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  • PTI govt excludes ‘most corrupt govt of last 19 years’ from its investigation: report

    PTI govt excludes ‘most corrupt govt of last 19 years’ from its investigation: report

    The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has excluded from its probe the country’s “most corrupt government of the past 19 years” as it investigates foreign loans obtained by previous governments, The News reported.

    As per the details, the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan-led government has formed a high-powered commission to probe Rs24,000 billion loans acquired during the past 10 years.

    While the PTI is only focusing on the last 10 years of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) governments, last 19 annual reports of Transparency International (TI) — a Berlin-based global watchdog — show that corruption was at its peak in Pakistan during General (r) Pervez Musharraf’s military rule.

    According to The News, TI, which publishes annual Global Corruption Barometer and Corruption Perception Index (CPI) to give a comparative listing of corruption worldwide, shows more corruption in Musharraf’s tenure as compared to the latest of the two former ruling parties.

    The least corruption in terms of the best CPI score was attained by Pakistan in 2018, the year which was shared by the rule of the outgoing PML-N, caretaker setup and the PTI.

    Although the last tenure of the PPP was generally dubbed the most corrupt in the country’s history, the TI annual reports record shows that the lowest score during the last PPP regime has been 24 out of 100 (2.4/10) in 2009 as against 21 under Musharraf.

    It means that the last PPP tenure’s lowest score is three points better than Musharraf’s lowest score.

    HIGH-POWERED COMMISSION:

    The ruling PTI recently formed a high-powered commission, headed by National Accountancy Bureau (NAB) Deputy Chairman Hussain Asghar, to probe the soaring loans piled up over the past 10 years.

    The 12-member commission includes officials from NAB, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Military Intelligence (MI), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

    According to a government notification, the federal government would hire national and international experts to conduct forensic audits of investment and expenditure of the past governments during the last 10 years.

    The commission will have to submit interim reports of progress every month and a final report within six months.

    It would also probe all development projects, kickbacks and contracts during 2008-2018. Embezzlement of government funds and alleged corruption in the development projects would also be investigated.

  • ‘Looted’ Rs2.1bn recovered as plea-bargain of Zardari’s co-accused accepted

    ‘Looted’ Rs2.1bn recovered as plea-bargain of Zardari’s co-accused accepted

    The National Accountability (NAB) has recovered a whopping amount of Rs 2.12 billion in the fake accounts case against Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and former president Asif Ali Zardari.

    According to reports, NAB Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal has accepted the plea-bargain request of two accused — Technomen Kinetics (Pvt) Ltd directors Asif Mehmood and Arif Ali — involved in collusive bidding, exorbitant rates, corruption and corrupt practices in power generation projects of Sindh.

    The final petition for plea bargain will be submitted in the accountability court, NAB has said, adding that the suspects – along with the provincial officials – were involved in corruption through fake auctions.

    In the last hearing of the case in an accountability court, the physical remand of three accused, who had applied for a plea bargain, in the fake bank accounts case was extended till July 31.

    During the hearing, the judge had directed NAB to wind up the case against them as soon as possible. The bureau’s investigation officer had told the court that the requests of the accused were under process with the department.

    The anti-graft watchdog has already arrested 25 suspects in the fake bank accounts case that pertains to transactions of hundreds of millions of rupees to Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur’s private companies allegedly through fake bank accounts.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    https://youtu.be/nhF3zuKC-J4
  • Pakistani driving licences to be valid in UAE

    Pakistani driving licences to be valid in UAE

    Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed has said that an authority will be set up to issue driving licences that will also be valid in the Gulf states.

    Addressing the launching ceremony of an e-billing system for the National Highway Authority (NHA), the minister said that a delegation will leave for Dubai in a week or so for the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities on acceptance of Pakistani driving licences in the Gulf states.

    The minister said he read in a news report that the UAE government had inked a similar agreement with another country, Dawn news reported.

    “Obtaining a driving licence in the UAE is a gigantic task, but once the agreement is signed, our drivers holding the local driving licence will have more job opportunities in the Gulf states as they will have no need to get another licence there,” he added.

    He said offices of the driving licence authority will be established all over the country.

  • PCB lets Imam off the hook after apology over misconduct

    PCB lets Imam off the hook after apology over misconduct

    Opening batsman Imamul Haq has apologised for what he has done, media reports quoted Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Managing Director (MD) Wasim Khan as saying Tuesday.

