Current Final

Category: National

  • Mention ‘sewing machines’ of PM’s sister, Marriyum spotted telling PML-N lawmaker

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Marriyum Aurangzeb is facing criticism from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) spokesperson for goading PML-N leader Afzal Khokhar into targeting PM Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, during his speech on the floor of the National Assembly.

    PM’s focal person on digital media, Dr Arslan Khalid shared a video on his Twitter wherein Marriyum, who was also overheard in the Khokhar’s mic, can be seen asking Khokhar to mention Aleema Khan over her alleged corrupt practices.

    “I did not use government funds to gift sewing machines to my sisters,” he said referring to Imran Khan. His remarks were cheered on by the PML-N lawmakers. However, the PTI said that it was unfair of Marriyum to target the sisters of PM Imran who aren’t even a part of politics.

    Khokhar also tabled a privilege motion. During the session, while talking about the operation to demolish his Lahore residence, the Khokhar Palace, the PML-N leader told the House that the administration had stormed his place late at night and destroyed furniture among other things.

    “This type of attitude of Punjab authorities will not be tolerated,” he said.

    The same session saw PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal getting a dressing down by the NA speaker. “Please mind your tone. You have been a minister, and you call yourself ‘professor’… is this the way to talk?” Asad Qaiser chided Iqbal who kept talking back at the speaker.

    CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS AGAINST ALEEMA:

    In 2019, Aleema was accused of concealing her offshore assets in the United Arab Emirates and New Jersey.

    Aleema Khan maintained that her foreign assets had nothing to do with the charity funding. Aleema said she had made her fortune through inherited property and sewing machines.

    “My textile export business has represented international buyers and assisted Pakistani textile mills in business development, procuring orders which have averaged over Rs2 billion worth of exports yearly from Pakistan and contributed to the economy,” The News had reported at the time.

    Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had taken suo motu notice of Aleema’s property in Dubai on November 28. Subsequently, Aleema was asked to pay Rs29.4 million in taxes and fines — a move dubbed as NRO by the opposition.

  • UAE decides to grant citizenship to ‘talented and innovative’ people

    The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has adopted amendments that would allow Gulf state to grant citizenship to investors and other professionals, including scientists, doctors, engineers, artists, authors and their families, the government said on Saturday.

    “The UAE cabinet, local Emiri courts and executive councils will nominate those eligible for the citizenship under clear criteria set for each category,” Dubai’s ruler and UAE Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum tweeted.

    “The law allows receivers of the UAE passport to keep their existing citizenship,” Sheikh Mohammed added.

    It was unclear if new passport holders would benefit from the public welfare system. The UAE spends billions of dollars each year on free education, healthcare, housing loans and grants for its estimated 1.4 million citizens.

    Foreigners in the UAE usually have renewable visas valid for only a few years tied to employment. The government in recent has made its visa policy more flexible, offering longer residencies for certain types of investors, students and professionals.

    Last year, the government extended its “golden” visa system — that grants 10-year residency in the Gulf state — to certain professionals, specialised degree-holders and others.

  • PM reveals he was offered money ahead of Senate election

    PM reveals he was offered money ahead of Senate election

    Defending his party’s move to hold the upcoming election of the upper house of the parliament through open ballot, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has spoken of bribes paid to buy loyalties, revealing that he himself had been offered some.

    “Money goes to the very top,” the premier said while speaking to media on Friday.

    According to Dawn, PM Imran claimed that 20 members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were paid Rs50 million each during the last Senate poll to vote in favour of certain candidates.

    Saying that the parties opposing the amendment aimed at curbing corruption would stand exposed, he added the PTI had expelled the 20 members after they were found guilty of horse-trading by an investigation committee.

    “We also know who is raising money to buy loyalties this time,” he said, without naming anyone.

    He termed the practice “betrayal” with Pakistan because the Senate had a particular “status and role” since it represented the provinces in the federation.

    The premier said it reflected poorly on the kind of people who came to the Senate through money and questioned the ability of such lawmakers to represent their respective provinces. “Apart from that, what kind of democracy is this where legislators sell their vote by taking money?” he asked.

    Acknowledging that his government did not have a two-thirds majority in the lower house, the premier said the ruling party would still try to present the amendment for open ballot in the Senate elections to curb horse-trading.

