Current Final

Category: Politics

  • Fazlur Rehman’s JUI-F joins hands with PM Imran’s PTI against PPP in Larkana?

    Fazlur Rehman’s JUI-F joins hands with PM Imran’s PTI against PPP in Larkana?

    • Show-cause notices for PPP, ANP

    In an unforeseen turn of events, Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has joined hands with Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) in Larkana to give the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) a tough time in its stronghold, a private media outlet has reported.

    However, the media report isn’t entirely true as brother of the JUI-F chief, Senator Attaur Rehman, has rubbished the same in conversation with The Current.

    Amid widening cracks between members of the anti-government alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the media report had claimed that JUI-F has forged with the PTI and GDA a new alliance named “Larkana Awami Ittihad”.

    It had went on to add that the alliance includes PTI leaders Ammer Buz Bhutto and Allah Bux with GDA’s Moazzam Ali Khan Abbasi and Safdar Abbasi.

    “The newly-formed alliance has also announced extending the scope of the campaign against PPP in the entire Larkana division,” the report had claimed further.

    When approached for a comment, Senator Attaur Rehman rubbished all claims and maintained that his party had only supported PTI backed-GDA candidate Moazam Ali Abbasi in Larkana by-election back in 2019.

    “Even though the JUI-F and PPP have no electoral agreement to support each other’s candidates, especially in Larkana, there is no truth to the claims,” he said and added the “ages-old” alliance was making headlines only due to a recent statement by PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

    Last Friday, Bilawal had claimed that the JUI-F sided with the “establishment” and opposed the PPP in the said by-election. “But despite that we accepted Fazl as leader of the PDM,” he had said.

    “If that is true, did we forge an alliance with the PPP in Karachi and Ghotki also on establishment’s orders?” Senator Attaur Rehman asked.

    To a question, he categorically denied the existence of any alliance between the JUI-F and PTI. “Let sleeping dogs lie,” he said.

    Trouble has been brewing among members of the anti-government alliance since after former PM Yousuf Raza Gilani’s nomination by the PPP for the slot of opposition leader in the Senate. His election as the leader of opposition in the upper house has also only worsened the deteriorating ties.

    Many, including leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and other PDM member parties, seem to believe the PPP has “backstabbed” the joint opposition.

    The report by the private media outlet and its rebuttal come soon after it was revealed that the PDM has served show-cause notices to the PPP and the Awami National Party (ANP).

    While contents of the notices have not yet been disclosed, sources told The Current that they also pertain to Gilani’s election as Senate’s opposition leader despite the PDM’s reservations.

    The ANP, also a member of the PDM, had voted for Gilani.

    “They [notices] were handed to ANP’s Hidayatullah Khan and PPP’s Sherry Rehman,” sources said.

  • Gen Bajwa ‘summoned’ PTI ministers, ‘advised’ replacing Punjab, KP CMs: journalist

    Senior journalist Najam Sethi has claimed that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa recently “summoned” six cabinet ministers of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and put forth three topics for “some plain talking”.

    While the veteran journalist did not name the ministers, according to him, the PTI government’s “abysmal performance” was discussed as what was hurting the image of the military and other bigwigs.

    Sethi claimed that removal of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) chief ministers (CMs), and the need for the federal government to constitute a more efficient and credible team “at least for putting the economy on track”, was also discussed.

    “Time’s running out, he implied darkly,” the journalist claimed in his The Friday Times editorial.

    “As a consequence of such ‘advice’, Imran Khan has blithely sacked Nadeem Babar and Hafeez Shaikh, even though he was lauding their singular expertise not so long ago. Indeed, he had pitched Mr Shaikh to the Senate so that he could continue as full-fledged minister of finance.”

    He further wrote, “Some more chopping and changing is on the cards. But given Imran Khan’s track record of picking his political teammates, we shouldn’t expect any qualitative improvement in performance.”

    Sethi also opined that change in Punjab, in particular, “would be a hard bone to swallow”.

  • Naxals group kills 22, wounded 30 Indian security forces personnel in gun battle

    As many as 22 Indian police and paramilitary forces personnel were killed and 30 others wounded in a gun battle with Maoist rebels in a central Indian state, police said on Sunday, in the deadliest ambush of its kind in four years, reported AFP.
    ‘
    Some 2,000 security personnel were on the hunt for a Maoist rebel leader in the Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh state on Saturday when they were ambushed.

    “So far it is confirmed that 22 security personnel were killed,” Chhattisgarh police’s Additional Director General (ADG) Ashok Juneja said of the almost three-hour battle in the Maoist rebel stronghold.

    The injured personnel were admitted to two government-run hospitals in Bijapur and Chhattisgarh’s capital city Raipur.

    More than a dozen others remained missing, he said, adding that an unknown number of Maoists were also killed in the encounter.

    Juneja said the rebels looted weapons, ammunition, uniforms and shoes from the security forces who were killed.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that the “sacrifices of the brave martyrs will never be forgotten”, while Home Minister Amit Shah wrote on Twitter that India would “continue our fight against these enemies of peace & progress.”

    Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel wrote on Facebook on Sunday that Shah had assured him of “all the necessary help” from the national government against the militants.

    The toll was the worst for Indian security forces battling the far-left guerillas since 2017 when 25 police commandos were killed in the attack.

    Seventeen police from a commando patrol were killed in an attack by more than 300 armed rebels in Chhattisgarh in March last year.

    Sixteen commandos were also killed in the western state of Maharashtra in the lead-up to India’s election in 2019, in a bomb attack that was blamed on the Maoists.

    The Maoists, also known as Naxals, have waged an armed insurgency against the government for decades.


    Leaders of the hardline leftist militant group say they are fighting on behalf of the poorest, who have not benefited from a long economic boom in Asia’s third-largest economy.

  • Govt says no plans to privatise anything PIA

    Govt says no plans to privatise anything PIA

    The National Assembly (NA) was informed on Friday that there is no plan to privatise any of the assets of national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
    Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan said this during the question hour while speaking at the floor of the House, which met with Speaker Asad Qaiser in the chair.

    Sarwar said that the present government is very keen to make the national flag carrier self-reliant and profitable entity. Efforts are underway to improve the financial health of the airline by reducing its losses through various means, he said. He also said that loss-making routes have been closed and flights on profitable routes have been added which has resulted in reduction of losses.

    Responding to a question, the aviation minister said that 82 pilots were dismissed for acquiring the licences through unfair means. He said that a transparent mechanism has now been evolved to ensure the issuance of licenses in a transparent manner. An agreement to this effect has also been signed with the UK Civil Aviation Authority, he added.

    He maintained that the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) will carry out an audit of Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in July this year. He was confident this will lead to removal of travel restrictions on the PIA in the European countries and that the airline will regain its past glory.

    He said that the European Union (EU) aviation safety watchdog had previously decided to retain its ban on PIA from operating in EU member states, expressing its dissatisfaction over the steps taken by the CAA to address licensing and safety concerns. However, recently in March, the EU’s aviation safety watchdog termed safety standards of Pakistan’s CAA as “satisfactory”.

    The decision was made following a two-day meeting of the EU’s Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and CAA officials, in which representatives from Denmark, Italy and Sweden participated via video-link, he said.
    The minister for aviation said that Quetta and Dera Ismail Khan airports will be upgraded and that eight new planes will be inducted in the fleet of PIA to further improve its performance.

    Taking the floor, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken the initiative of ‘Live Call Programme’ to directly connect with the people and listen to their problems. He said that this step of the prime minister should be appreciated. He further said that the premier is expected to again interact with the people via telephone next week.

    The House was later adjourned to meet again at 4:00 pm on Monday.

  • SC rejects PTI’s appeal; Daska re-polling order by ECP upheld

    SC rejects PTI’s appeal; Daska re-polling order by ECP upheld

    The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an appeal by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) regarding re-polling in NA-75 Daska’s entire constituency.

    A three-member bench headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial gave a short order upholding the earlier order of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for re-polling in NA-75.

    Celebrating the SC’s decision, Maryam Nawaz tweeted that it had once again been proven that the government had tried to rob the votes of the people of Daska. She said that only re-polling is not enough. “Those who robbed the votes will have to be made answerable.”

    Reacting to the same, Punjab chief minister’s aide Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said that they respected the apex court’s judgement and the PTI would win again.

    The development comes a day after PML-N demanded re-polling in 109 ‘controversial’ polling stations of the NA-75 Daska, if not the entire constituency.

    In February, the ECP had announced that new elections will be held in NA-75 after its returning officer alleged irregularities during the by-polls in a report submitted to the commission.

  • Lahore: 550 doses of COVID-19 vaccine go missing from one hospital, 350 spoiled at another

    Lahore: 550 doses of COVID-19 vaccine go missing from one hospital, 350 spoiled at another

    Around 550 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have reportedly gone missing from Lahore’s Services Hospital, media reports have claimed citing sources at the health department.

    According to the reports, an additional 350 doses of coronavirus vaccines stored at the city’s Government Mozang Teaching Hospital have “gone to waste”, while no record could be found for the nearly 600 missing ones.

    The missing vaccines have been administered to important personalities, bureaucrats, and their friends, sources at the health department said, adding that Federal Minister for Housing Tariq Bashir Cheema of the Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q), along with his wife, also received the COVID-19 jab from the missing doses.

    On the other hand, the principal of the Services Hospital says that the vaccines haven’t disappeared but there has been an issue with the compilation of records.

    Provincial Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid maintains that the government is carrying out an audit of the vaccine doses and a report related to that will be submitted soon.

    Meanwhile, the medical superintendent of Mozang Teaching Hospital has been suspended after 350 coronavirus vaccine doses stored there were spoiled.

    According to a notification of the Punjab Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department dated March 29, the MS, Dr Munir Ahmad Ghouri, was “placed under suspension, under Section 6 of PEEDA Act, 2006, on accounts of inefficiency and misconduct, with immediate effect”.

