Current Final

Category: National

  • Malaysian PM resigns from office

    Malaysian PM resigns from office

    Malaysian Prime Minister (PM) Mahathir Mohamad, who had recently made headlines for his visit to Pakistan and for hosting his Pakistani counterpart, Imran Khan, in Malaysia, has announced his resignation, paving the way for a possible formation of a new government.

    Mahathir said in a two-line statement that he had informed the country’s king of his resignation at 1 pm Kuala Lumpur time (05:00 GMT) on Monday.

    Mahathir’s party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, has also quit the ruling government coalition, Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope), according to the party president, Muhyiddin Yassin, casting doubt on the future of the partnership.

    According to AlJazeera, Mahathir’s decision follows a weekend of political wrangling, after it was reported on Sunday night that his party was planning to form a new government that would exclude his anointed successor, Anwar Ibrahim.

    On Sunday night, allies of Mahathir, some renegade members of Anwar’s People’s Justice Party (PKR), and a slew of other parliament members, including those from the opposition, held talks in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.

    The meeting fueled speculation of an impending collapse of the coalition government, and a political realignment with Mahathir remaining on top, with new coalition partners and Anwar’s PKR out of the alliance. 

    The tussle between old rivals Mahathir, 94, and Anwar, 72, is the latest chapter in a long-running political saga between two of the country’s most prominent political figures.

    Anwar and Mahathir united ahead of the 2018 election to drive out the UMNO-dominated Barisan Nasional coalition that had ruled the Southeast Asian country for six decades in a surprise victory that led to the removal of then-PM Najib Razak.

    Mahathir has also repeatedly promised to hand over power to his former foe.

    But tensions between the two in their Pakatan Harapan alliance had been growing, as Mahathir resisted setting a specific timetable for keeping his promise to hand power to Anwar.

    The coalition’s political fortunes have been waning with defeat in five recent by-elections.

    Anwar also had a split with party mate, Mohamed Azmin Ali, the econonic affairs minister, who was among those who joined the meeting on Sunday night. On Monday, Anwar’s PKR announced the expulsion of Azmin as a member.

    For his part, Azmin announced that he had quit Anwar’s party, taking with him 10 renegade members of PKR, which until Monday was the dominant partner of the ruling coaltion.

    At least 112 votes from members of the 222-seat parliament are necessary to form a new government. 

    Anwar was Mahathir’s deputy when the latter was prime minister during his first stint from 1981 to 2003. But Mahathir sacked him in 1998 after they disagreed on how to handle the country’s financial crisis.

  • Coronavirus: PIA suspends flight operations to Beijing till March 15

    Coronavirus: PIA suspends flight operations to Beijing till March 15

    Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Monday announced to once again suspend flight operations to China till March 15, journalist Sophia Saifi and Geo News reported.

    Reports quoted a PIA spokesperson as saying that a decision about extending or ending the suspension would be taken after reviewing the situation.

    “PIA has suspended flights to Beijing till March 15,” Geo reported.

    The decision comes amid the spread of the deadly virus to another neighbouring country, Iran, where the death toll rose to eight since the infection was reported on Wednesday last week.

    Last month, Pakistan had suspended operations to China briefly amid coronavirus outbreak and allowed airlines to resume flights only after installing screening machines at airports.

  • Pakistan has a cure for coronavirus and Chinese can’t stop thanking for it

    Pakistan has a cure for coronavirus and Chinese can’t stop thanking for it

    Pakistan has an effective drug for COVID-19, over 300,000 pieces of which have been exported to China, said an article published by Economic Daily – China Economic Net (CEN) on February 21, which has gotten 5.71 million page views and 38,000 likes.

    In nearly 10,000 comments, in addition to a lot of thanks to Pakistani friends for their help, some netizens were interested in the “multinational enterprise” mentioned in the CEN reporter’s article and wanted to know the hero behind the scenes who urgently dispensed the effective drugs at a Bayer — German multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company — subsidiary in Pakistan.

    On February 20, after noticing that the official Weibo account of Bayer China said it had made an emergency deployment of chloroquine phosphate tablets in Pakistan at the beginning of this month, the CEN reporter quickly contacted to verify the matter.

    The official Weibo account of Bayer China confirmed the news and said that the batch of medicines was completed in 24 hours. 200,000 of the 300,000 tablets were “sold” to Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings Limited (GPHL) at zero yuan.

    READ: Iran blames Pakistan for spread of coronavirus

    Earlier, Economic Daily reported that on February 5, GPHL first purchased 15,000 tablets of chloroquine phosphate in Pakistan through various channels, and then purchased another 200,000 tablets. The drugs arrived in Guangzhou at 7 pm on February 8.

