Current Final

Category: National

  • Pakistan’s soft image can only be portrayed through tourism: PM Imran Khan

    Presiding over a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on tourism in Islamabad, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan said that Pakistan is blessed with different climatic zones and numerous untapped tourist points. He said that the government is focused on eco-tourism to ensure environmental conservation while managing and looking after tourist spots.

    According to details, PM Khan said that the government would provide all possible facilities for the development as well as the promotion of the tourism sector in the country. This initiative would not only generate revenue but also provide employment opportunities for the people of Pakistan.

    Previously in his first televised address to the nation, soon after taking oath, PM Imran had said: “Pakistan has huge tourism potential. We will promote tourism to strengthen the economy.”

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) for Overseas Pakistanis Sayed Zulfiqar Bukhari briefed the committee about the progress of the development of the tourism sector. He also informed that substantial work has been undertaken for the development of religious tourism.

    It is pertinent to mention here that the World Tourism Forum 2021 will be held in Pakistan. According to Zulfi Bukhari, the forum will be a five-day event with over 1,000 foreign visitors expected to attend.

    “The World Tourism Forum will have three days for conference and two days for tourism”, the SAPM had said.

    Meanwhile, American business magazine Forbes has also listed Pakistan as one of the ten must-visit destinations for those who’re looking for something offbeat.

  • Info minister Shibli Faraz shares ‘father’s poetry’, is told it is not Ahmad Faraz but Ghalib’s ghazal

    Info minister Shibli Faraz shares ‘father’s poetry’, is told it is not Ahmad Faraz but Ghalib’s ghazal

    In a rather embarrassing development, Federal Minister for Information Shibli Faraz on Friday had to delete a tweet criticising the opposition after he was told that the poetry he had shared as that of his father, Ahmad Faraz, was actually a ghazal by Mirza Ghalib.

    “Jiski bahaar yeh ho uski khizaa naa pooch [don’t ask about the autumn of whose spring is this],” the minister said in the deleted tweet aimed at mocking the joint opposition for what the government called was “an empty stadium” in Gujranwala during the maiden public gathering of the opposition parties’ anti-government campaign.

    The tweet was deleted after journalist and Geo News Managing Director Azhar Abbas told him that the phrase the minister had attributed to his father and late poet Ahmad Faraz was actually from a ghazal by classical Urdu poet from the 19th Century, Mirza Ghalib.

    “I think it’s Ghalib’s not Ahmad Faraz’s,” Abbas tweeted.

    Shibli Faraz, who is serving as the federal minister for information and broadcasting since April 28, 2020, is a member of the Senate from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) since 2015. He is the son of the late renowned poet Ahmad Faraz, who was displaced by dictators for also being a vocal critic of military rule.

  • VIDEO: Army, ISI chiefs accused of toppling Nawaz govt

    VIDEO: Army, ISI chiefs accused of toppling Nawaz govt

    Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has accused Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa of toppling his government, pressuring the judiciary, and installing the current government of Prime Minister Imran Khan in the 2018 general elections.

    Nawaz Sharif was speaking via video link from London to a gathering of tens of thousands of people organised by opposition parties to kick-off a countrywide protest campaign in Gujranwala aiming to oust the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, you packed up our government, which was working well, and put the nation and the country at the alter of your wishes,” Nawaz told the gathering — the largest since the 2018 elections.

    The former prime minister also accused Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, the chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence, of being involved in conspiring against his government.

    PAKISTAN DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT:

    Nine major opposition parties formed a joint platform called the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) last month to begin a nationwide agitation against the government.

    Nawaz, whose Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is the main opposition party, was sacked by the Supreme Court in 2017 on corruption charges and left for London last November for medical treatment.

    He blames generals and judges for what he says were trumped up charges. The military, however, denies meddling in politics.

    Maryam Nawaz, the daughter and political heir of Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the son of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who heads her Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), also addressed the gathering. Both criticised the Khan government for what they called bad governance and mismanagement of the economy.

    Speakers at the gathering called for Khan’s resignation and an end to military’s interference in politics.

    The next general election is scheduled for 2023.

    “Go Imran go. Your time is up!” shouted tens of thousands of the opposition supporters gathered at the Gujranwala stadium.

    Imran, who came to power on an anti-graft platform and denies the army helped him win, said on Friday he wasn’t afraid of the opposition’s campaign, which was aimed at blackmailing him to drop corruption cases against their leaders.

    The protest campaign comes at a time when Pakistan is experiencing an economic crisis, with inflation touching double digits and negative growth.

  • Maryam, for the third time, crosses toll plaza without paying tax

    Maryam, for the third time, crosses toll plaza without paying tax

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz once again violated toll tax rules as she, along with her entire convoy, crossed toll plaza without paying the tax, ARY News reported.

    According to reports, the PML-N vice president (VP), who is en route to Gujranwala for a public gathering to kick off the opposition’s anti-government campaign, exited Lahore without paying the tax levied on anyone wanting to travel on a highway such as the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway (M11) or the Grand Trunk (GT) Road.

