Current Final

Category: Politics

  • ‘Tough decisions’: PM Shehbaz announces 10 per cent super tax on large-scale industries

    ‘Tough decisions’: PM Shehbaz announces 10 per cent super tax on large-scale industries

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif announced that the coalition government plans to impose a 10 per cent super tax on large-scale industries, and that “tough decisions” have been taken to protect the economy in budget 2022-23.

    Addressing the nation, PM Shehbaz announced the imposition of a 10 per cent super tax on cement, steel, sugar, oil and gas, fertiliser, banking, textile, chemical, beverage, and automobile industries, adding that it it has been done to save the common man from taxes.

    PM said that people whose annual income exceeds Rs150 million will be subject to one per cent tax; for Rs200 million, two per cent; Rs250 million three per cent; and Rs300 million will be taxed four per cent of their income.

    PM Shehbaz said the steps taken in the budget were designed to ease the burden on the poor. “And the classes who are blessed, today, this nation is demanding of them to also work hard, to come forward and to make Pakistan prosperous, progressive and with its head held high,” he added.

    The premier called on the wealthy to distribute some of their wealth and “relive the memory of Ansar-i-Madina”. “This is your responsibility, and the nation demands it of you,” he said.

  • ‘No report of attack on Khan’: Rana Sanaullah

    ‘No report of attack on Khan’: Rana Sanaullah

    Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Thursday denied claims of an attack against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.

    “When big leaders are attacked, the whole country suffers. Imran Khan has the same security as when he was the prime minister,” said Sanaullah.

    In an interview on Samaa TV programme ‘Nadeem Malik Live’, Rana said: “When we looked into it, there was no truth in these claims.”

    However, the minister reiterated that Imran should be arrested and prosecuted for his “extremist views and violence-mongering”.

    Sanaullah said there was no possibility of discussion with the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on the withdrawal of the military from tribal areas near the Afghan border, and reversal of the Fata merger, explaining that such demands were against the Constitution.

    Sanaullah insisted that the civil and military leadership were on the same page that the TTP militants would not be allowed to take up arms. “Otherwise, we won’t shy away from a fight”.

    “The military leadership assured us that we have the capacity and the power to sort these issues out effectively,” the minister added.

    To a question about the appointment of the next army chief, the interior minister said a decision in this regard will be taken in October.

    Earlier this week, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD)’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) wing has issued a warning that terrorists are planning the assassination of Khan.

  • US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar submits resolution against India

    US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar submits resolution against India

    United States (US) Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has submitted a resolution in the House of Representatives on Tuesday in which she condemned the human rights abuses in India.

    The resolution said that the House has expressed grave concern about the “worsening treatment” of religious minorities in India and called on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to designate India as a “country of particular concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

    The resolution includes two reports i.e. a report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and a Report on International Religious Freedom 2021 by the US State Department which was published on June 2, 2022.

    The resolution highlighted that the USCIRF had called for designating India as a country of particular concern for three consecutive years.

    According to the resolution, the report mentioned cases of the Indian government’s “repression of religious minority leaders and voices for religious pluralism in India, including the Jesuit human rights defender Father Stan Swamy and the Muslim human rights advocate Khurram Parvez”.

    According to the resolution, the report said: “Many of the incidents [on minorties] were violent, unprovoked, and/or encouraged or incited by government officials.”

    The resolution said that in the International Religious Freedom 2021 report by State Department there are numerous examples of violence and threats of violence against religious minorities, particularly Muslims and Christians, in India throughout 2021.

    It added that while presenting the report, Blinken himself said that “In India, the world’s largest democracy and home to a great diversity of faiths, we’ve seen rising attacks on people and places of worship.”

    In April, Omar made a visit to Pakistan’s part of Kashmir. She said the issue should get more attention from the US which prompted an angry response from India. The congresswoman has always highlighted the Kashmir issue on several platforms.

  • ‘All pending cases would have been solved by December 2022’: former special assistant to Khan

    Former Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Accountability Brigadier (Retd) Musaddiq Abbasi said that all the pending cases of politicians would have been solved by December 2022. Abbasi was SAPM to Imran Khan.

    Speaking on Express News‘ political programme‘ Kal Tak‘ with anchorperson Javed Chaudhry, the former special assistant revealed that he was working to make amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC) 1898 so that all the cases could be streamlined. According to him, when he took over the office as SAPM, he discussed it with Khan and he agreed.

    Moreover, talking about pending cases of Nawaz Sharif and other politicians, he clarified that all the cases would have been decided either in their favour or against them.

    On the show, Abbasi who is also the former National Accountability Bureau (NAB) director-general, talked about the recent amendments to NAB law. He said that the bureau is almost closed. It is pertinent to mention that the incumbent government through the new amendments has limited the powers of NAB.

