was being made for prayer. This is the purity of good soul, considerate to others and their beliefs. Shehnaaz i have only one heart how many times you going to win it. #ShehnaazGill #DigitalPersonalityOfTheYear pic.twitter.com/SwxjaogsGY
— sal (@navion1990) February 23, 2023
“It feels so nice. No one else deserved this award better than you. Please sing a few lines, just anything. Whatever you have in your heart, just sing those few lines. Your fans are waiting eagerly for you to sing. I have requests saying people won’t eat unless Shehnaaz sings.”
As she heard the Azaan, Shehnaaz quickly stopped singing, stood still, and bowed her head in respect. Only once the Azaan was finished did Gill start singing again.
“Should I sing an unreleased song,” she asked. But when told to do so, she said, “No, that cannot be. No, I will sing a song that is already out.”
People on social media are praising the female singer turned actor for this act.