    She had in August 2019 also violated toll tax rules as her vehicle crossed the toll plaza without paying tax in Qadirabad near Sahiwal, months after not paying the same tax in Mandi Bahauddin. Maryam was on her way to public gatherings in different parts of Punjab both times.

    Earlier on Friday, the PML-N VP left for Gujranwala that is the venue for the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rally, saying she was doing so “as a foot soldier” of ousted prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif.

    “I embark on this mission as your foot soldier, Nawaz Sharif. I have dedicated myself to your struggle, your mission for Pakistan and its people,” Maryam tweeted as she left her Jati Umra residence in Lahore for Gujranwala’s Jinnah Stadium.

    The recently-formed PDM has announced it will hold a series of protest rallies in major cities in the next couple of months to oust the “selected” government of PM Imran.

  • Ex-PM Abbasi speaks about meeting on economy with Gen Bajwa

    Ex-PM Abbasi speaks about meeting on economy with Gen Bajwa

    Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has revealed that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa had held a meeting with him in November 2018 to discuss the economic issues prevalent at the time, especially the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout.

    Abbasi revealed the details of the meeting in a talk show on Samaa TV. According to the lawmaker, who has also served as a petroleum minister in the cabinet of Nawaz Sharif, PML-N leaders Khawaja Asif and Miftah Ismail were also present in the meeting. “The details of such meetings are usually kept confidential, but now that they are being publicised I don’t see any harm in telling the details,” the ex-PM added.

    The army chief wanted the opinion of the PML-N lawmakers on the economy in the light of growing inflation and a tanking economy, Abbasi said.

    “We relayed our reservations on the state of the economy to the army chief,” he told anchorperson Nadeem Malik. “We told the army chief that Pakistan would face tremendous economic pressure within next three years due to the policies of the incumbent regime,” he said, adding that the government took six months to wreck the economy.

    Last week, former Sindh governor Muhammad Zubair revealed the details of the meeting with Gen Bajwa. Muhammad Zubair, who has been appointed as party supreme leader Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz’s spokesperson, revealed further details of his “secret meeting” with Gen Bajwa.

    In an exclusive interview with The Current, Zubair said that he isn’t a big fan of gulab jamun but that’s what they had for dessert the night he met Gen Bajwa over dinner.“I’m not a gulab jamun person but I couldn’t say no to him [Gen Bajwa] since he is a dignitary… he is the COAS,” the former Sindh governor said when asked about the details of his meeting that was also reportedly attended by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General (DG) Lt Gen Faiz Hameed.

  • Hardliners smear portrait of Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam outside National Science College

    A group of youngsters, allegedly science students, has smeared a portrait of the only Nobel laureate physicist from Pakistan and champion of science in the developing world, Dr Abdus Salam.

    A video doing rounds over the internet showed the group, consisting of State Youth Parliament Pakistan members, painting the portrait black while raising slogans against the minority Ahmadiyya community, of which Dr Salam was a member, outside Gujranwala’s National Science College.

    “They are students of so-called science colleges, what a shame,” read a strongly-worded post by Facebook page ‘The Hoodbhoyist’ that describes itself as a “social club for liberal, secular, humanists and progressive”.

    When he won the Nobel prize in 1979, Dr Salam became the very first Pakistani to achieve this distinction, and only the fourth from the subcontinent.

    Born in 1926 in a remote village in Punjab, British India, Salam was a child prodigy. He came from humble beginnings, growing up in a small brick house with a large family of eleven. While Salam’s legacy looms large in the world of physics, he is largely forgotten in Pakistan because of his faith.

    “Salam — The First ****** Nobel Laureate” — a feature-length film on Dr Salam’s life — was released on Netflix in October last year.

    It has won accolades on the international film festival circuit, including DFW South Asian Film Festival, South Asia Human Rights Festival, South Asian International Film Festival and the South Asian Film Festival of Montreal, among others.

  • India says didn’t approach Pakistan for talks

    India says didn’t approach Pakistan for talks

    India’s Ministry for External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that New Delhi did not approach Pakistan with a dialogue offer, as he rejected claims made by Moeed Yusuf — the prime minister’s aide on national security– in a recent interview with an Indian media outlet.

    “The statements made by him [Yusuf] are contrary to facts on the ground, misleading and fictitious. As regards the purported message that was referred to, let me make it clear that no such message was sent from our side,” Srivastava said at a weekly press briefing.

    The spokesperson termed the statement “fictitious and misleading”, saying the claim was made by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government to “divert attention from domestic failures” and “mislead its domestic constituents by pulling India into headlines on a daily basis”. The Indian official advised Yusuf “to restrict his advice to the establishment and not comment on India’s domestic policies”.

    PM’s Special Assistant on National Security Moeed Yusuf gave an interview to The Wire earlier this week, wherein he claimed that India approached Pakistan with a talk offer. This was the first time a Pakistani government official was interviewed by an Indian outlet since New Delhi annexed Kashmir in August last year.

    During his interview with Karan Thapar, Yusuf set five pre-conditions for the resumption of “meaningful dialogue” with India to resolve all outstanding issues, including the longstanding dispute of Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IoK).