  • Kid, who was spotted driving SUV, says he went out to get ice cream

    Kid, who was spotted driving SUV, says he went out to get ice cream

    The boy whose video driving a Land Cruiser in Multan went viral earlier this week says that he took the vehicle out for a ride because he felt like having ice cream.

    When asked by a reporter, the kid said he drove to several places to get the ice cream but couldn’t find any, so he decided to head back home. According to the kid, this was not the first time that he drove this vehicle.

    “My father didn’t scold me,” said the kid in response to a question. He only said that “I shouldn’t drive [at this age] again”.

    The kid’s father said he was sleeping when his son took the key of the vehicle from his bedside. “When I woke up and couldn’t find the key, I took my driver and went out to look for the kid,” he said, adding that the kid was returning home when “we came across him”.

    He also said that he went to the police voluntarily.

    On Friday, the father of the kid was fined Rs 1,000 for negligence. He has also submitted an affidavit to the police stating that the incident occurred due to his negligence and will not happen again. The man and his son were allowed to go home after submitting surety bonds.

  • Twitter unhappy with PTI minister for badmouthing former PM’s late father

    Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi has drawn the ire of hundreds of social media users for badmouthing the late father of former prime minister (PM) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

    Khaqan Abbasi, who was an air commodore in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) until his removal by former premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, served as the federal minister for production in ex-PM Muhammad Khan Junejo’s cabinet. He died on April 10, 1988, after his car was hit by a missile in the Ojhri Camp disaster.

    “Huge secrets lie behind these huge businesses,” Federal Minister Zaidi wrote as he tweeted a 1991 report against the late Abbasi.

    His tweet, however, did not sit very well with a majority of Twitter users who said:

    While some are also supporting the minister’s statement, what do you think of the tweet? Let The Current know in the comments…

  • ‘Not bound by it’: Pakistan questions legitimacy of UN treaty on nuclear weapons

    ‘Not bound by it’: Pakistan questions legitimacy of UN treaty on nuclear weapons

    Pakistan says it is not bound by any of the obligations enshrined in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons — adopted in July 2017 — as the accord failed to take on board the “legitimate interests of all the stakeholders”.

    The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was adopted by the UN in 2017 and it reached 50 ratification in October by Austria, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Nigeria, and Thailand among other countries.

    In a statement issued by the Foreign Office, Islamabad said this treaty neither forms a part of nor contributes to the development of customary international law in any manner.

    According to the statement, the treaty was negotiated outside the established UN disarmament negotiating forums.

    “None of the nuclear-armed states, including Pakistan, took part in the negotiations of the treaty which failed to take on board the legitimate interests of all the stakeholders. Many non-nuclear armed states have also refrained from becoming parties to the treaty,” it added.

    “The United Nations General Assembly, at its first special session devoted to nuclear disarmament in 1978, had agreed by consensus that in the adoption of disarmament measures, the right of each state to security should be kept in mind, and at each stage of the disarmament process, the objective would be undiminished security for all states at the lowest possible level of armaments and military forces,” the statement said.

    The FO said the nuclear prohibition can only be achieved “as a cooperative and universally agreed undertaking through a consensus-based process involving all the relevant stakeholders which results in equal and undiminished security for all states”.

    “It is indispensable for any initiative on nuclear disarmament to take into account the vital security considerations of each and every state,” the FO statement implored.

  • ‘You call yourself professor… mind your tone’: Ahsan Iqbal gets a scolding from NA speaker

    Ruckus on Friday marred yet another session of the National Assembly as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Ahsan Iqbal got a scolding from speaker of the House, Asad Qaiser.

    “Please follow rules. I am doing so too […] mind your tone,” the speaker told the opposition lawmaker.

    While the reason behind the war of words has not yet been confirmed by any, a video of the episode showed Iqbal repeatedly interrupting the speaker, demanding what appeared to be more time on the floor of the House.

    “Please mind your tone. You have been a minister, and you call yourself ‘professor’… is this the way to talk?” a visibly displeased Qaiser was seen asking Iqbal who kept talking back at the speaker.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Earlier, rumpus also erupted after PML-N MNA Afzal Khokhar tabled a privilege motion.

