Current Final

Category: Politics

  • ‘I am not making any profit’, food-price inflation is crushing Pakistan’s poorest

    The New York Times (NYT), in an article has documented the lives of the public in the wake of high inflation in Pakistan.

    Pakistan, which is already under heavy debt has recently reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the first one billion dollars of what is expected to be a 6 billion dollars rescue package announced by the government earlier this week. Last month, Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, pledged 4.2 billion in cash assistance to Pakistan.

    “The economy is the biggest threat that the government is in fact facing right now. This is basically eroding the very basis of their public support, said Khurram Husain, a business journalist in Karachi.

    Journalists Emily Schmall and Salman Masood reported on the life of 66-year-old Muhammad Nazir, a shopkeeper who canceled his daughter’s wedding and despite having a motorcycle at home, walks to his shop. Many of his shelves are empty because he can’t afford to stock the same supply of candy, soft drinks, and cookies that he once did.

    “I am not making any profit these days. Still, I come here every day, open the shop and wait for customers,” Nazir said.

    Saleem Shahzad, a plumber who recently moved his six-year-old son to a less expensive school said, “[The Prime Minister] Imran Khan is a good person and is still liked by many, but his team is not performing. It is incompetent.”

    According to government data, inflation in Pakistan surged 9.2 per cent in October from the year 2020. The cost of basic food items this month increased by 17 per cent. Pakistan’s biggest food import is palm oil, which has also jumped in price. Moreover, in recent months Pakistanis have seen standard gas prices jump to 34 per cent.

  • ‘Our lives are in danger,’ says firm that did the forensic of CJP Nisar’s leaked audio

    ‘Our lives are in danger,’ says firm that did the forensic of CJP Nisar’s leaked audio

    Garret Discovery, an American-based firm that conducted a forensic analysis of the alleged audio clip of former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, took to Twitter and claimed that the company is being threatened for the work it had performed for FactFocus.

    “Today we received a call saying our lives are in danger and the same person said he is going to file in court against us for our work authenticating a file for FactFocus,” read the tweet from Garret Discovery’s Twitter handle.

    “Threatening our team to obtain a different result is unethical,” read the tweet.

    Earlier Garret Discovery had confirmed that they did work for FactFocus.

    “We did perform work for FactFocus. As part of our standard agreement, we have a confidentiality clause that prohibits us from speaking about the scope of work or work we performed,” a representative from Garret Discovery had revealed.

    “We have no problem releasing details as long as our client signs an agreement allowing us to do so. Please contact FactFocus with any inquiries as to the work we performed and discuss with them any release of information. We will not comment anymore on this issue until that time.”

  • ‘Government should have bought gas cargoes earlier’: Shaukat Tarin admits to gas crisis

    ‘Government should have bought gas cargoes earlier’: Shaukat Tarin admits to gas crisis

    Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tarin admitted to the present gas crisis in the country.

    While speaking on Samaa News’ programme, ‘Nadeem Malik Live’, Shaukat Tarin said, “We [government] should have bought the gas cargoes on time as the purchasing time for it was over.”

    Tarin further said nobody knew about the international prices, which he stated were quite high and that the government should have bought some cargoes earlier.

    Tarin said the country’s imports of petroleum and gas touched almost $20 billion per year, which had been at $12 to $13 billion per year and now it had to pay $7-8 billion more in that regard.

    Shaukat Tarin said that as per the market pundits, the prices would come down during December and January when the intensity of the Covid-19 pandemic would start declining.

    Speaking on the gas crisis, Tarin said Pakistani companies were supplying gas to consumers. He added that a couple of gas discoveries were made in Lakki Marwat, however, money was needed for the extraction process.

    Last week, Energy Minister Hammad Azhar took to Twitter to challenge journalist Shahzeb Khanzada to a debate on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and gas.

    Shahzeb Khanzada, a year ago, had warned that the gas crisis was impending, kept reiterating that the crisis needs immense attention, otherwise the consequences shall be huge.

    Azhar took to Twitter and proposed a challenge.