    Abbasi also termed the allegations by Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir’s revelations as baseless. Dastagir alleged that in November when a new army chief would have been appointed by Imran Khan, the new chief would have violated the Constitution and would have helped Imran Khan make false cases against his opponents in order to disqualify them.

    Earlier, Dastgir said, “This is based on information. Imran Khan and his followers would have stayed in power for 15 years. The entire Opposition would have been disqualified. He [Imran Khan] was of the point of view that he will remove everyone and will not spare anyone.”

    Replying to Dastagir, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Umar said that he believes that Dastagir is lying but is still waiting for Director General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations’ (ISPR) statement because these are very serious allegations and the military spokesperson should respond to them.

  • MNA Ali Wazir says he isn’t safe in the hospital, attacked twice

    MNA Ali Wazir says he isn’t safe in the hospital, attacked twice

    Member of National Assembly (MNA) Ali Wazir from South Waziristan has claimed that his life is in danger. Ali Wazir is associated with the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM). He was admitted to Karachi’s Jinnah Postgraduate and Medical Centre on Tuesday, where he was attacked twice according to Wazir. He made this statement while addressing PTM workers outside the hospital.

    In a video, he claimed that he was attacked twice in the hospital, and said he feels unsafe in the hospital. Wazir demanded to be sent back to prison.

    “I should be taken to Islamabad to attend the budget session [in the NA], raise the problems of my constituency,” Wazir said in the video.

    The National Assembly has issued production orders for his release so he could join the ongoing budget session.

    People on social media are reacting to Ali Wazir’s mistreatment:

    Read more- MNA Ali Wazir granted bail ahead of no-confidence motion vote against PM Khan

    He was earlier released from Karachi’s central prison on parole to participate in the no-trust vote against former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

  • ‘DG ISI told NSC meeting he sees no conspiracy’: Asad Umar

    Former Planning Minister Asad Umar said that the Director-General (DG) Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmed Anjum told the National Security Committee (NSC) that he did not see a conspiracy against former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

    “DG did not produce any document in the meeting to support his claim. It was all verbal,” said Umar while speaking on Dunya News programme, ‘On The Front with Kamran Shahid’.

    He was responding to a question about DG Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major-General Babar Iftikhar’s presser denying a conspiracy to oust Khan, saying the army spokesman had only said that the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) and all services chiefs were present in the meeting and he did not say what their opinion was.

    The former minister also said the ISPR chief had said the ISI DG told the meeting he did not see a conspiracy and it was true that he had said that. But, he said, he did not present any detailed report or document to verify his findings in the NSC meeting.

    He said there had been no document other than the cipher presented in the meeting.

    No conspiracy or evidence of any kind against the then government: DG ISPR

    The military’s spokesperson on June 14 expressed regret over the propaganda initiated against the army and the military leadership on social media.

    DG ISPR once again reiterated that no conspiracy was hatched to oust Khan. He said that the military leadership was present in the NSC meeting and the participants were clearly briefed by the intelligence agencies.

    “[They were] briefed that there was no conspiracy or evidence of any kind [against the then government], nothing like that happened. Participants were told in detail that there was no evidence of any conspiracy,” said the DG ISPR.

    Did not issue political statements

    Later on June 15, Major-Gen Iftikhar said that he “did not issue political statements” when he commented on the outcome of the NSC meeting.

    DG ISPR said he did not make any “political statements”, rather it was a clarification on behalf of the services chiefs of the Pakistan armed forces.

    DG ISPR further said that the services chiefs had provided detailed input in the meeting and they had presented information based on intelligence reports, not mere speculation or opinion.

    “This cannot be considered as someone’s opinion; it was a proper briefing based on intelligence reports,” he said.

  • ‘Establishment is a political player in Pakistan’: Fawad Chaudhry

    ‘Establishment is a political player in Pakistan’: Fawad Chaudhry

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry said that the neutral (military) establishment in Pakistan is a political player. He asked how it can be neutral, as it is either on ‘this’ side or ‘that’.

    “They are political players in Pakistan. They have to decide for themselves. The military and the judiciary have been political players in Pakistan’s 75-year history,” said Fawad.

    Speaking on ARY news programme, ‘Off The Record’, Fawad said, “The monopoly on information, which belonged to the intelligence agencies previously, has been ended by social media now. The military and judiciary are powerful institutions, we can’t dictate them. Therefore, now they have to make this decision whether to keep on moving this way or adopt the path of modern institutions.”

    https://twitter.com/FawadPTIUpdates/status/1539655765908066304?s=20&t=9no6LbXJEsbbmC-zlDEqcw

    Talking about neutrals and neutrality, Fawad said that there is a context to being neutral.

