Current Final

Category: National

  • ‘With you Captain’: Celebs extend support to PM Imran Khan

    After Pakistan Democratic Movement’s candidate Yousuf Raza Gilani emerged victorious against the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in the Senate Elections, Prime Minister Imran Khan in an address to the nation announced that he is going to seek a vote of confidence from the National Assembly on Saturday. The premier said the vote of confidence will be held through the show of hand and that he will have no objection if any member of his party does not trust him, adding that his party would sit on opposition benches if they lose this time.

    Following his decision to seek a vote of confidence, celebrities including Shaan Shahid, Rohail Hyatt, Imran Abbas and Omair Rana have extended their support for the prime minister.

    “Whether you are in power or in opposition, the voice of truth, the voice of the people of Pakistan will always be spoken by you,” said Shaan. “Some battles lost cannot predict the outcome of the war.”

    “May you win the war of truth, honesty, hope and justice,” he added.

    Ace musician Rohail Hyatt expressed his faith in PM Khan said: “In my lifetime I have only had the privilege of calling one person my leader. This person is Imran Khan.”

    “Honestly outweighs everything else IMO. Setbacks aside, I am certain he will succeed in his mission IA,” he added.

    Hyatt further said that he got his “yess moment” after watching PM Khan’s address to the nation.

    Omair Rana of Pyar Ke Sadkay fame lauded PM Khan’s decision of taking the vote of confidence saying: “To hide behind a hypocrite one has to be smaller than him. Imran Khan is too big for these sell-outs and buyouts.”

    “With you my Captain,” he added.

    Other celebrities who extended their support include Veena Malik, Imran Abbas, Khadija Shah, Bilal Maqsood, Salman Ahmed and Farhan Saeed.

    https://twitter.com/khadijah_shah/status/1367732648341364742?s=20
  • ECP rejects PM’s reservations on Senate elections

    ECP rejects PM’s reservations on Senate elections

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued a statement rejecting the “discussion and unhappiness” over the way Senate polls were conducted.

    “It is a shocking matter that under the same staff in the same [election] under the same roof on the same day, [what they won] is acceptable and [what they lost] is unacceptable. Is this not [an] open contradiction?” questioned the commission.

    A day earlier, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan had criticised the election watchdog for allowing “foul play” in the elections for the upper house of the parliament.

    “The ECP rejects this,” Friday’s statement added. “This is democracy and free elections and the beauty of free elections which the entire nation saw and which is mandated by the Constitution.”

    Every political party and politician should have the courage to accept its defeat, it said.

    The electoral body said that if someone disagreed with the ECP’s results, they should come forward with evidence.

    “We have neither come under pressure from anybody and neither will we [do so in the future].”

    The ECP’s statement came after an urgent meeting was convened following the premier’s accusations.

  • PM announces stepping down if betrayed by party members again

    PM announces stepping down if betrayed by party members again

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that he is going to seek a vote of confidence from the National Assembly this week, adding that his party would sit on opposition benches if they lose this time.

    He was addressing the national a day after his party’s Abdul Hafeez Shaikh faced defeat on the critical Senate seat from Islamabad despite PTI and its ally parties’ majority in the lower house of the parliament.

    The premier said that that the opposition wanted to threaten him with the no-confidence motion after defeating Shaikh in order to get NRO-like concession. Saying vote of confidence will be held through show-off hand, the premier said that he will have no objection if any member of his party does not trust him.

    Highlighting that some of his party’s lawmakers have sold their votes to ensure the victory of PDM’s joint candidate Yousaf Raza Gillani, he said that such elements should have fear of God.

    PM Imran also questioned the role of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the Senate election. He accused the Commission of damaging the democracy in the country by supporting secret balloting for Senate polls. “The ECP was informed about the horse-trading beforehand but it did not take any action,” he said.

    He said that the ECP provided an opportunity of horse-trading to the opposition, adding that the institution has failed to hold fair and transparent elections.

    Hitting out at opposition parties, the premier said that all the opposition parties in the past were calling for holding Senate polls through an open ballot but they stepped back when the government tried to make legislation in this regard. He said that such moves made the character of opposition parties doubtful.

  • People likely to get record Rs6.37 billion relief this Ramzan

    People are likely to get record relief this Ramzan as a Rs6.37 billion package has been proposed.

