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Category: National

  • By-polls: Maryam shares videos of vote theft as PML-N claims victory on three seats

    By-polls: Maryam shares videos of vote theft as PML-N claims victory on three seats

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz shared videos on her Twitter handle, accusing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers of stealing ballot papers during the Wazirabad (PP-51) by-polls.

    The PML-N vice president alleged that her party supporters nabbed the ruling party workers trying to sneak out with ballot boxes. Maryam shared a number of videos seemingly showing unidentified persons carrying white bags and surrounded by enraged PML-N workers.

    “PTI people caught red-handed stealing bags full of votes by PMLN MPA Adil Chatta and Ataa Tarar. [The] seal was also broken. Police was a part of the plan to steal votes for PTI,” the vice president wrote on her handle.

    According to PML-N’s Ataa Tarar, the presiding officer stationed at the Virtual University polling station was allegedly casting fake votes. Tarar claimed the votes that were cast in the men’s section of the polling station were 600, but upon examination by the polling agent of the PML-N, 852 votes were found.

    In another video shared by the PML-N leader, a man could be seen sitting in a car with a white bag which is described by Maryam a bag of votes. “He was caught red-handed. PML-N workers did not allow him to escape. Rangers also present,” Maryam said in another tweet.

    Subsequently, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) took notice of the videos shared by the PML-N leader and summoned a report from the returning officer. The ECP later withheld the results over irregularities in polling.

    By-elections were held in four constituencies on Friday: two in Punjab and two in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the unofficial results, PML-N emerged victorious in Daska, Gujranwala and Nowshera (PK-63), whereas a PTI candidate was leading on Kurram (NA-45) seat.

    According to preliminary results obtained from 213 polling stations, PML-N candidate Nosheen Iftikhar was in the lead with 61,571 votes in NA-75 Sialkot, while the PTI candidate Ali Asjad Khan had obtained 55,872 votes. Maryam Nawaz claimed victory on the Daska seat. In Daska, at least two people –PML-N and PTI supporters — were killed as a result of firing on a polling station.

    In Wazirabad, PML-N’s Begum Talat Shaukat bagged 53,903 votes, while PTI’s Chaudhry Yousuf stood runner-up with 48,484 votes. Wazirabad’s PP-51 fell vacant after PML-N MPA Shaukat Manzoor Cheema died on June 3, 2020.

    In Nowshera, PML-N candidate Ikhtiar Wali, backed by the opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement, won the by-election by securing 21,112 votes against his rival candidate Mian Umer Kakakhel of the PTI, who got 17,023 votes.

    PTI’s Fakharuzzaman Bangash clinched victory after receiving 16,911 votes, while independent candidate Haji Syed Jamal secured 15,560 votes.

  • Maulana Tariq Jamil to launch a clothing brand soon

    As per media reports, Maulana Tariq Jamil is launching a clothing brand. Speaking with Samaa Digital, Maulana Tariq Jamil’s manager Shabbir Ahmed Usmani confirmed the news, adding that the brand will sell Shalwar Kameez and Kurtas.

    Meanwhile, a LinkedIn page with the name of “MTJ – Tariq Jamil” has been created, supposedly for the official page of the soon-to-be-launched brand.

    According to the LinkedIn page, “MTJ being supervised directly by Maulana, is dedicated to weave people’s beliefs and convictions into reality. Provides a garment shopping platform to discover and re-associate with that lost identity that is ingrained in all of us.”

    The description further states, “The brand works to holistically combine diverse heritage and values in producing garments for people to feel empowered and proud when they wear them to offices, in homes, functions, travelling etc. and respectfully become the ambassadors of those inherited values by owning them.”

    The link of the website given on the LinkedIn page says “MTJ online, Coming Soon”.

    However, Tariq Jamil’s manager did not say when the brand would be launched officially.

  • Gwadar stadium hosts first cricket match, dedicated to Ali Sadpara

    Gwadar stadium hosts first cricket match, dedicated to Ali Sadpara

    It was a sight for sore eyes as the cricket stadium in Gawdar city, dubbed by many as the world’s most beautiful one, hosted its first ever cricket match on Friday.