    “I would like to challenge Shahzeb Khanzada to debate LNG and Gas issues with me moderated by a neutral anchor and with Independent experts. Let the ppl [people] see the facts without persistent interrupting, volume controls, teleprompters etc,” tweeted Azhar.

  • British PM Boris Johnson ‘loses his place’ makes awkward, lengthy pauses during speech

    British PM Boris Johnson ‘loses his place’ makes awkward, lengthy pauses during speech

    British Prime Minister (PM) Boris Johnson was briefly left lost for words, when he misplaced notes during a speech on Monday to the Confederation of British Industry, reports Reuters.

    While organising and searching for words in his notes, the conservative party’s leader sighed, said “blast it” and repeatedly muttered, “forgive me”.

    Not only this, while addressing, he mentioned Peppa Pig, a British animated cartoon series. He said, “Yesterday I went, as we all must, to Peppa Pig World. I loved it. Peppa Pig World is very much my kind of place: it has very safe streets, discipline in schools.” “Who would have believed that a pig that looks like a hairdryer or possibly a Picasso-like hairdryer, a pig that was rejected by the BBC, would now be exported to 180 countries with theme parks both in America and China?”

    In the speech, PM Boris, who also performed an impression of a car told business leaders about what he terms the green industrial revolution.

    Reacting to his speech, Boris said he had made the points he wanted to.

    “I think that people got the vast majority of the points I wanted to make. I thought it went well”, Johnson said.

    After this episode, according to The Guardian, his party MPs (Members of Parliament) are worried about the prime minister’s competence.


  • ‘He is not a terrorist’: UN criticises arrest of Indian Occupied Kashmir activist

    ‘He is not a terrorist’: UN criticises arrest of Indian Occupied Kashmir activist

    The United Nations (UN) has condemned and criticised the arrest of Khurram Parvez, a prominent human rights activist in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) on terror funding charges.

    UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor called the act ‘disturbing’ and tweeted, “He [Parvez] is at risk of being charged by authorities in India with terrorism-related crimes. He’s not a terrorist, he’s a Human Rights Defender.”

    An Indian official told Reuters that Parvez was arrested on Monday by India’s federal National Investigation Agency (NIA). According to the official, Parvez’s residence and office were searched and a mobile phone, laptop, and books were seized. However, a spokesperson for the NIA confirmed Parvez’s arrest on Tuesday.

    Currently, the human rights activist is being held under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which allows for the detention of up to six months ‘without’ trial.

    Reuters has reported that the activist’s lawyer, Parvez Imroz, could not immediately be reached for comment.

    Back in 2016, Parvez was arrested and detained on similar charges. Later, he was released without being convicted of any crime.

    He is one of Kashmir’s best-known activists and head of the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, a group of rights organisations working in the region.

  • ‘Highlight previous history of PML-N as to how the party attacked judiciary’: PM Khan directs party spokespersons

    ‘Highlight previous history of PML-N as to how the party attacked judiciary’: PM Khan directs party spokespersons

    During a meeting with his spokespersons, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Monday said the alleged audio leak of former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar was devised by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). He instructed his spokespersons to highlight the previous history of the PML-N as to how the party had attacked the judiciary and maligned judges, reports Dawn.

    “But their [PML-N] bad tactics will not work this time,” he added.

    “The government stands by the state institutions,” said PM Khan.

    Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday said that the PML-N should come out of “leaks, fake videos, and games” and clarify allegations against them on the basis of merit.

    Taking to Twitter, Fawad wrote: “Nawaz & Co, come out of fake videos, leaks, and games and answer the allegations levelled against you on the basis of merit.”

    “These dramas have completely flopped. If you do not wish to be imprisoned, then you should return the nation’s wealth,” said Fawad, adding, ” This is a simple solution, which they are complicating as a way out.”

    The minister’s comments come in relevance to the leaked audio of an alleged conversation claiming that CJP Nisar was the person who passed on the directions of handing down conviction to PML-N supremo Mian Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz only because the “institutions” wanted the former prime minister penalised in order to bring ahead Imran Khan. Ahmed Noorani reported this for FactFocus.

