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  • Minister says people will buy fuel ‘even for Rs200 per litre’

    Minister says people will buy fuel ‘even for Rs200 per litre’

    Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda has said that people would buy petrol “even if fuel prices soar to Rs200 per litre”.

    Addressing the ground-breaking ceremony of Mohmand Dam in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Thursday, the minister said the people of Pakistan have voted Imran Khan to power so that the corrupt are held accountable.

    “The public will buy petrol at Rs200 per litre and will cut their expenses, but they won’t compromise on accountability of the corrupt,” he added.

    This, however, wasn’t the first time that Vawda made a rather uncalculated statement as last month he had stirred controversy with the claim of “two billion jobs within a month”.

    He had said the government would announce one billion jobs within the next two weeks and another billion within April.

  • Ayesha Gulalai offers Bilawal to merge his ‘small party’ with PTI-G

    Ayesha Gulalai offers Bilawal to merge his ‘small party’ with PTI-G

    Disgruntled former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA and PTI-Gulalai (PTI-G) Chairperson Ayesha Gulalai has advised Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari “to merge his small party with PTI-G”.

    “I would suggest you merge your small party [PPP], which is now limited to Sindh, with PTI-G,” she said in a video message making rounds on the internet.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Gulalai further said her message was a “free and very sincere advice” to Bilawal.

    The PPP leadership is yet to respond to Gulalai’s offer.

  • Imran Khan spies on us using robot rats: PPP leader

    Imran Khan spies on us using robot rats: PPP leader

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Nabil Gabol has claimed that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan keeps an eye on members of the opposition using “robot rats” in the parliament lodges.

    Speaking to a private media outlet earlier this week, he said that the premier has released these robots to monitor the opposition’s activities.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “I have been informed by the National Assembly secretary that Imran Khan has released these robot rats with the help of the Intelligence Bureau (IB),” he claimed, adding that the rats later report to PM Imran.

    Gabol further claimed that a couple of these robot rats have also been deployed in Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah’s room.

  • Indian troops use Kashmiris as human shields in latest operation: report

    Indian troops use Kashmiris as human shields in latest operation: report

    At least four civilians were used as human shields by Indian troops as they launched an 18-hour-long operation in the Pinglan village of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), Reuters reported.

    According to the report, by the time the operation ended, one civilian, three freedom fighters and five members of the Indian forces were dead, a row of houses was reduced to rubble and more than 120 villagers had sought treatment for exposure to tear gas, assault and mental trauma.

    Eyewitnesses were quoted as saying that soldiers forced at least four villagers to act as human shields. The civilians were sent first into a building where the fighters might be hiding, using a phone to record a video that could be viewed by soldiers present nearby.

    Human rights lawyers say such tactics — which are meant to deter local fighters from firing on soldiers carrying out the raids — are highly questionable and could even be a war crime under international law.

    But they would not be illegal under Indian law.

    “[The] Indian army has never used civilians as human shields,” said military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mohit Vaishnava while speaking to Reuters.

    However, he said that during encounters, local people are sometimes asked to mediate between the army and freedom fighters.

  • Pakistan named 20th biggest military spender in world; India fourth

    Pakistan named 20th biggest military spender in world; India fourth

    With an expenditure of $11.4 billion, Pakistan was the 20th largest military spender in the world in 2018, a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) revealed Wednesday.

    According to the report, the country’s expenditure that constitutes of four per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is the highest level of military spending by Islamabad since 2004.

    “Pakistan’s military spending has increased every year since 2009. It rose by a whopping 73 per cent between 2009 and 2018, and by 11 per cent in just one year [between 2017 and 2018],” the report said.

    Despite the fact that Pakistan is not among the top 10 countries having the highest “military burden”, its military is among the strongest in the world.

    As for other countries, the United States (US) remained the top military spender with $649 billion in 2018, which, by the way, decreased by 17 per cent in the past 10 years.