    The picturesque stadium, surrounded by the majestic mountains and hills, is hosting a match between the Showbiz Sharks Vs the Gwadar Dolphins. Prime Minister Imran Khan dedicated the match to the unsung hero, Ali Sadpara.

    Sharing the images from the stadium, the official page of Khan wrote: “The first ever cricket match being held at Gwadar cricket stadium, the match was dedicated to Muhammad Ali Sadpara.”

    Zulfi Bukhari seconds Khan. “Dedicating the 1st ever match at Gwadar Stadium to Pakistan’s son #MuhammadAliSadpara. The match tomorrow will start with a prayer in his memory,” he tweeted.

    “This is the beauty of our land, even our loss unites us from K2 to Gwadar to Quetta,” he added.

    According to a report, the Showbiz Sharks were being led by PCB CEO Waseem Khan and will include Fakhr-e-Alam, Faysal Qureishi, Ali Zafar, Saleem Sheikh, Aijaz Aslam, Shezad Roy, Sami Khan, Kamran Jeelani, Salman Saeed, Ali Safina and Noman Habib.

    The Dolphins, on the other hand, were being led by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari and features local players and Ali Zaidi and the GOC Gwadar.

    British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Christian Turner, officiated the toss between Zulfi Bukhari and Waseem Khan.

    Cricket buffs couldn’t hold back from tweeting pictures of the stadium. Here are some of the tweets:

    The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis decided to jump on the “Pawri Hori Hai” bandwagon.

    One Twitter account uploaded the new PSL banger playing loudly in the stadium.

    Zulfi Bukhari’s ministry tweeted a few pictures of the Dolphins’ captain on the field.

    Christian Turner himself was pretty excited to be at the venue.

    Before the game commenced, prayers for Pakistani mountaineer Ali Sadpara and the other two foreign climbers were held who went missing with him on their adventurous expedition to K2.

    Sadpara was recently declared dead by his family.

    The stadium was first highlighted by singer, actor and TV personality Fakhar-e-Alam, who tweeted pictures and videos from the stadium.

    Soon, the International Cricket Council (ICC) caught wind of it and shared pictures of the stadium, upsetting some Indian cricket fans in the process.

    Meanwhile, sharing a video of the stadium, Aijaz Aslam wrote: “World’s most beautiful cricket stadium Gwadar.”

    Earlier Faysal Qureshi and wife, Sana faysal also shared pictures and video of their visit to Gawadar.

  • Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Rape victims will have to pay Rs25,000 for medical examination?

    Sexual assault victims in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) will have to pay Rs25,000 for medical examination as the forensic department of Khyber Medical College University (KMCU) has proposed new charges for its services, The Express Tribune reported.

    According to reports, besides the medical examination of rape victims fee, an autopsy will now cost Rs5,000 for Peshawar residents and Rs25,000 for those from other districts, keeping dead bodies in the morgue will cost Rs1,500 for a single day while a fee of Rs18,000 has been suggested for DNA testing.

    Officials said the 17 new charges were proposed in a February 14 meeting of the Management Committee, and have been introduced to meet the operational expenditures of the department.

    Among other proposed charges are Rs2,000 for urine test and alcohol analysis, and Rs4,000 for poison detection test.

    KMCU Dean Dr Aurangzeb has said that the new charges for services were just a proposal discussed in the meeting. “The profits generated from these charges will go to the public exchequer, which will help in the betterment of services.”

  • Pakistan to export pants made of ‘bhang’

    Pakistan to export pants made of ‘bhang’

    A group of scientists working at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, has successfully extracted hemp thread from indigenous cannabis and processed it with cotton to make ‘hemp jeans’.

    Department of Fibre and Textile Technology Chairperson Dr Asad Farooq told a private media outlet that hemp fabric is a sustainable material. It is made of fibres of a very high-yielding crop in the cannabis sativa plant family, he added.

    “We have signed an MoU with a US-based company and will soon begin mass production,” said Dr Farooq in conversation with Samaa. According to the chairperson, the cannabis pants will be exported to the US and Europe because these markets are replacing cotton with sustainable fibre.

    The fibres are extracted from the plant by a process called retting. In the next stage, impurities are removed and then it is converted into yarn through chemical treatment.