    “Imam has been repenting. And, he has apologised for what misconduct he has committed,” the PCB official said while speaking of the controversy surrounding the batsman, which had sparked a lot of hype on social media last week.

    A few days back, the opener landed in hot water after screenshots of his objectionable WhatsApp conversations were leaked over Twitter and Facebook. The women, who posted them, accused him of cheating on multiple women.

    The PCB had earlier refused to comment over the situation while terming it a personal one.

    “We have told him in clear terms about what standards PCB wants,” Wasim Khan said on Monday.

    He said the country’s cricket board expects the players to stick to the highest standards of ethics and discipline as they are “ambassadors of the nation”, adding that in this capacity, the players need to be more responsible and follow the code of conduct set by the body.

    With Imam, who is a nephew of legendary batsman Inzamamul Haq, tendering an unconditional apology, the board has let him off the hook with a smattering of rebuke.

  • PM Imran unfollows Hamid Mir on Twitter, journalist says he’s ‘honoured’

    PM Imran unfollows Hamid Mir on Twitter, journalist says he’s ‘honoured’

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has unfollowed veteran journalist and analyst Hamid Mir on Twitter, a development that Mir says is no less than an “honour”.

    The episode that follows Mir’s anti-government tirade ever since his interview of arrested former president Asif Ali Zardari was taken off the air, has left the micro-blogging website divided as people argue if it proves the premier’s “inability to take criticism”.

    It surfaced on social media on Monday evening through an account called Siasat Bot that keeps track of the Twitter handles of major politicians and political parties.

    Earlier, Mir’s video had also gone viral on social media wherein he demanded his arrest which was termed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters as propaganda against the government under the guise of freedom of media.

    Following this, supporters of the ruling PTI had been carrying out a campaign against the journalist who has now been unfollowed by the premier on Twitter.

    PM Imran reportedly had 19 followers before clicking the “unfollow” button on Mir. The 18 accounts that he still follows include those of organisations that he himself heads, such as the PTI, Shaukat Khanum Hospital and Namal University.

    The other accounts he follows include that belonging to his party’s senior leaders.

    Mir himself took to Twitter to indirectly address the development. Retweeting an old post, he shared how “he had become unfavorable to PTI after he started criticising them”.

    Speaking to a private news website, Mir said that he was “honoured” to be unfollowed by the chief executive of the country.

  • WATCH: Video shows Pakistan Army aircraft crashing in Rawalpindi

    WATCH: Video shows Pakistan Army aircraft crashing in Rawalpindi

    Moments after at least 17 people, including five military personnel, lost their lives when a plane of Pakistan Army Aviation crashed near Mora Kalu in Rawalpindi, a video of the tragic incident has surfaced.

    According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the aircraft was on a routine training flight when it crashed around 2 am, but there was no immediate word on the cause of the accident or the type of aircraft involved.

    Two pilots were among those killed in the incident, the military’s media wing said, adding that it also resulted in 12 fatal civilian casualties and injuries to 13 others.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Lt Col Saqib, Lt Col Wasim, Naib Subedar Afzal, Hawaldar Amin and Hawaldar Rahmat were the military personnel who lost their lives.

    Soon after the crash, a massive fire broke out that engulfed several houses in the locality.

    Rescue teams of 1122 and Pakistan Army immediately reached the site and started the rescue operation. 

    ISPR added, rescue officials had extinguished the fire caused by the crash and moved the injured to a local hospital.

  • Rowing boats, making weapons: Modi to feature on Discovery Channel’s ‘Man vs. Wild’

    Rowing boats, making weapons: Modi to feature on Discovery Channel’s ‘Man vs. Wild’

    Prime minister (PM) of neighbouring India, Narendra Modi, will be seen in a never-seen-before avatar on August 12 when he ventures into his country’s wilderness along with Bear Grylls, the host of Discovery Channel’s popular show “Man vs. Wild”.

    The Discovery Channel has issued a statement saying the special episode featuring survivalist and adventurer Grylls and shot in the Uttarakhand’s Jim Corbett National Park, will be a “frank and freewheeling journey”.

    In a clip of the show that was shared by Grylls on his Twitter account, PM Modi can be seen riding a small dinghy down a river along with the adventure travel show host.

    In another scene, the Indian premier is seen welcoming Grylls to India and holding up a weapon carved out of bamboo and other material collected from the forest and saying, “I will keep this with me for you.”

    To this, Grylls replies with laughter, “You are the most important man in India, my job is to keep you alive.”