    Data from clinical trials being performed in China has revealed that chloroquine phosphate could help treat the new coronavirus disease, Covid-19.

    China National Center for Biotechnology Development deputy head Sun Yanrong said that chloroquine, an anti-malarial medication, was selected after several screening rounds of thousands of existing drugs.

    AFP has also verified claims pertaining to the effectiveness of the drug against the virus.

    It took less than four days from purchasing in Pakistan to arriving in Guangzhou. In addition to the international and domestic airline time, it is not easy for Pakistan, a country with less developed transport infrastructure that is suffering from a severe locust plague, to urgently collect, transport and cooperate to undertake the fastest international rescue for dispensing the effective drugs to treat COVID-19.

    The CEN reporter learned from further interviews that chloroquine phosphate production was suspended in China for 20 years. In order to deliver the first batch of effective drugs successfully, from February 5 to 8, in addition to GPHL and Bayer, there are many more heroes behind the scenes, such as China Southern Airlines and Urumqi Customs.

  • PM announces buffaloes, cows and goats for women

    PM announces buffaloes, cows and goats for women

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has announced to empower women through the allocation of domestic animals to them, so that they can support their families and earn a livelihood, The News reported.

    Addressing the Ehsaas Amdan (income) programme launching ceremony in Layyah on Friday, the premier said the government had decided that women will be given one cow, one buffalo and three goats, so that they could run their households.

    Addressing the gathering, he said the government had launched the programme — which he described as “the first of its kind” in Pakistan — to alleviate the sufferings of the poorest members of society. Soon people will get more good news about their wellbeing and country’s prosperity, PM Imran added.

    The premier assured the nation that Pakistan’s difficult time was over now, and the country had been put on the right track. He said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was making efforts for its vision of formation of an Islamic welfare state on the patron of the state of Medina.

    The PM said the government was working on different projects to establish an Islamic welfare state. He said neither he was afraid of death nor defeat, and believed in making his best efforts to leave the matter to Allah, whose all decisions would be acceptable to him.

  • ‘Bilawal wants to overthrow Imran’s govt, but doesn’t know how to’

    ‘Bilawal wants to overthrow Imran’s govt, but doesn’t know how to’

    Senior journalist Asha’ar Rehman has said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief and heir of the late former prime ministers (PM) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto’s political dynasty, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, wants to overthrow the PM Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, but doesn’t really know how to.

    In his column for Dawn, Rehman wrote:

    “Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has his task cut out for him. In Lahore, on one of his ‘I am around’ visits, he made no secret of his express desire to get rid of the Imran Khan setup. Only he did not know the objective could be achieved. The resultant frustr­ation had him asking the journalists he came across in the most imaginative old Punjab capital about ways and means to dislodge the target. Seriously? Is it the journalists’ job to decide who should stay in power and who should be removed and how?”

    He went on to say that the PPP chief “was on a planet of his own” and thought he was justified in exploring avenues that would fast-track the “unwanted PM and his equally suspect team out of power”.

    “He [Bilawal] does hasten to add that his methods will ultimately have to be within the democratic ambit, but besides this, the PPP chairman has little by way of a plan which will free his countrymen from the yoke of the current rulers,” Rehman stated.

    Adventurous, unprofessional souls among journalists who might be enticed to advise Bilawal on ways and means to remove this government might be inclined to suggest an opposition alliance, he wrote, adding that the pundits insist that so long as a comprehensive alliance is missing, PM Imran “has no one to fear — not himself”.

    “Obviously, this is one reality that BBZ [Bilawal] or his guru in practical politics, Asif Ali Zardari, would be aware of. Then why would the PPP chairman try and act so frank at the risk of sounding so empty?” Rehman stated further as he wrote about the PPP’s failure to make up its mind regarding the alliances it should or should not form in order to survive outside Sindh and send the PTI government packing.

    The write-up by the veteran journalist comes after Bilawal, while speaking to a group of senior media persons on Wednesday, made it clear that his party would not become part of any undemocratic move to oust the PTI government.

    Bilawal had said he would continue to fight economic injustices in the country, and expressed hope that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Shehbaz Sharif would soon return and play his part as the opposition leader.

    He had maintained that “elected, not selected, representatives” could resolve issues of the people, and the PPP would continue to highlight the “economic slaughter of the poor” under the PTI government.

  • PM House’s conversion into university to cost taxpayers over Rs35 billion

    PM House’s conversion into university to cost taxpayers over Rs35 billion

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s plan of converting the Prime Minister (PM) House into a modern university is likely to cost over Rs35 billion as new buildings will be constructed over 50 acres of land.

    According to a report in Profit, Pakistan Science and Technology Task Force, which is looking into the proposed university project, estimated an initial cost of over Rs35 billion for the university, however, a feasibility study for the said project is yet to be conducted.

