Current Final

Author: News Desk

  • Abrar ul Haq’s appointment as PRCS chairman suspended

    Abrar ul Haq’s appointment as PRCS chairman suspended

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has suspended the notification which appointed Abrar ul Haq as the chairman of the Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

    According to reports, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah suspended the notification issued last week as he was hearing a petition filed by outgoing PRCS Chairman Dr Saeed Elahi against Haq’s appointment.

    Elahi was appointed as the PRCS chairman in 2014 by the PML-N government and granted an extension for another term in 2017. He was removed last week by President Alvi, who is the patron of PRCS.

    PTI officials reveal that Elahi was removed for openly criticising the government, adding that he had been accused of corruption and nepotism during his two tenures.

    Meanwhile, Elahi says that his removal was illegal because he had neither completed his tenure nor was there any logical reason to remove him from the position. Elahi explained that under the rules of PRCS, only the management body had the power to make appointments. He said that the chairman of PRCS can only be removed before the completion of the term if they submit their resignation to the president, adding that his removal was also in violation of the fundamental rights provided in the Constitution, according to which “no one can be condemned unheard”.

    He challenged Haq’s appointment in the court on November 16 on the grounds of conflict of interest and nepotism. Elahi asserted that Haq had a conflict of interest with the organisation as the singer-turned-politician not only runs a hospital and private college but also collects donations for his non-government organisation Sahara Trust.

    The court suspended the notification of Haq’s appointment and issued notices to President Arif Alvi, secretary cabinet division, secretary national health service and Haq, all of whom have been named as respondents, and demanded a written response. The hearing was adjourned until November 29.

  • Asad Umar returns to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s cabinet

    Asad Umar returns to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s cabinet

    Former federal minister for finance Asad Umar, who was sacked for poor performance, on Monday was re-inducted to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s cabinet as the minister for planning, development and reforms.

    According to Special Assistant to the PM for Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Khusro Bakhtiar was handed the petroleum portfolio instead, which was earlier held by Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan.

    “A notification, in this regard, will soon be issued,” she tweeted.

    In April this year, hours after Umar was shown the door, the former finance minister had said that he was removed by the premier because of his “performance” at the post in the last eight months.

    The ex-federal finance minister, who is a close aide of PM Imran, had also said that he wasn’t disappointed over the decision. “Since taking the job, I’ve worked my socks off, even my family says I’m burn out.”

    Umar had further said that as soon as he was told to leave his post his stress levels nose-dived. “You can’t imagined how relaxed I am right now.”

    On another query that if his stint as the finance minister would be deemed a failure, Umar had said he would leave that for time to decide. He was replaced by Adviser to the PM on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh.

  • ‘I am a dharna expert’: Prime minister belittles Fazl’s Azadi March

    ‘I am a dharna expert’: Prime minister belittles Fazl’s Azadi March

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Monday called himself a “dharna [sit-in] expert” as he boasted of his 126-day lockdown of the federal capital from 2014 and belittled that of Maulana Fazlur Rehman-led Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) which ended within two weeks.

    Addressing the groundbreaking of the Hazara Motorway Phase II in Havelian, the premier called JUI-F’s 14-day sit-in a “circus” and added that the protesters could not even stay for a month in the capital.

    He reiterated that would not spare “a single corrupt person” in the country no matter how they tried to “blackmail” the government and added that he “did not care about votes, but feared God and the hereafter”. “My message [to all my opponents] is that my God has trained me for challenges. I know how to win and how to face defeat. And I know how to stand back up after I have been defeated.”

    Warning opposition leaders against ganging up on him, the premier also trained guns at his political nemeses, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

    While PM Imran said that Shehbaz was “trying to be Nelson Mandela” — former South African president and peace activist who spent 27 years in prison due to his political struggle — he also mimicked Bilawal in an attempt to troll the PPP chief for his rainwater gaffe.

    “When it rains, water pours down. When it rains more, more water pours down.”

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “Bilawal’s theory shocked even the most remarkable scientists like Einstein,” the premier said further and assereted that the PPP chairman claimed to be a liberal “but he was liberally corrupt”.

    BILAWAL STRIKES BACK:

    It wasn’t later that Bilawal reacted to PM Imran’s remarks in a tweet.

    He said that he was neither liberal nor corrupt or a hypocrite. “I am a visionary and progressionist who has been in politics for more than a year,” he said, adding that the premier was a 70-year-old who had been exercising “selected” politics for more than 20 years.

    “Imran Khan’s identity by U-turns, hypocrisy and being a puppet,” Bilawal wrote.

  • Asim Raza celebrates 100 days of ‘Parey Hut Love’ with BTS shots

    Asim Raza celebrates 100 days of ‘Parey Hut Love’ with BTS shots

    Asim Raza’s second film Parey Hut Love featuring Sheheryar Munawar, Maya Ali, Zara Noor Abbas and Ahmed Ali Butt in the lead has completed 100 days in the cinemas and is still running strong.