    According to reports, the Ministry of Industries & Production (MoIP) has proposed the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) to approve the mega Ramzan relief package for 2021.

    Profit quoted sources at MoIP as saying that under the proposed relief package to be offered through utility stores network, the government would give a subsidy of around Rs40 per kilogramme on sugar, banaspati ghee and wheat flour. The ECC, which would be chaired by Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, is likely to approve the historic relief package soon, they added.

    As per an MoIP official, the average Ramzan relief package in the past 10 years ranged between Rs1.5 to Rs2.5 billion.

    “The relief package last year was Rs2.5 billion and the average savings for the consumers remained Rs10–Rs15 on various items. However, serious intervention will be required this year to control the prices of vegetable ghee and oil, sugar and even wheat flour,” he added.

    They said the relief package would include a reduction in prices of 14 essential items by 10pc to 15pc at utility stores, besides the sale of five items at subsidised rates.

  • WWF releases rare video of snow leopard hunting ibex

    WWF releases rare video of snow leopard hunting ibex

    Viewer discretion is advised.

    The World Wildlife Fund-Pakistan (WWF-P) released rare footage of a snow leopard hunting a Himalayan ibex in Khunjerab National Park, located at a distance of approximately 15 kilometres from the Pakistan-China border.

    The footage was released on March 3 to mark the annual World Wildlife Day. According to details, the video is aimed to raise awareness about wildlife protection and threats to their survival.

    The gripping video shows a snow leopard silently chasing a herd of Himalayan ibex on steep cliffs. After successfully hunting an ibex, the snow leopard can be seen feasting on it. Two other cats joined the leopard later.

    The video was recorded by wildlife photographer Muhammad Osama.

    According to Osama, he followed the herd of the ibex in severe cold, with the temperature as low as – 18 degrees Celsius, looking for fresh snow leopard pugmarks.

    “Capturing this hunt was once in a lifetime experience as it involved hours of tireless tracking, climbing mountains and withstanding freezing cold temperatures,” he said.

    VIDEO: Himalayan lynx attacks Markhor in Chitral

    WWF-P director general Hammad Naqi Khan also expressed hope that the video would help in raising awareness about wildlife in Pakistan and the need to guard it.

    He said wildlife in Pakistan and in the rest of the world faced increasing threats due to deforestation and human encroachment, which led to habitat degradation, while new threats such as unsustainable infrastructure and climate change were also emerging.

    As a result, the survival of wildlife, such as snow leopards, Indus River dolphins, common leopards, pangolins, brown bear and white-backed vultures, hangs in the balance, he added.

    Khan requested the government to ensure that existing protected areas in the country were restored so that wildlife could flourish in healthy landscapes.

  • Will Hafeez Shaikh continue as finance minister?

    Will Hafeez Shaikh continue as finance minister?

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government will soon be required to pick a new finance minister as Abdul Hafeez Shaikh’s tenure of six months is going to expire in June 2021 following his loss in the Senate election.

    Hafeez Shaikh, who took oath as Minister for Finance on December 11, 2020, was contesting for the Senate seat from Islamabad from the platform of the PTI and it was requisite for him to win the polls to continue the same portfolio since he was an unelected individual to head the ministry. However, under the Constitution, it would not be possible to serve as finance minister as he has been defeated by former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, the joint candidate of the PDM, in yesterday’s Senate race.

    According to reports, PTI lawmakers and allied parties’ lawmakers were not happy with the PM’s decision to award a ticket to his aide on finance as many saw Sheikh as a “parashooter” in the PTI ranks.

    It remains to be seen who will be the next finance minister.

  • PM Imran Khan to address nation tonight

    PM Imran Khan to address nation tonight

     Prime Minister Imran Khan will address the nation tonight at 06:45 pm. The development comes a day after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Abdul Hafeez Shaikh lost his Senate seat in Islamabad.

    Reports suggest that the government has requisitioned a session of the National Assembly on Saturday so that the PM can seek a vote of confidence from the lawmakers. Yesterday, after former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani defeated finance minister Hafeez Sheikh in the Senate election, the government held a power-packed press conference where it was announced by Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced that PM Khan will seek a vote of confidence from parliament.

    Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari reminded PM Khan of his promise to dissolve the assembly if he lost the Islamabad Senate seat.