    During the session, while talking about the operation to demolish his Lahore residence, the Khokhar Palace, the PML-N leader told the House that the administration had stormed his place late at night and destroyed furniture among other things.

    “This type of attitude of Punjab authorities will not be tolerated,” he said.

    The House has been adjourned to meet again on Monday.

  • UN chief urges Pakistan, India to resolve Kashmir conflict through talks

    UN chief urges Pakistan, India to resolve Kashmir conflict through talks

    UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Thursday called on nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to “come together and seriously discuss their problems” stemming from the unresolved Kashmir dispute, saying his good offices are always available for mediation.

    Replying to a question from APP correspondent Iftikhar Ali at his first press conference in 2021, the UN chief warned that there was no “military solution” to the decades-old conflict.

    “It is clear when seeing Pakistan and India, any military confrontation between the two would be a disaster of unmitigated proportions for both countries and for the whole world,” he warned.

    “I do believe that is absolutely essential to have a de-escalation of the situation, namely in the Line of Control” in the disputed Kashmir region, Guterres said, adding, “I think it’s absolutely essential for the two countries to be able to come together and seriously discuss their problems.”

    “And,” he added, “I think it’s essential that human rights are fully respected in all territories that you mentioned,” referring to the question in which the correspondent highlighted the continuing rights abuses in the Indian occupied Kashmir.

    He said he stood by his statement of Aug. 8, 2019, which called for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute based on UN resolutions and the UN Charter.

    “Now, things have not moved in the right direction, our good offices are always available, and we will insist within it on finding peaceful solutions for problems that have no military solution.”

  • Trans model Rimal Ali joins PTI

    Trans model Rimal Ali joins PTI

    Transgender model Rimal Ali has joined the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to contribute to the welfare sector. 

    The model was allegedly kidnapped and tortured just a couple of days ago and the incident has motivated her to make a difference in society by joining politics.

    Ali has also been appointed as coordinator for gender discrimination of the Insaf Welfare Wing.

    The celebrity rose to international fame as Pakistan’s first transgendered model. After the horrific incident she had gone through, she hopes to strengthen her community by joining politics. 

    Visuals of the torture incident have been doing the rounds on the internet and netizens have supported Ali while raising their voices for the transgender community.

    Photo Credit: The Express Tribune

    Ali will continue to work in the showbiz industry along with politics.

    “I will continue my showbiz career and nowadays I am engaged in various projects. In the coming days, my fans will see me in the drama industry and more films,” Ali told The Express Tribune. 

    “I was appreciated by the public when I started my career and luckily have gotten opportunities to work with legendary actors like Mahira Khan. Showbiz is my passion and I will not leave it. In these uncertain days, the situation in the industry is a bit disturbed due to COVID-19. But like many others, I am also struggling through this difficult time.”

    Earlier, Ali made her film debut in Saat Din Mohabbat In and Rahbra. Soon after, many from the community started their film careers.

  • PM thinks election every five years is a ‘tragedy’

    PM thinks election every five years is a ‘tragedy’

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that no nation could move forward without long-term planning and it was tragic that governments in Pakistan could not do so due to the general election being held every five years.

    According to The News, the premier, while addressing a function in connection with documentary-drama ‘Paani Ke Pankh‘ on Thursday, termed the 10 years of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) governments from 2008 through 2018 the “decade of darkness, marred by massive corruption, political expediency and inefficiency”.

    “When criminals become country heads, then no country can develop. So, one has to have faith in oneself. There are talented Pakistanis in every field outside Pakistan. The country’s system has to be fixed,” he said.

    “It takes a little time; people should not worry that the change has not come yet. It takes time to change the mindset. It’s tragic that in our country elections are held every five years due to which we do not have a long-term plan,” he continued.

    He said dams were built with a long-term plan and cited China as a country that is becoming the world’s fastest growing economic power and superpower because of long-term planning.

    “When we visited China, they told us what they were going to do in the next 10 to 20 years. No nation can move forward unless it has a long-term plan and thinks ahead. Unfortunately, we have a period of five years. We try to accomplish everything in five years, spend billions of rupees on advertisements and then fight elections on it,” he pointed out.

    Imran believed that this handicap had done a lot of damage to Pakistan.