    The report quoted officials at the Ministry of Planning and Development as saying that an important meeting on the planned project was held at the ministry on Thursday, which was chaired by Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar.

    The meeting was also attended by Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry, Pakistan Science and Technology Task Force Chairperson Prof Dr Attaur Rehman, Member Science and Technology Dr Hussain Abidi and senior officials from the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

    According to the officials, Prof Dr Rehman briefed the participants about the latest developments in the establishment of the university at the PM House. The ministers were informed that the planned university will have three centres of excellence and eight departments with a special focus on innovation and technology development. The university will accommodate more than 1,000 PhDs and PostDoc fellows along with 200 faculty members.

    He also elaborated that a budget of Rs200 million was required to conduct an initial feasibility study.

    The planning minister noted that the manufacturing sector in Pakistan needs to be supported through cutting edge and latest technologies in order to make them more competitive. He directed the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) to form a special committee to ensure that the university focuses on relevant technologies that can support the manufacturing industry in Pakistan. He said that there should be no delay in the establishment of the University as it is a high priority project.

    The planning minister was also briefed about the scholarships that will be offered at the university.

    Sources said that since the premier wants fast-track progress on the project, the concerned ministries and authorities have expedited initial work on the proposed university. The university was among PM Imran Khan’s election promises and was also included in the manifesto of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which was released before 2018’s general election.

    Initially, the incumbent government faced great difficulty in going ahead with the proposal because the PM House is located in a highly sensitive area and red zone of the federal capital, but the premier insisted that the university be built there.

    To build the new university, the government also needed to change the master plan of the capital for carrying out new/additional construction on the land adjacent to the PM House. To deal with this, the federal cabinet approved a specific change to the master plan of Islamabad last year.

  • VIDEO: President forgets names of Balochistan governor, CM during speech

    In a rather embarrassing development, President Dr Arif Alvi has forgotten the names of Balochistan Governor Amanullah Khan Yasinzai and Chief Minister (CM) Jam Kamal Khan, calling them Amanullah Khan Yousafzai and Jamal Khan Aliani instead.

    The blunder by the president came as he greeted attendees at the inaugural ceremony of the historic Sibi Mela 2020, but went unnoticed by many until Twitterati pointed it out and said it was “just the ignorant attitude of the people of Pakistan towards the country’s southwestern region of Balochistan”.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    https://twitter.com/sardarjamali/status/1230300542301331456

    Earlier, addressing the inaugural ceremony, the president said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would open up new avenues of progress and prosperity and change destiny of the country, especially Balochistan.

    He said the construction of Gwadar deep seaport, airport, oil refinery, important corridors and economic zones would provide job opportunities to the people of Balochistan, which would end poverty and bring prosperity to them.

    He said that Gwadar would emerge as a new developed part on the world’s map.

    President Alvi said that Balochistan was the most-affected area in the war against terrorism where the local people suffered a lot, adding the federal government was paying special attention to the construction and development of the province to end the sense of deprivation of the local people.

    He also said security forces of the country valiantly fought the war against militancy and terrorism and brought peace to the motherland, adding the terrorists would not succeed in their nefarious designs. Alvi said promotion of agriculture and livestock was need of the hour and the present government was fully concentrating on it as these two sectors were a big source of employment to the local people.

  • VIDEO: Zartaj Gul walks out of live show over JUI-F leader’s ‘disgusting’ remarks about her

    VIDEO: Zartaj Gul walks out of live show over JUI-F leader’s ‘disgusting’ remarks about her

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul has staged a walkout on live television to protest the “disgusting” remarks of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Hafiz Hamdullah against her.

    In a clip of the show from earlier this week, the minister can be seen expressing her disgust over what the JUI-F leader said regarding her in Pashto, in a video that went viral on Tuesday. “Such people, who do not respect women, should be boycotted by the society,” Gul tells the host of the private media outlet’s talk show before walking out in protest.

    She can also be heard urging media outlets to not invite people like Hamdullah to their talk shows, regretting that the JUI-F leader had spoken about a respectable woman such as herself, who was respected by men even in her conservative constituency of Dera Ghazi Khan.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “I don’t know if you know Pashto. But I didn’t say anything like that. She is like a sister to me. I have sisters and daughters… all women are like sisters to me,” Hamdullah tells the host after Gul’s walkout, when the anchorperson gives him a chance to explain his position and apologise if he had made those remarks.

    “The mood in which I spoke, I state under oath, I didn’t speak in a way as if I disrespect her,” Hamdullah responded. “Why would I? What issue do I have with her?

    “But despite all this… if she was hurt, then I apologise for that,” the JUI-F leader said. “I would not disrespect her even if she abused me.”