  • #AbhiNoneDoneAward: ‘Classic case of Indian fabrication and pure fantasy to hide embarrassment,’ says Pakistan

    #AbhiNoneDoneAward: ‘Classic case of Indian fabrication and pure fantasy to hide embarrassment,’ says Pakistan

    In a statement issued a day after Abhinandan Varthaman was given the Vir Chakra medal by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, the Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) said this was a “classic case of Indian fabrications and pure fantasy to appease the domestic audience and hide embarrassment”.

    “Pakistan categorically rejects the entirely baseless Indian claims that a Pakistani F-16 aircraft was shot down by an Indian pilot before he was captured by Pakistan in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in February 2019,” said the FO in a statement.

    “India’s insistence on propagating a lie that has been thoroughly exposed is ludicrous and nonsensical. Granting military honours for imaginary feats of gallantry is contrary to every norm of military conduct. By giving such [an] award, also as an afterthought, India has only made a mockery of itself,” the FO statement added.

    “Indian Air Force was completely outplayed on the day. It is obvious that India’s farcical story has no credibility whatsoever before the international community.”

    “Pakistan stands as ready and resolute to thwart any hostile designs as it was in February 2019. India would do well to learn a lesson from its botched attempt to violate Pakistan’s sovereignty and refrain from any misadventure in [the] future,” the FO warned.

    Abhinandan was arrested on Feb 27, 2019, after his aircraft was shot down by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) upon violating Pakistani airspace.

    He was initially captured by locals in Azad Kashmir before being taken into custody by Pakistan Army personnel. 

  • Samaa News claims CJP Nisar’s leaked audio ‘pieced together’, US forensic firm asks permission to share details

    Samaa News claims CJP Nisar’s leaked audio ‘pieced together’, US forensic firm asks permission to share details

    Samaa TV, a private news channel ran a news story and claimed that the former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar’s clip appears to be pieced together from two separate speeches of former CJP.

    Claims of Samaa TV:

    The two speeches were made by former CJP Nisar on January 22, 2018, and February 22, 2018. The former speech was made in an address to a judicial conference, while the latter was made while addressing a ceremony of Islamabad High Court Bar, reports Samaa.

    “Some phrases in the audio clip are exact matches with parts of speeches the former CJP did on the two occasions,” claims Samaa.

    Fawad Chaudhry: “Unfortunately a specific group is always used in such situations. They are the ones who bring such kinds of leaks and affidavits to the limelight.”

    Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry while speaking on Geo News programme, ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ said that the government never claimed that Nisar’s audio was “pieced together” but Samaa TV ran a “splendid investigative report and it is through their findings that we have found out that the alleged audio has been put together through different chunks of [Nisar’s] speech.”

    Fawad further added that the news channel contacted Garret Disco­very, the firm which checked the alleged audiotape of the CJP Nisar. “The company did not comment on the development and has refused to own it,” said Fawad.

    Anchorperson Shahzeb Khanzada questioned the minister that the report put together by Samaa TV missed out on a few important points.

    Khanzada read out the missing points to Fawad and questioned him, “Does the report presented by Samaa TV also include the part where [Saqib Nisar could be allegedly heard saying] Mian Sahib [Nawaz Sharif] needs to be punished? Was it said that Khan Sahib [Imran Khan] has to be brought [into power]? It has to be done. Regardless of the merit, we will have to do it (sentence Nawaz Sharif), and even to his daughter. Did Samaa TV cater to these statements as well?”

    Fawad ignored the question and asked Khanzada to play the video prepared by Samaa on his programme and he will understand better.”

    “I have seen the video, were these three sentences in the video?” questioned Khanzada.

    Fawad again replied, “Play the video and you will understand better.”

    The minister went on to say that an environment is created every time a case of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz comes to the surface.

    “Unfortunately a specific group is always used in such situations. They are the ones who bring such kinds of leaks and affidavits to the limelight,” said Fawad.

    Shahid Khaqan Abbasi: “It is not the work of news channels but that of the judges to reach a conclusion and find facts in this matter.”

    PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the party was not behind the audio and demanded an impartial inquiry into it.

    “It is not the work of news channels but that of the judges to reach a conclusion and find facts in this matter,” said Abbasi.