    The treated soft fabric is then blended with cotton. We used a ratio of 20:80 of hemp and cotton, said Dr Farooq, adding that at present, hemp costs more than cotton but the price will gradually decrease with an increase in production.

  • Farhat Shahzadi, first lady’s friend, allegedly owns assets worth Rs700m, claims journalist

    Farhat Shahzadi, first lady’s friend, allegedly owns assets worth Rs700m, claims journalist

    After backlash, Farhat Shahzadi, a close friend of First Lady Bushra Bibi, has withdrawn her nomination papers for a Senate seat amid claims that she allegedly owns assets worth Rs70 crore, including a flat in Dubai.

    According to journalist Rauf Klasra, the properties allegedly owned by Shahzadi must be investigated, calling them a “tip of the iceberg”. He claimed that Shahzadi could be the “frontperson” of the first lady while demanding a probe into her assets.

    Shahzadi had submitted the details of her assets to the Election Commission of Pakistan at the time of the submission of her papers. According to these details, the value of her assets increased by Rs9.5 million in one year.

    She has properties in Dubai, Bahria Town, Defence Housing Authority, and Chakri, Rawalpindi. In DHA Lahore, she owns six properties worth about Rs450m; in Islamabad, she owns a flat worth Rs90m; in Dubai, she is the owner of a flat that is worth approx Rs10m.

    The PTI leader has investments in 12 different entities, whereas she has eight bank accounts in her name with millions deposited in them.

    Meanwhile, the decision to field Shahzadi as a covering candidate on a seat reserved for women didn’t go down well with the party leadership. Subsequently, she has decided against contesting the election and took her nomination papers back.

    However, at the time, PM’s aide Shahbaz Gill defended the nomination of Shahzadi. Following criticism, PM’s aide Shahbaz Gill had defended the selection of Farhat Shahzadi, saying she is a part of the PTI and has been an active political worker for many years. She is a covering candidate and it is her right, he had added.

    Earlier this week, the PTI nominated 10 candidates: Jamshed Iqbal Cheema, Muhammad Khan Madni, Saifullah Sarwar Khan Nyazee, Robina Akhtar, Malik Zaheer Abbas Khokhar, Aon Abbas, Omar Sarfraz Cheema, Ejaz Hussain Minhas, Ejaz Ahmad Chaudhary and Neelam Irshad Sheikh.

    Senate elections will be held on March 3.

  • PTI Sindh leader kills snake in jail cell; PPP govt accused of ‘hatching conspiracies’

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker and leader of opposition in Sindh Assembly, Haleem Adil Sheikh, has killed a snake that appeared in his jail cell, the MPA’s spokesperson confirmed.

    “A poisonous snake appeared in the room of Haleem Adil Sheikh, which was pinpointed by a servant who went there to deliver breakfast,” Sheikh’s spokesperson Muhammad Ali Baloch said on Thursday.

    “After seeing the snake, Sheikh killed it,” Baloch said, adding that the presence of the snake in his boss’s room puts a question mark on the performance of Sindh police.

    He went on to say that conspiracies were being hatched against Sheikh as “police have become a slave to the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)”.

    The statements were followed by Additional Inspector General of Police (AIG) Karachi Ghulam Nabi Memon seeking a report from authorities concerned regarding the appearance of the snake.

    AIG Memon telephoned DIG (CIA) Arif Hanif, ordered him to investigate the matter and submit a report at the earliest.

    Meanwhile, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi has sent the PTI leader to jail on judicial remand till February 25.

    The ATC was hearing the case related to aerial firing and disturbance during Karachi’s PS-88 by-election on February 16, in the aftermath of which Sheikh had been placed under police custody.

  • ACE unearths mega corruption scam in excise department

    ACE unearths mega corruption scam in excise department

    According to media reports, Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has unearthed multi-billion scam pertaining to vehicle registration.

    Reportedly, many vehicles were registered through a fake auction in the name of a government department in Punjab.

    In a letter to ACE, the department confirmed that it had never auctioned these vehicles and the vouchers used for auction were fake.

