Current Final

Category: National

  • ‘India offered to evacuate Pakistani students from coronavirus-hit China’

    ‘India offered to evacuate Pakistani students from coronavirus-hit China’

    India had offered to evacuate Pakistani students from China’s Wuhan — the epicentre of deadly coronavirus –, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar told Rajya Sabha [Upper House of Indian Parliament], India Today reported.

    According to reports, replying to a question posed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-nominated lawmaker Rupa Ganguly, S Jaishankar told the house that before the two Air India flights were sent in, India had offered ‘bring back all the people in our neighbourhood’.

    “At the time when two flights were going, we had told all the students and the larger community in Wuhan that we were prepared not only to bring back our own people but bring back all the people in our neighbourhood who would like to come back,” Jaishankar said.

    “This was an offer which was made to all our neighbours, but of them, seven nationals of Maldives chose to avail the offer. But the offer was made to everybody,” the minister clarified.

    Last week, two Air India flights had brought back 638 Indian nationals and seven nationals of Maldives. 80 Indian students left behind in Wuhan

    The minister of external affairs informed the fouse that despite an evacuation effort, 80 Indians — including 10 who were barred from boarding the evacuation flight as they showed symptoms of coronavirus — have remained back in Wuhan.

    Jaishankar said that the 70 Indians chose not to be evacuated, but the Indian Embassy is in constant touch with them all. “I want to assure the house and the families of those in Wuhan that the embassy is in touch with all students and is regularly monitoring their welfare,” he said.

    The minister also applauded the efforts of two embassy officials who risked their lives and traveled from Beijing to Wuhan to help in evacuation efforts.

  • As Dar’s residence is converted into Panahgah, Musharraf’s farmhouse remains untouched

    As Dar’s residence is converted into Panahgah, Musharraf’s farmhouse remains untouched

    The conversion of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former finance minister Ishaq Dar’s Lahore residence into a Panahgah [shelter home] by the Punjab government is reminiscent of the military rule of Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf, who had turned Sharif family’s Model Town residence into Gosha’aye Aafiat — an institution for elderly destitute people — nearly two decades back; while the former dictator’s own farmhouse remains untouched under the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

    While this was also pointed out by senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir, it was reported by The News that such an act was last carried out by a military dictator out of vengeance against the Sharifs, who had then departed for Saudi Arabia to live in exile for seven years.

    The present dispensation is a civilian arrangement that has taken the instant decision. While a quick action has been taken against Dar’s property, Musharraf’s Chak Shahzad farmhouse attached by two courts separately has not been touched by authorities to convert it into a shelter home for the poor although he has been sentenced to death and declared a fugitive.

    In November 2016, an Islamabad district and sessions judge attached Musharraf’s farmhouse as the special court trying the dictator for high treason declared him an absconder. The special tribunal ordered the confiscation of his movable and immovable properties.

    According to the details submitted to the special court by the Interior Ministry, he operated nine bank accounts and owned seven immovable properties, including the farmhouse, land in the Army Housing Scheme in Karachi, Khayaban-e-Faisal, Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Karachi, Beach Street, DHA Islamabad and DHA Lahore.

    Musharraf’s wife claims ownership of the farmhouse just like Dar’s spouse does about the Gulber residence, but the latter’s plea has not been accepted.

    In January 2017, the Islamabad district administration had informed a district and sessions court that Musharraf’s properties have been attached in compliance with court orders after he had been declared as a proclaimed offender and absconder in the murder case of Lal Masjid cleric Abdur Rashid Ghazi, the report said.

  • Ghinwa Bhutto joins PTM rally

    Ghinwa Bhutto joins PTM rally

    Wife of the late Murtaza Bhutto and Pakistan People’s Party-Shaheed Bhutto (PPP-SB) chairperson Ghinwa Bhutto, in a first, has joined a gathering of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) in Karachi to show solidarity with the rights-based alliance.

    According to reports, the PTM on Sunday held a rally in Karachi to mark the first death anniversary of their comrade Arman Loni — allegedly killed during a police crackdown on a PTM protest in Loralai last year — and also demanded the release of its chief, Manzoor Pashteen.

    PTM had maintained that Loni was killed in a police crackdown and demanded that the Balochistan government take notice of his death. However, a later report did not find any marks of violence or injuries on the deceased’s body.

    The PTM had obtained permission to hold the public meeting with a crowd of 300-350 people, Deputy Inspector General (East) Amir Farooqi told a private media outlet. He added that the demonstrators had assured authorities that they would abide by the law.

    The PTM also held a gathering in Loralai, thronged by a large number of people.

  • VIDEO: Darul Aman orphan, who accused ministers of rape, found dead

    VIDEO: Darul Aman orphan, who accused ministers of rape, found dead

    One of the orphans at Darul Aman, who had accused ministers and government officials of “misusing girls living in the shelter home to fulfil their demands”, has been found dead under mysterious circumstances.