    “We are ready to face the consequences if the probe finds out that it is a conspiracy,” he said.

    “Whoever breaks the law [should be punished] even if it’s the chief justice of the country. The government should not be concerned with this,” said Khaqan.

    Garret Discovery: “We did perform work for FactFocus. We have no problem releasing details as long as our client signs an agreement allowing us to do so.”

    In a chat with a Garret Discovery representative, Dawn told the US firm that they are mentioned in a story about a former Pakistani chief justice and asked what their findings were.

    “We did perform work for FactFocus. As part of our standard agreement, we have a confidentiality clause that prohibits us from speaking about the scope of work or work we performed,” the representative responded.

    “We have no problem releasing details as long as our client signs an agreement allowing us to do so. Please contact FactFocus with any inquiries as to the work we performed and discuss with them any release of information. We will not comment anymore on this issue until that time.”

    ‘His daughter [Maryam Nawaz] doesn’t merit a sentence, still, we will have to do it’: Alleged audio tape of CJP Nisar

    November 21, leaked audio of conversation allegedly claims that Saqib Nisar was the person who passed on the directions of handing down conviction to Mian Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz only because the “institutions” wanted the former prime minister penalised in order to bring ahead Imran Khan, reported Ahmed Noorani for FactFocus.

  • All petrol pumps will be closed, petroleum dealers announce strike on Nov 25

    The Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) has announced a countrywide strike on November 25 for selling petrol “on low-profit margins”, reports The News.

    The association’s spokesperson said that all petrol pumps across the country, including Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan, will remain closed on November 25 (Thursday).

    He said the strike could extend to an “unspecified period” if the government continues to ignore the association’s demands.

    According to him, “We have no other option but to go on strike as the government has failed to meet the November 17 deadline for the fulfilment of our demands.”

    Previously, the association had made a similar announcement for November 5 but withdrew after a team from the government agreed to increase margins on the sale of petroleum products by six per cent.

    However, there has been no progress ever since.

    PPDA Chairman Abdul Sami Khan said petroleum dealers have been in a difficult position due to the high cost of business and low margins. He said that the government guarantees a margin of only 2 per cent on sales of fuel oil in the face of rising electricity tariffs.

    “We demand the government to cancel our petrol pumps licences. Nearly 50 per cent of the petrol pumps will close down permanently with licence cancellation as no one will reapply for acquisition”.

    Earlier this month, the government had announced the rise of up to Rs 8.14 per litre of petroleum products.


  • ‘Tea is fantastic’ Abhinandan awarded India’s third-highest gallantry medal

    ‘Tea is fantastic’ Abhinandan awarded India’s third-highest gallantry medal

    Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by Pakistan in 2019 after his MiG 21 Bison aircraft was shot down by a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jet, and later returned to India — was awarded India’s third-highest gallantry medal on Monday, reports Asian News International (ANI).

    According to the report, the citation for the award stated: “Wing Commander Abhinandan showed conspicuous courage, demonstrated gallantry in the face of the enemy while disregarding personal safety and displayed [an] exceptional sense of duty.”

    Pakistani Twitterati reacted to the news of Pak-fame Abhinandan and yet again reminded the world of his famous dialogue,  ‘Tea is fantastic’.

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Vice President Sherry Rehman tweeted, “Is this for real? Award for drinking tea in Pakistani custody ?”

    Journalist Abbas Nasir tweeted, “India edges past us in the race for being the most delusional country in the Subcon.”

    Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera tweeted, “Feel so sorry for the poor bloke!!!”

    Journalist Fereeha Idrees commented, “Bollywood fantasyland taken next level. Indian Air force is awarding their man for getting shot in air by Pakistani pilots and then landing in Pakistan while thinking he was in India.”

    Abdullah Saad tweeted, “Not the first time that an IAF officer was given Vir Chakra for a fictitious kill.”

    A Twitter user wrote, “Never ever feeling guilty or ashamed about receiving credit for work I didn’t do.”

    Abhinandan was arrested on Feb 27, 2019, after his aircraft was shot down by the PAF upon violating Pakistani airspace.

    He was initially captured by locals in Azad Kashmir before being taken into custody by Pakistan Army personnel.