    The second major military spender is China with $250 billion, followed by Saudi Arabia with $67.6 billion and India with $66.5 billion. Spending $63.8 billion, France clinched the fifth spot on the list.

    The report further stated that India’s military spending increased by 3.1 per cent between 2017-2018 amid heightened tensions with Pakistan and China. New Delhi’s military burden, however, was the lowest since the 1960s.

  • Jinnah’s great-grandson arrested for possessing drugs

    Jinnah’s great-grandson arrested for possessing drugs

    The great-grandson of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Ness Wadia, has been sentenced for drugs possession while on a holiday to Japan, Hindustan Times reported.

    According to reports, Wadia was arrested in early March at New Chitose Airport in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido; the entire episode, however, was kept under wraps until now.

    Co-owner of the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) Kings XI Punjab and inheritor of one of India’s wealthiest business families, Wadia was arrested after a search revealed that he had about 25g of what appeared to be cannabis in his trouser pocket.

    A court official told an Indian media outlet that Wadia admitted to possession, arguing that the drug was for his personal use. But Japan’s narcotics laws are strict and are currently being applied tightly.

    Wadia spent a period in detention before his indictment on March 20 and an undisclosed period of detention before a court hearing.

    A district court later handed him a two-year prison sentence, which was suspended for five years.

    Ness Wadia is the heir to the 283-year-old Wadia Group. The total market valuation of its listed entities stand at around $13.1 billion.

  • VIDEO: Shahid Afridi speaks up about his stalker

    VIDEO: Shahid Afridi speaks up about his stalker

    In a first, former Pakistani skipper Shahid Khan Afridi has spoken up about his stalker and the claims the latter makes regarding his relationship with the cricketing star.

    Speaking to The Current, when asked if he has a stalker, Afridi shared a rather interesting story. “Actually, yes. His name is Usman Afridi and I keep looking for him,” he said.

    Afridi further shared how the stalker keeps on telling people he is Shahid Afridi’s cousin. “I can’t find him, but won’t spare him.”

    Boom Boom’s answer was a part of The Current’s “Wajahat-Lala Bromance Test” to gauge the compatibility of the cricketer with that of the author of his biography, Wajahat Saeed Khan.

    The compatibility quiz featured a total of 17 questions. Watch it here:

  • VIDEO: ‘Drug dealers’ snatch guns from cops during Lahore raid

    VIDEO: ‘Drug dealers’ snatch guns from cops during Lahore raid

    A group of alleged drug dealers on Monday snatched away the official weapons of a police squad as it raided their hideout in Lahore.

    In a video making rounds over the internet, the cops can be seen running for their lives after their rifles are turned on them in the Icchra area of the city.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    According to reports, the accused were later arrested with the help of locals. A cache of weapons, including the official guns, were recovered from their possession.

  • Lala and Wajahat’s bromance… coming soon

    Lala and Wajahat’s bromance… coming soon

  • Bloomberg ‘confuses’ arrested Abraaj CEO with President Dr Arif Alvi

    Bloomberg ‘confuses’ arrested Abraaj CEO with President Dr Arif Alvi

    United States (US)-based financial news outlet, Bloomberg, has confused former Abraaj chief executive officer (CEO) Arif Naqvi with President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi, Twitterati suggested on Saturday.

    It was reported by Bloomberg that Naqvi, founder of Abraaj Group, was denied bail by a London judge Friday after prosecutors said he may flee to Pakistan rather than face US fraud charges.

    However, while reporting the development in Naqvi’s case, Bloomberg used an image of President Alvi in what Twitterati termed as a “big blunder”.

    Some believed the image was justified as the story claimed Naqvi had in his possession Alvi’s contact details.

    But the popular opinion remained that Bloomberg had confused the two Arifs.

    Arif Naqvi was arrested from the United Kingdom (UK) over “alleged fraud”, earlier this month.

    He is the founder of defunct buyout fund, Abraaj Group — a private equity fund that used to take money from investors and buy other companies with it to improve their operations and cut costs.