    According to Afshan Latif — a former superintendent of the state-run shelter — the deceased, Iqra Kainat, has been murdered by those who wanted to protect the perpetrators of sexual abuse of the orphan girls.

    https://twitter.com/AfshanLatif3/status/1226042740896681985

    In a series of videos that had earlier gone viral, Latif had said that she was being threatened for disclosing what the orphans at the shelter were being subjected to.

    Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar had also taken notice of the allegations after the former Darul Aman official had claimed that she was appointed in April 2019 and her predecessor used to bring strangers (men) inside the shelter late at night.

    READ: Darul Aman superintendent says orphan girls being ‘misused’ by minister, govt officials

    However, even after her appointment, Latif had alleged that illegal practices continued at the centre. In this regard, she had filed a complaint against certain high-ups for pressuring Latif to marry underage girls to high-ranking officials.

    The ages of the destitute girls were between 15 to 17 years-old, and they were forcefully married off to favoured bureaucrats and a provincial minister, Latif alleged in her video message.

    In reference to authorities and those involved, she had said that they were trying to wipe out evidence and requested people to spread her message. Latif had added that she did not know what was to happen to her and where she would be taken now.

  • Ishaq Dar to take govt to court for turning his residence into shelter home

    Ishaq Dar to take govt to court for turning his residence into shelter home

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former finance minister Ishaq Dar has accused the federal and Punjab governments of contempt of court for turning his Lahore residence — seized as part of the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) action against him in an assets beyond means case — into a shelter home.

    “They have violated the decision of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and I will take them to court for it,” Dar said in a video message tweeted by the PML-N.

    Dar’s 4 kanal 17 marla residence in Lahore’s posh Gulberg area was seized on July 27, 2019, on NAB’s orders and was to be auctioned last month.

    “The government had raided my residence in Lahore and wanted to auction it in January, but the court had on January 27 barred it from doing so,” Dar said in the video, adding that when the government failed to auction it, it decided to convert the house into a shelter home.  

    He termed the conversion of his residence as “state terrorism”, and maintained that he had proof of his innocence. “I can show it to the world in a global conference but I’m waiting for the right time.”

    Dar had left Pakistan in 2017 to seek medical treatment abroad and hasn’t returned since. On May 8, 2018, he was ordered by the Supreme Court (SC) to return to the country and Pakistan had even sought Interpol’s help for the same, however, on November 7, 2019, Interpol had said there was insufficient evidence against Dar for his extradition.

    His house is going to be inaugurated as a shelter home by Punjab Social Welfare Department on Saturday. As many as 40 people will be given a place to stay in the house, and beds have been set up in what was once a living room. Each room is air-conditioned and separate rooms for women have also been set up.

  • Even I’ll lose my house if DHA is investigated: chief justice

    Even I’ll lose my house if DHA is investigated: chief justice

    Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed has reprimanded officials from the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and the Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC) over their failure to stop the rise of encroachments in Karachi, directing them to demolish all illegally constructed buildings in Punjab Colony, Delhi Colony, PNT Colony and Gizri Road areas of the metropolis.

    According to Daily Times, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) — headed by the CJP and comprising Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah — while hearing a case pertaining to encroachments in the provincial metropolis, at the apex court’s Karachi Registry on Friday issued orders to clear illegal structures built on government properties in the port city.

    During the hearing, the CJP reprimanded both DHA and CBC officials over their failure to stop the rise of encroachments in Karachi, directing them to demolish all illegally constructed buildings in Punjab Colony, Delhi Colony, PNT Colony and Gizri Road areas of the metropolis.

    He admonished the CBC land director for “closing his eyes when ill-gotten money was being made”, and lamented that fortunes had been amassed and now the court was being told that the buildings are illegal. “If permission is granted for ground-plus-one buildings in cantonment areas, how is it that high-rise buildings have been built in these sectors? Buildings with nine stories are being built, and they must be razed to the ground,” the CJP told the CBC.

    “If an investigation is launched [into encroachments], the entire DHA would be found to be illegal. All leases will be dismissed, and hum bhi farig hojaein gay [we will be made to walk as well],” said the CJP as he himself lives in DHA. “But that does not matter, we have to live by the law.”

    Addressing the attorney general, the CJP once again questioned as to who gave permission for constructing the buildings. “It’s not as if the cantonment board can go around doing as they please,” he said.

    This prompted officials from the CBC to say that they have taken action against illegally-constructed buildings on several occasions. “We have given orders for razing unlawful constructions,” stated an official, adding that the laws allowed for constructing ground-plus-two buildings on residential plots and five-storey buildings on commercial plots.

    The court also directed the chief secretary to get rid of all the encroachments in the city and put in a request for the re-settlement of the residents of the katchi abadis and the affected people. He also directed the officials to invite the recommendations of experts through media.

    The case was later adjourned till February 21.

  • Naya Pakistan? Irregularities worth over Rs6 billion detected in PIA accounts

    Naya Pakistan? Irregularities worth over Rs6 billion detected in PIA accounts

    The Directorate General of Commercial Audit and Evaluation (South) Karachi — a department of the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) — has pointed out 16 irregularities worth whopping Rs6.85 billion in the accounts of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), The News reported.