    On the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) amendments, Fawad said the neutrals let the NAB laws to be amended. “If this is how the institutions have to remain neutral, then it will be a disaster.”

    https://twitter.com/FawadPTIUpdates/status/1539647626517155842?s=20&t=9no6LbXJEsbbmC-zlDEqcw

    Fawad said that even he was shocked that Shehbaz Sharif was being considered to become prime minister of Pakistan.

    During a seminar on “Regime Change Conspiracy and Pakistan’s Destabilization” on June 22, Imran Khan said, “People ask me if I knew about it, then why didn’t I do anything? Well, I never imagined that they would appoint Shehbaz Sharif as the prime minister.”

  • Official PML-N Twitter account replaces Miftah with Ishaq Dar

    Official PML-N Twitter account replaces Miftah with Ishaq Dar

    Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb addressed a press conference in Islamabad today (June 23) about the economy.

    When the press conference started, the official Twitter account of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) shared the live stream link but replaced the current finance minister’s name with PML-N’s former finance minister Ishaq Dar.

    “Federal minister Information Marriyum Aurangzeb and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s press conference,” tweeted PML-N.

    However, the tweet was deleted after users pointed out the faux pas. A new tweet with Miftah’s name was then shared.

    In a joint press conference, the finance minister expressed hopes of the economy getting better with the expected Chinese loan and the ongoing dialogue with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

    Miftah Ismail revealed that they have reached an understanding with the IMF over the budget’s measures. The details of the discussion on the federal budget for the fiscal year 2023 would be revealed in the National Assembly and then they will close the budget, he added.

    “It is a historic budget as we have neither increased indirect taxes not imposed taxes on commodities or consumption,” said Miftah.

  • PML-Q’s Moonis Elahi gets interim bail in Rs720 million money laundering case

    PML-Q’s Moonis Elahi gets interim bail in Rs720 million money laundering case

    Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Moonis Elahi has been granted interim bail till July 4 by a banking court in a Rs720 million money laundering case against him, which was filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

    The court has reportedly asked FIA to submit the record of the case and barred the agency from arresting Elahi till July 4. Moreover, it has directed Moonis to submit Rs500,000 as a surety against the bail.

    In the bail petition, Elahi argued that the money laundering case against him is politically motivated, maintaining that he is innocent.

    “The proceedings have been initiated to harass and blackmail the petitioner and his family so as to muffle their voice against the government of the day,” the petition stated.

    Terming the First Information Report (FIR) against Elahi “illegal and without lawful authority”, the petition further stated the case has no connection with matters concerning the federal government. Similarly, it stated that the FIA “does not have the jurisdiction to proceed in such matters”.

    In the petition, it is said that no evidence on record proved an offence that could be registered under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010, and other sections. Furthermore, the petition underlined that the case against Elahi was registered without him “being summoned” or sent a notice after the completion of the inquiry.

    Earlier, the FIA booked Moonis, Punjab Assembly (PA) Secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti, and others on charges of money laundering.

    What is the case?


    According to the FIA’s FIR, the case against Elahi was registered in which the state has been named as the complainant. The agency said that it has “solid evidence” against the PML-Q leader.

    According to the FIR, proceedings against Moonis under the Money Laundering Act started during former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s tenure. Last year, Khan had tasked the FIA to investigate the sugar crisis throughout the country and find out who benefitted from it.

    Following this, the FIA released a report claiming that some of Khan’s own party members and Moonis were among those who had allegedly gained from the sugar crisis in Pakistan.

  • ‘Shehbaz Sharif should be allowed at least one year to serve the nation’: Bilawal Bhutto

    ‘Shehbaz Sharif should be allowed at least one year to serve the nation’: Bilawal Bhutto

    Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif should be allowed at least one year to “serve the nation”. Bilawal was speaking at a gathering commemorating his late mother and former premier Benazir Bhutto’s 69th birthday in Larkana.

    “Give this government some time to carry out economic and electoral reforms. We will then hopefully come out of the mess left behind by the selected government,” said Bilawal, adding that the previous government had been in power for four years.

    The foreign minister was of the view that the current economic crisis was due to Imran Khan.

    “Imran Khan had inked a wrong deal with the IMF.”

    Bilawal added that it was necessary to send the “selected government” back home because it became a threat to the economy and democracy. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his team saved the country from default, he said.

     “Our slogan is ‘trade not aid’ and we are ready for economic engagement with other countries,” said Bilawal.

    The foreign minister was hopeful for more good news from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and said, “Pakistan will be out of the grey list of the FATF by October.”