    To commemorate the occasion, Asim took to Instagram to share some of his “most favourite shots” from the shoots clicked by photographer Kuki.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B4_Jc9invdA/

    Parey Hut Love, which released on Eid ul Azha, was this year’s highest-grossing Pakistani film. Catch The Current‘s review of the film in this video:

    https://youtu.be/anHwnRViBg0
  • ‘Imran’s best interests at heart,’ says Elahi amid Punjab chief ministership rumours

    ‘Imran’s best interests at heart,’ says Elahi amid Punjab chief ministership rumours

    Amid rumours that Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader and Punjab Assembly speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi “will soon be replacing Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar” as the provincial cheif executive, the former has clarified his statements that made headlines for criticising Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

    During an interview, Elahi had last week said that PM Imran should let former premier Nawaz Sharif fly out of the country since he was gravely ill. His remarks had come while the Imran-led government, before the Lahore High Court (LHC) ruling that allowed Nawaz to travel abroad, had decided to not let the former premier travel abroad without paying a whopping Rs7 billion in indemnity bonds.

    “Whatever I said about Nawaz was for Imran Khan’s own good,” Elahi said Monday as he clarified that no one could create a misunderstanding between his party and the government.

    Elahi also said that he had contacted Maulana Fazlur Rehman to save the country from descending into political chaos.

    He was part of the government’s negotiating committee that held talks with Fazl when the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief brought thousands of protesters to the H-9 venue in Islamabad and demanded PM Imran’s resignation.

    Though Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak was heading the committee, Elahi and his cousin, Chaudhry Shujaat, held talks with the JUI-F chief during the protest to present the government’s demands.

  • Railways staff destroys all my hard work: Shiekh Rasheed

    Railways staff destroys all my hard work: Shiekh Rasheed

    Federal Minister for Railways Shiekh Rasheed has blamed the railway staff for destroying his efforts that he has done for the betterment of railway, Geo reported.

    According to the details, the minister has said that due to increasing number of accidents, railway staff always waste his efforts, adding that such accidents should be avoided.

    He said, “I had done a lot about education in Pakistan, adding that soon there will be four universities in Rawalpindi.

    At least 74 people were killed and dozens injured on Thursday after cooking gas cylinders exploded near Rahim Yar Khan’s Liaqatpur area.

    The Tezgam train was on its way from Karachi to Rawalpindi when the gas cylinder carried by a passenger exploded, killing and injuring passengers. The fire destroyed three of the train’s carriages, including two economy class carriages and one business class carriage.

    The railways minister had also announced a Rs1.5 million compensation for the families of the deceased in the Tezgam incident and Rs0.5 million for those injured.

  • What could be in Nawaz Sharif’s air ambulance?

    What could be in Nawaz Sharif’s air ambulance?

    Lahore High Court (LHC) has allowed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to travel abroad for four weeks for medical treatment, saying the duration could be extended based on medical reports.

    As per reports, an air ambulance will arrive on Tuesday morning to transport Nawaz Sharif to London. Nawaz’s physician, Dr Adnan Khan took to social media to announce that the former premier was scheduled to travel to London within 48 hours once he’s clinically stabilized.

    What is an air ambulance?

    Air ambulance is an aircraft that is equipped to fly as an intensive care unit (ICU).

    A medically staffed and equipped air ambulance provides medical care in flight while a non-medically equipped and staffed aircraft simply transports patients without a care in flight. All medical equipment and medications are selected to fit the needs of the patient that is being transported so it can differ from patient to patient.

    Common equipment for air ambulances includes medications, ventilators, ECGs (a test that measures the electrical activity of the heartbeat) and monitoring units, CPR equipment ( a life-saving technique that is used when someone is suffering from any emergency issue such as cardiac arrest, heart attack or drowning), and stretchers.

    The equipment in each air ambulance can include everything from breathing apparatus and monitoring systems, pacemakers and defibrillators (devices that restore a normal heartbeat by sending an electric pulse or shock to the heart) to blood transfusion equipment and a comprehensive supply of medication. The flight crew includes pilots and a medical team that will be able to meet patient needs.

    What Nawaz Sharif’s air ambulance will include?

    Dr Adnan tweeted that Nawaz’s ambulance would be equipped with a fully functional and staffed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) as well as an operation theater. A team of doctors and paramedics headed by an Intensivist would also be there for Nawaz.

  • Imran’s adviser all praise for PML-N; says previous govt’s policies boosted economy

    Adviser to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Commerce, Abdul Razak Dawood, has given the credit of Pakistan’s improved rating in World Bank’s (WB) Ease of Doing Business Index to the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government and its good policies.