    The anchorperson praised the JUI-F leader for apologising to Gul. He, however, politely asked Hamdullah to quit the show as well.

    Meanwhile, sources informed The Current that Gul’s strong reaction had come in response to Hamdullah mocking her in a viral video, saying that his smile was great too. In an interview last month, Gul had praised Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, saying that “the world knows of his killer smile that pulls people out of crises”.

  • Inflation: PM seeks ISI, other agencies’ help

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has sought the help of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to present monitoring reports regularly, as Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan directs for a large-scale crackdown on smuggling of edibles and other commodities, The News reported.

    According to reports, the premier has asked the Interior Ministry, law enforcement agencies of the federal and provincial governments, and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to collectively take action against the menace of smuggling. He has also directed the Interior Ministry to present a report on related measures and a comprehensive strategy on the matter within 48 hours.

    He emphasised that keeping in view the recommendations of the task force formed to combat smuggling, short-term, medium-term and long-term measures should be initiated.

    The decision was taken at a high-level meeting, presided over by PM Imran and attended by Minister for National Food Security Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Minister for Planning Asad Umar, Adviser to the PM on Commerce and Trade Abdul Razak Dawood, interior and national food security secretaries, and acting FBR chairman among other senior officials.

    The meeting took stock of the demand and supply of essential commodities and their prices with particular reference to their smuggling. The report on progress so far made on the establishment of markets at the western border was also presented at the meeting. The PM directed accelerating the pace of establishment of markets and observed that because of smuggling of food items, common man was facing difficulties.

    “The menace of smuggling is causing losses worth billions to the national economy. Combating this menace is in national interests,” he contended, adding that prices of food items must be brought down by up to 20 per cent.

    The premier also made it clear that no negligence would be tolerated with regard to smuggling.

  • Reporter, who ‘exposed’ Bilawal’s train march, ‘murdered’

    Reporter, who ‘exposed’ Bilawal’s train march, ‘murdered’

    A private media outlet’s reporter, Aziz Memon, who exposed train march of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari from March 2019, has allegedly been murdered weeks after claiming that his life was at risk amid threats from workers and leaders of Sindh’s ruling party.

    As per the details, Memon, who was a resident of Mehrabpur city and an employee of Kawish Television Network (KTN) as well as Sindhi daily Kawish, was on Sunday found in Gaddo Branch Canal with a wire wrapped around his neck, showing signs of strangulation.

    Family sources said that the deceased had asked his cameraman to drop him at a ceremony in Behlani village, and later, villagers spotted his body floating in the canal. While local police did not rule out foul play, the doctor, who conducted his autopsy, said he could not confirm if Memon was strangled to death.

    With the death drawing strong reactions from the journalist community — Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors among other local and national media bodies condemning the alleged murder and continued acts of violence against journalists to silence the voice of ­dissent –, veteran journalist Hamid Mir took to Twitter and revealed one of the recent threats of dire consequences received by Memon.

    “This is Aziz Memon KTN reporter from Mehrabpur Sindh he recorded this video message some time ago and informed that his life was under threat because some PPP leaders were angry with him due to his reporting he was brutally killed 2day near his home [sic],” he tweeted along with a video message by Memon wherein he was heard sharing how he and his loved ones were in danger.

    In a subsequent tweet, Mir said that the “slain” journalist was receiving threats of dire consequences for his report claiming that the PPP had paid women to participate in Bilawal’s train march.

    PPP chief Bilawal had in March 2019 launched the first phase of his party’s anti-government march by train — “Karavan-e-Bhutto” — from Karachi to Larkana.

    On the way, the PPP chairman had addressed party supporters and activists at a number of railway stations, including Landhi in Karachi, Jung Shahi in Thatta, Kotri in Jamshoro, Odero Lal in Matiari, Tando Adam, Shahdadpur and Nawabshah.

    The train had passed Daur, Padidan, Mihrabpur, Bhirya Road, Khairpur Miris, Rohri, Sukkur, Habib Kot, Gosri, Madeji and Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto to finally reach Larkana, with a large number of people — many of whom according to Memon’s report were paid to join — welcoming the caravan at every stop.

    While Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah has reportedly taken notice of the alleged murder of the 56-year-old journalist and directed the authorities concerned to ensure immediate arrest of the killers, The Current reached out to Sindh government spokesperson and adviser to CM on law, Barrister Murtaza Wahab, for a comment on claims regarding his party workers or leaders’ alleged involvement in Memon’s death.

    Condemning the death, Murtaza offered his condolences to the bereaved family and rejected the allegations levelled against the PPP leadership. “There is no truth these claims,” he said, adding that a thorough investigation will be launched into Memon’s death and the culprits would be brought to justice at all costs.