    A group of excise and taxation bureaucrats are responsible for registering these vehicles through fake action vouchers and caused losses of billions of rupees to the provincial economy.

    The report added that the ACE acquired the data of the bank transactions from the beneficiaries of the auctions that show money transfers worth millions of rupees.

    Earlier, in December 2020, a corruption scandal of the same nature was unearthed by ACE. Used, smuggled and stolen vehicles were auctioned on the basis of fake army action vouchers for several years by a gang, comprising officials of Punjab excise and taxation department and private person.

    The anti-graft watchdog started the investigation in 2017. They revealed that as many as 7,013 vehicles were dubious, with 4,000 of them being registered on the basis of fake vouchers. Moreover, they were unable to verify other vehicles in records. This has caused a total loss of Rs 300 billion to the exchequer directly or indirectly.

  • Imran’s neighbours accuse PM’s nephew of land grabbing

    Imran’s neighbours accuse PM’s nephew of land grabbing

    Residents of Bani Gala and reportedly the neighbours of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, namely Azmatullah and Mohammad Umar Gondal, have accused the nephew of the premier of grabbing their land.

    According to a petition filed by the two in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), they purchased land measuring 30 kanals in Mohra Noor Islamabad which is adjacent to the land of the premier.

    It said that out of 30 kanals, they have sold 16 kanals while 14 kanals of land was in their possession.

    The petitioners started landscaping and designed the land to convert it into an orchard; labourers were also hired for this purpose. However, the assistant commissioner (rural) and SHO Banigala stopped them from construction, Dawn reported citing the petition.

    When the petitioners approached the district magistrate (deputy commissioner) and others, they were told that Shahraz Azeem Khan, nephew of PM Imran, is interested in buying their land and advised the petitioner that “it is better for them to sell this land” to PM’s nephew.

    It said that the petitioners were called by deputy commissioner when they reached his office, he arranged their telephonic conversation with PM’s nephew. The petitioners claimed that Shahraz Khan categorically asked them to sell their land or face consequences.

    As per the petition, the district administration threatened the petitioners they would be placed in fourth schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) or they would be jailed under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) and when they will come out of prison, their property would be occupied and they would never be compensated.

    According to the petition, under Article 23 of the Constitution, any citizen has the right to hold or dispose of his property.

    The petitioners requested the court to declare the forced acquisition of their lawful land as illegal and restrain the district administration and police from interfering in the matter.

    Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri of the IHC has issued notices to the premier’s nephew, assistant commissioner (rural), the district magistrate and Banigala SHO on the petition, the report said.

  • Fawad sees ‘woman version of Altaf Hussain’ in Maryam Nawaz

    Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry has said that he sees a woman version of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain in Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz after she warned the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to “get ready for people’s wrath”.

    “NAB is targeting PML-N leader Amir Muqam and his family. Time is not far when people will take revenge from NAB for its excesses,” she said while addressing a rally in Nowshera on Wednesday. “They should just get ready.”

    Reacting to Maryam’s statement, Fawad said the remarks were unfortunate.

    “The way Maryam said she will seek revenge from NAB, it reminds me of Altaf Hussain and co. The way she has threatened… I see a woman version of Altaf Hussain in her,” he said, adding that he couldn’t help recalling the threats against law enforcement by the MQM founder back when he was in the crosshairs.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    https://twitter.com/FawadPTIUpdates/status/1362085006672334850

    MARYAM IN NOWSHERA:

    Earlier, Maryam also said that time had come to send Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan packing.

    She said during the PML-N’s tenure, flour, sugar, pulses and eggs were cheap. “The growth rate under Nawaz Sharif was 5.8%, which has sunk to negative now.”.

    Maryam also said that under the PML-N, the price of flour was Rs35/kg but now it was Rs80/kg. “The price of roti was Rs5 and now it has gone up to Rs20,” she lamented.

    The PML-N vice president said that wherever the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members would contest the elections, they will be defeated.

    “I want to tell the people that when PTI members come to ask for votes, show them the electricity and gas bills and medicine slips and tell them with what grace they have come to ask for votes,” she said, adding that she has more sympathy for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) as compared to Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan because the province has been enduring other issues including incompetence, theft and robbery for last eight years.