    “For years, I have lived among nature, in the mountains and the forests. These years have a lasting impact on my life. So when I was asked about a special show focusing on life beyond politics and that too in the midst of nature I was intrigued to take part in it,” Modi said while speaking about the show.

    He added that the show was a “great opportunity to showcase to the world India’s rich environmental heritage and stress on the importance of environment conservation and living in harmony with nature”.

  • PML-N’s Hanif Abbasi has fled country, media reports claim

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi, who was handed life imprisonment in the ephedrine case last year, has reportedly left the country and is currently residing in the United States (US).

    According to media reports, Abbasi is living with a former PML-N leader at his residence in Alexandria, Virginia and plans to stay out of the country “until the situation in Pakistan improves”.

    A trial court had sentenced Abbasi to life in prison back in July 2018, after he was found guilty of illegally selling 500kg of ephedrine — a medication and stimulant used to prevent low blood pressure during spinal anesthesia — to narcotics smugglers.

    The ephedrine case surfaced in March 2011 when then federal minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin told the National Assembly that the government will investigate the alleged allocation of a quota for the production of 9,000kg of ephedrine to two pharmaceutical companies — Berlex Lab International and Danas Pharmaceutical Limited.

    According to the rules, a company cannot be allocated a production quota of more than 500kg of the drug, a limit fixed by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).

    The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) had eventually registered a case in June 2012 against nine suspects, including Abbasi. He was accused of obtaining the controlled chemical for his company, Gray Pharmaceutical, in 2010.

    However, instead of using it for medicinal purposes, Abbasi sold it on to narcotics smugglers. A fine of Rs1 million was imposed on the PML-N leader along with the life sentence. Seven other accused were acquitted in the case.

    Abbasi’s sentence was suspended by the Lahore High Court (LHC) in April this year.

  • NAB deputy director, who arrested Zardari and Abbasi, ‘followed by suspicious car’

    NAB deputy director, who arrested Zardari and Abbasi, ‘followed by suspicious car’

    The vehicle of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi Deputy Director Asad Mehmood Janjua, who arrested former president Asif Ali Zardari and former prime minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, has been “chased by a suspicious car”.

    As per the details available with The Current, Islamabad police, in this regard, have lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against unknown people.

    According to the complaint lodged with the inspector general (IG) of the capital police by NAB officer Muhammad Saleem Khan, Janjua was driving back home after his official duty via Margalla Road when he noticed a suspicious car following him.

    “As he reached near F-9 Park at about 5:30 pm, he noticed a Toyota Vitz bearing registration number AAG-712 with tinted glasses following him. Feeling the situation, the NAB officer slowed down his car but the chaser kept on following. When he turned towards Marquees of E-11 on Margalla Road, the chaser also turned his vehicle and kept on following till he parked his car in front of a shop. The chaser hesitantly turned his car to a street, next to the shop,” the FIR read.

    The officer could not observe who was in the suspicious vehicle because of the tinted glasses. Suddenly, the suspicious vehicle disappeared from the scene, the complainant added, with the request to provide security to the NAB officer.

    The case has been filed at Islamabad’s Golra Shareef police station over the anti-corruption watchdog’s complaint against unidentified persons under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

    Other than Zardari and Abbasi, investigators said, Janjua had also arrested the former president’s sister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Faryal Talpur.

    Meanwhile, police have said that many activists of political parties could be rounded up with their top slot leadership, to hunt the chasers.

  • Mohammad Amir seeks British citizenship

    Mohammad Amir seeks British citizenship

    Pakistan cricket stalwart and ace fast-bowler Mohammad Amir is planning to obtain a British passport so that he may permanently settle down in England in future, Cricket Pakistan reported Saturday.

    According to reports, the left-arm pacer married a British citizen, Nargis Malik, in September 2016 and has already applied for a spouse visa, which allows him to stay in England for 30 months.

    In the case of obtaining a spouse visa, the 27-year-old will be able to work and take advantage of various other perks that come along with it.

    It is not yet clear if Amir has already obtained the visa as he has previously spent jail time in the United Kingdom (UK) for his role in the spot-fixing scandal; however, he is reportedly also looking to purchase a house in London.

    After getting permanent residency, the paceman will also be able to apply for a British passport.

    The report comes a day after Amir announced his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect, but reaffirmed his commitment to playing white-ball cricket for Pakistan.

    Amir’s teammates in Pakistan have been aware of the fact that the pacer is not interested in playing for the national team anymore and wants to play T20 leagues in England and around the world.