    Meanwhile, Information Minister Shibli Faraz tweeted that Prime Minister Khan has announced the name of Sadiq Sanjrani for Senate Chairmanship. Sources say that Yousaf Raza Gillani will be PDM’s candidate for Chairman Senate though his name has not yet been confirmed by PDM.

  • Opp’s Gilani met PTI’s Tareen ahead of Senate elections, but both deny it

    Opp’s Gilani met PTI’s Tareen ahead of Senate elections, but both deny it

    As the country witnesses what are being termed by pundits as the “most controversial” Senate polls in its 74-year history, it has emerged that joint opposition’s candidate Yousuf Raza Gilani met with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Khan Tareen days before the critical electoral process marred by horse-trading allegations.

    Sources claim that Gilani, who is the Upper House candidate of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) from Islamabad besides being a critical election for the opposition to give the ruling PTI a tough time, met Tareen at the wedding of another ruling party lawmaker’s son.

    Interestingly, both the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) stalwart and Tareen, who reports claim is at odds with Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s government since after the sugar crisis scandal, have over the days leading to the Senate elections denied having met each other.

    “I have always strived for the PTI with my heart and soul and my support is always for the party,” Tareen was quoted as saying when he denied the meeting of which The Current also has photographic evidence.

    The former premier, on the other hand, had also refuted speculation that he met Tareen. “I have neither met Jahangir Tareen neither established contact with him,” he had told media persons on the same day as the PTI leader.

    “The two spent quite a lot of time at the wedding of veteran politician and PTI MNA Riaz Fatyana’s son on February 11. They exchanged pleasantries and were seen dining together on top of spending almost all their time at the event with each other,” sources told The Current.

    Sources, however, could not confirm the topics of discussion between the two leaders from rival parties and if then-forthcoming Senate polls or Gilani’s election, in particular, were among the things discussed between Gilani and Tareen.

    While Tareen and Gilani could not be reached out for a comment, another attendee of the said event, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former National Assembly speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has confirmed the encounter.

    Speaking to The Current, Sadiq said that Fatyana has good relations in each and every party and he had known the now PTI and former PML-N leader since the year 2000.

    “We have been colleagues since 2002. At his son’s wedding, I was the only MNA from PML-N. Gilani Sahib was the only one from PPP during the one hour I was there. If others came later, I have no idea. But there was no discussion on the issue of Senate at all.”

    While Sadiq did confirm Tareen’s presence and exchange of pleasantries between the politicians, he said that he did not notice any interaction between Gilani and Tareen for as long as he himself was there.

    A contest for the crucial Islamabad seat in the Senate is currently underway between Gilani and Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. The vote count is scheduled to begin at 5 pm.

  • ‘I am not a fortune teller,’ says Shehbaz Sharif

    ‘I am not a fortune teller,’ says Shehbaz Sharif

    Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif says that he is not a najoomi (fortune teller).

    Read more – Vawda resigns from National Assembly after casting Senate vote

    Speaking to the media while in the Parliament to cast his vote in the ongoing Senate polls, Sharif said: “Every member will vote as per his/her conscience…we hope that the Election Commission will ensure transparency in polls.”

    When asked how hopeful he was of a [PDM] win, Sharif replied: “I am not a najoomi [fortune teller],” adding that the government’s incompetence is out there for the world to see.

    Sharif, who is in custody, was released on production orders in order to cast his vote in the Senate Elections. He also presided over a parliamentary party meeting of the PML-N.

  • Swat teacher attacks 3-year-old with blade to postpone student’s sister’s wedding

    Swat teacher attacks 3-year-old with blade to postpone student’s sister’s wedding

    Police in Swat arrested a seminary teacher for attacking her three-year-old student with a blade.

    According to reports, the teacher attacked the student as she wanted her student’s sister’s wedding to be postponed.

    Investigation SP Nazeer told media outlets that the teacher wanted her student’s sister to marry her brother.

    When the teacher got to know that her student’s sister is marrying someone else, she could not tolerate it and took the extreme step.

    The suspect confessed to her crime in court after which she was sent to a jail in Swat.

    Earlier, a girl in Hafizabad hired an assassin to kill her best friend for breaking a promise regarding living and dying together, and not getting married.