    According to the report, besides financial irregularities, numerous serious violations of rules and regulations have also been noticed and reported in hiring, promotions and postings of staffers of the national carrier, 87 per cent shares of which are owned by the government of Pakistan.

    The Directorate General of Commercial Audit and Evaluation has audited PIA’s accounts and scrutinised its affairs after receiving several complaints regarding accounts of PIA Corporation in Islamabad and Karachi.

    It has observed that PIA suffered an operating loss worth Rs5,282 million, noticing that the appointment of the national airliner’s chief executive officer (CEO) was irregular and dual benefits worth Rs2.9 million were awarded to him against rules, PIA had suffered a loss of Rs71.866 million due to illegitimate elevation of allowances and benefits of officers on deputation from Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

    It further pointed out that the national flag carrier had suffered another loss of Rs1.24 million due to the holding of dual jobs/services by a regular employee of PIACL and withdrawal of unjustified salaries from both sides, and the fraudulent settlement of advances paid to the district managers of PIA, Rawalpindi, had inflicted a loss of Rs 1.638 million to the organisation.

  • NA adopts resolution for public hanging of child rapists amid PPP’s opposition

    NA adopts resolution for public hanging of child rapists amid PPP’s opposition

    The Lower House on Friday adopted a resolution seeking public hanging of child rapists with a majority vote despite opposition from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), ARY reported.

    According to reports, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan, who had tabled the resolution in the National Assembly, said that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan wanted death sentence for child abuse convicts.

    “When we raised the issue of a public hanging in the National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights headed by [PPP chief] Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, it was opposed,” the minister said and added that the government desired a new law aimed at hanging of convicts.

    While another PTI MNA, Imran Khattak, also supported the demand to adopt a resolution calling for public hanging of child sexual abusers, PPP leader and former PM Raja Pervaiz Ashraf opposed the same, saying that the country had signed a United Nations (UN) charter against public hangings.

    “If this [resolution] is adopted, the world would not accept it,” he reportedly said.

    It is pertinent to note that the PPP, according to its chief, is against capital punishment “on principle”. Bilawal’s maternal grandfather and PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was also sentenced to death on April 4, 1979.

  • Prime accused of APS attack, Ehsanullah Ehsan, claims breaking out of military jail

    Former spokesperson of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Ehsanullah Ehsan, who is a prime accused in the 2014 Army Public School (APS) Peshawar massacre and has also claimed responsibility for life attempts on Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and journalist Hamid Mir, has claimed to have escaped from the custody of Pakistani security authorities along with his wife and two children.

    According to The News, Ehsan, whose real name is Liaqat Ali, released an audio message to confirm his dramatic escape from the custody of Pakistani security agencies.

    “I am Ehsanullah Ehsan. I am the former spokesman of TTP and Jamaatul Ahrar. I had surrendered to Pakistani security authorities on February 5, 2017, under an agreement. I honoured this agreement for three years, but Pakistani authorities violated it and kept me in a prison along with my children,” he alleged in the statement released to the media.

    He claimed he had faced hardships during his imprisonment for three years, was compelled to make a plan for escape from their custody, and executed it on January 11, 2020.

    “On January 11, 2020, with the help of Allah, I succeeded in escaping from custody,” Ehsan claimed, adding that he would release a detailed statement later and mention the agreement he had made with Pakistani security authorities.

    “I will also mention on whose approval this accord was made with me. And what were the terms and conditions of the agreement and which prominent figure had assured me that the agreement will be implemented,” he said and added that he would also share details of the conditions in which he and his family were held in Pakistan.

    Speaking to The News later, Ehsan claimed he had arrived in Turkey along with his family. However, he refused to mention how he had managed to escape and safely shift to another country. “I can’t tell you more than that I am in Turkey at the moment along with my wife, son and daughter. Don’t ask me how I reached here as I can’t tell you right now,” the report quoted the former TTP spokesperson as saying.

  • Fawad Ch says PML-N’s Khawaja Asif ‘lobbying to become prime minister’

    Fawad Ch says PML-N’s Khawaja Asif ‘lobbying to become prime minister’

    Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry has claimed that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Muhammad Asif “is lobbying to become the prime minister (PM)”.

    Speaking to a private media outlet, the minister claimed that Asif wanted both former PM Nawaz Sharif and his brother, PML-N chief Shehbaz Sharif, to seek British citizenship and leave Pakistan for good. “He wants the entire [Sharif] family to move there [United Kingdom], and that he be granted the reins of PML-N.”

    When asked by anchor and host Arshad Sharif as to what would that mean for other senior leaders such as ex-PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Fawad said Asif believes he played an important role in securing Nawaz the permission to seek medical treatment abroad. “He thinks he is on really good terms [with the Sharif family] nowadays, and so is the best candidate,” the federal minister added.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    To this, the journalist asked if Asif was in contact with federal cabinet members and that was how he managed to pave way for convicted former premier’s foreign travel. Fawad, however, did not answer the question.