    While he said that Pakistan desired peaceful ties with India and wanted to resolve all issues through dialogue, Yusuf asserted that for any meaningful dialogue to take place between the two neighbours, India has to release all political prisoners in Kashmir, end inhuman blockade and restrictions, rescind domicile law that allows non-Kashmiris to settle in the disputed territory, stop human rights abuses and end state terrorism in Pakistan.

    “My message is peace, my message is talk. But there is an intent and there has to be an enabling environment to talk, Karan. Create that and you will find us willing the next day. Just that one step, you will see my prime minister take two – that’s his promise, he stands by it,” Yusuf told journalist Karan Thapar.

  • Detection of COVID-19 in students adds to second wave fears

    Detection of COVID-19 in students adds to second wave fears

    Two more educational institutions in Islamabad have been sealed by the district health administration after the detection of COVID-19 cases among five students, fueling the outbreak’s second wave fears.

    In August, the government lifted most lockdown restrictions, which had come following a significant drop in new coronavirus cases. Federal Education for Minister Shafqat Mahmood had announced the re-opening of educational institutions on September 4, since when, at least 29 schools, colleges and universities have been sealed in the federal capital alone.

    The cases were reported despite the authorities concerned ensuring that necessary measures were taken ahead of the much-awaited re-opening of educational institutions.

    While it was earlier speculated that coronavirus has ended in Pakistan due to either an effective strategy of the government or multiple other reasons such as herd immunity being achieved, a sudden spike in the number of cases has left experts scratching their heads.

    Amid the rising positivity rate in the country which crossed 2% in September, the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has expressed concerns over the looming second wave of coronavirus, highlighting the carelessness in the implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) in schools and other public spaces.

    Taking to Twitter, Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, who also chairs the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) to deal with COVID-19 in the country, has highlighted the rise in the number of infections as well.

    An analysis of previous data shows that since the easing of lockdown restrictions and reopening of education institutions in Pakistan, there has been a steady increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases.

    However, evidence from around the world has shown there is no correlation between students returning to institutions after coronavirus lockdowns and a rise or fall in new infections.

    According to Insights for Education, 52 countries, including France and Spain, actually saw infection rates rise during the holidays. Some, such as Croatia, have seen cases fall after reopening schools.

    Others, like Hungary and Great Britain, have seen a rise since reopening schools, according to the data — based on UNESCO and World Bank figures alongside rigorous daily media scans over the last six months — although the United Kingdom (UK) infection rate was already trending upwards before schools reopened.

    Overall, the picture is so varied that a link between schools and coronavirus transmission cannot be proved, the report suggested. Other factors, including the country’s health system capacity and economic openness and the robustness of its testing and tracing system, must be considered. 

    By the time this report was filed, Sindh had the highest number of infections and deaths in Pakistan — 140,997 and 2,566, respectively — followed by Punjab with 101,237 positive cases and 2,277 deaths.

    The total number of cases in the country stood at 321,218 with 305,395 recoveries.

  • Police find Rs 85,000 in beggar’s bag in Quetta

    The police found Rs 85,000 in a beggar’s bag in Quetta who lost his consciousness after a vehicle hit him on Wednesday.

    As per reports, the incident happened on Quetta’s Saryab road, where a motorcyclist allegedly hit the beggar, leaving him unconscious.

    He was taken Civil Hospital by police. While he was being treated for his wounds, his bag was checked to find out his identity., The beggar had been carrying Rs85,000 and some change. The bills were kept in a very organised manner, sorted by denomination and bound in separate bundles.

    Police said that the amount has been kept “safe” and will be returned to the beggar when he recovers.

  • Former ISI DG says he never asked Nawaz Sharif to resign

    Former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general (DG) Lt General (r) Zaheerul Islam has said that he never sought the resignation of prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

    Speaking to a private media outlet on Wednesday, Islam also categorically denied that he had in 2014 sent any message through any person to the then PM Nawaz. “I never sent anyone to convey any such message to the premier,” he said, adding it was absolutely wrong.

    Instead, Islam insisted that at every stage during the 2014 sit-in by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), he had advised the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government to politically engage with the protesting parties to end the protest.

    He was, however, reluctant to talk further on the subject.

    Stepping back into the political limelight last month, Nawaz, who is seeking medical treatment abroad, had in a fiery speech said the entire country knows what the former ISI chief had done. He claimed that Islam had at midnight sent him a message seeking his resignation.

    “He threatened to impose martial law if I didn’t step down but I refused to resign at all costs,” Nawaz had added.

    Reacting to his statements, PM Imran Khan had said he would take on anyone who dares to tell him to step down as a democratically-elected PM.

    “He [Nawaz] claims he was told by the army… Gen Zaheerul Islam… to resign. You are the PM… how can he dare to demand so from you?” the premier had said while speaking to senior journalist Nadeem Malik.

    When asked what would Imran Khan do if he is asked to resign, the premier had said he, being the PM, would immediately ask for that person’s resignation. “I am the country’s PM,” he had said maintained.