    Pakistan has jumped up 28 places on the index and secured a place among the top 10 countries with the most improved business climate — a development that will greatly improve its image abroad.

    Pakistan carried out six reforms that helped improving its ranking from 136 to 108, according to the WB’s annual flagship report, ‘Ease of Doing Business 2020’, released last month. It turned out to be the sixth global reformer and first in South Asia that brought ease in doing business in the past one year.

    Praising the PML-N in what is being termed as challenging his own premier’s policy statement, Dawood has said that it was the previous government’s good policies that helped the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) carry out the said reforms.

    “Ease of doing busniess started improving under the previous government and their efforts helped us make even better. It’s not just us… look how the power crisis has been overcome. All of it wasn’t done within a single year,” he can be heard as saying in a video doing rounds over the internet.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    According to The Express Tribune, the WB monitors a country’s business related regulations on 10 benchmarks that are as broad as from starting a business, to getting electricity connection, securing construction permits, paying taxes, dispute resolution, business insolvency and protecting minority shareholders’ rights. All these areas are closely looked at by the global investors before they take decisions on making investment.

    The report measures how close each economy is to the best global practices in business regulations.

    On the measure of absolute progress towards best practices, Pakistan has improved the score to 61 from 55, suggesting the country did some remarkable work this time around and built on the reforms introduced in the previous year as well.

    International investors consult the report and the Global Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum before taking decisions on investment plans.

    While India remained top among South Asian nations, up 14 spots to 63, Pakistan also made a mark by climbing 28 positions and securing a place among the top 10 global business climate reformers and improving 28 positions in a year.

    “This rise is significant and made possible by collective and coordinated actions of the federal government and provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab over the past year,” said the WB Country Director for Pakistan Illango Patchamuthu.

  • ‘Thank you for existing’: Hamza Ali Abbasi has the sweetest birthday wish for better half Naimal

    ‘Thank you for existing’: Hamza Ali Abbasi has the sweetest birthday wish for better half Naimal

    It was Mrs Hamza Ali Abbasi aka Naimal Khawar’s birthday on Sunday and from all the social media updates, we can tell that her first birthday after her marriage was celebrated to the fullest.

    Hamza had the sweetest wish for his wife. It was short, sweet and full of love.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B4-k93CAxpP/

    Naimal spent the day with close friends and family.

    Meanwhile wishes poured in for the birthday girl.

    Hamza’s sister, Dr Fazeela Abbasi shared a picture from Naimal’s midnight celebrations with a cute caption.

    Hamza’s bestie and new mommy, Aisha Malik penned a lovely message for the birthday girl.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B49ZWFplVjJ/

    Naimal’s Anaa co-star Usman Mukhtar also had a message for Izzah.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B4-Km5hJpVT/

  • Meray Paas Tum Ho is a drama which has never been done before

    We assumed it was going to be a drama about love, betrayal and revenge. But Episode 13 shows it’s a lot more than that. Meray Paas Tum Ho is slowly building into a drama about child custody and the battle between being a wife or a lover.

    Mehwish (Ayeza Khan) is slowly realizing that she’s missing her son Rumi, as the high of divorcing her husband for a rich guy is wearing off. She asks Shehwar (Adnan Siddiqui) if she can bring her son home and Shehwar agrees.

    Shehwar telling Ayeza he’s cool with her bringing her son to his place

    Danish (Humayun Saeed) is mourning the loss of his best friend Mateen Sahib and when Mehwish goes over to speak to him about Rumi, Danish tells her that he’s put Rumi in boarding school. He also tells her that she shouldn’t upset him or do anything drastic since Rumi has just settled in and had almost been expelled. Mehwish doesn’t listen and heads to the school to take her son home, only to find out that she needs Danish’s permission to take her son out of school.

    Mehwish confronting Danish about taking her son with her

    The most interesting part of the drama was when Danish consults his lawyer and the lawyer tells him to wait it out saying that no man would want his lover to bring home her ex husband’s son. And at the end of the episode, that’s exactly what happens. Shehwar tells Mehwish that her desire to have Rumi with her on the weekends isn’t one that he’s willing to indulge. He gets the weekends off and he wants her around for him – not have to deal with her former husband’s child.

    Shehwar telling Mehwish he wants the weekends with her

    The episode is the most realistic episode in the show yet. A custody battle, harsh truths and the dark face of reality are revealed – your lover is only your lover until you do what he or she says. When you make a decision based on greed, then it will come back to bite you and you can see the ripples of uncertainty that are affecting Mehwish.

    Also, where is Shehwar’s wife? Mehwish is living in his house like she owns it and there is no sign of the real lady of the house. There should definitely be an introduction to his wife when she comes back to town and that will be an episode which cannot be missed.