    A senior official of the provincial health department said that the medical superintendent was suspended after 350 coronavirus vaccine doses, stored in the refrigerator at his office were spoiled.

    “He stored the doses in the refrigerator in his office and then went on leave,” the official added.

  • Cabinet rubbishes ECC approval to resume cotton, sugar import from India: report

    Cabinet rubbishes ECC approval to resume cotton, sugar import from India: report

    A meeting of the federal cabinet chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has rejected the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approval to import cotton yarn and white sugar from India, reports quoted sources as saying.

    A day earlier, the ECC had approved two summaries of the commerce and textile ministry to lift ban on import of cotton and white sugar from India.

    According to reports, there were 21 items on the agenda of the ECC meeting to be chaired by newly appointed Finance Minister Hammad Azhar. Commerce and Textile divisions had submitted five crucial summaries for approval besides others.

    At the agenda no. 16, the Textile Division summary sought permission from the ECC to lift ban on import of cotton and cotton yarn from India in a bid to bridge raw material shortfall for the value-added textile sector.

    In addition to this, another summary of the commerce ministry at agenda no. 20 also sought permission to allow import of white sugar from India through the Trading Corporation of Pakistan and commercial importers.

    The resumption of import of these goods was expected to lead to partial revival of trade relations. On Aug 9, 2019 Pakistan downgraded trade relations with India in reaction to the latter’s decision to revoke Article 370 of its Constitution that granted occupied Kashmir a special status.

    In May 2020, Pakistan lifted the ban on import of medicines and raw material from India to ensure there is no shortage of essential drugs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the first step of reversing of complete suspension of trade with India.

    However, Indian premier’s letter to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Pakistan Day was the first step in the right direction amid reports of UAE Royals brokering peace.

    On Tuesday, PM Imran replied to Modi’s letter, saying Pakistan also desired peaceful relations with India.

    “The people of Pakistan also desire peaceful, cooperative relations with all neighbours, including India,” he said in his reply.

    “I thank you for your letter conveying greetings on Pakistan Day.”

  • ‘FIA was told to file FIRs against Jahangir Tareen, son on WhatsApp,’ senior journalist claims

    The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has booked estranged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen and his son, Ali Tareen, for fraud and money laundering after it was told to do so by someone over WhatsApp, senior journalist and analyst Arif Hameed Bhatti has claimed.

    According to Bhatti, he possesses details of who sent the WhatsApp message, at what time and when did the other person respond to that message.

    “Even the language used in the draft is not that of the investigation officer,” he said, further saying that the case was registered back on March 22 but the news was leaked over a week later.

    Bhatti’s claims came after Tareens, who are rumoured to be at odds with Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan over probe into their alleged involvement in the sugar crisis, were booked by the FIA.

    According to the FIRs dated March 22, two separate cases were registered under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating of public shareholders) and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), read with sections 3/4 of the Anti Money Laundering Act.

    Responding to the development, Tareen lashed out at the FIA and said the accusations against him and his family were “totally fabricated”.

    One of the complaints states that Tareen fraudulently misappropriated shareholder’s money after his company — JDW group — transferred Rs3.14 billion to an associated private company identified as Farooqi Pulp Private Limited (FPML). The FIR stated that the private company is owned by his sons and close relatives.

    “The transfers, especially after FY 2011-2012, were patently fraudulent investments which ultimately translated into personal gains for the family members of the JDW CEO,” the FIR said.

    According to Dawn, it said that during this period, Tareen, his son and other family members purchased cash (US$) from the open market in Lahore in a “structured manner”.

    “Subsequently, in 2016, Ali Khan Tareen remitted approximately US$7.4 Million to the United Kingdom for purchasing properties (to be investigated in detail during the course of investigation) which makes them liable for Anti-Money Laundering investigation,” it said.

    The FIA stated that Tareen, his son, son-in-law Waleed Akbar Faruki and Shahid Akbar Faruki beneficially controlled FPML and personally benefitted from this scheme.

    In the second FIR, the investigation agency said “voluminous withdrawals amounting to at least Rs2.2 billion were fraudulently and dishonestly made through a trusted cash rider.” It noted that Amir Waris, employed as a cashier at JDW’s Corporate Head Office, deposited large amounts into the personal and business accounts of Tareen and his family members.

    “This modus operandi of cash-based misappropriation and money laundering was employed to break the onwards money trail of deposits into personal and business accounts of the accused Tareen and family,” it said.

    It also stated that Rana Nasim Ahmed, JDW CEO, was also given large amounts from the company’s accounts to the tune of Rs600 million. “He claims these humungous amounts as salary, bonuses and ‘gentlemanly-agreed’ benefits.”

  • PML-N offers Gilani Senate chairmanship if he brings his ’31 votes’ to table

    PML-N offers Gilani Senate chairmanship if he brings his ’31 votes’ to table

    Amid deteriorating ties between the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) over former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani’s election as the leader of opposition in Senate, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has put forth a rather interesting offer.

    Speaking to media, PML-N bigwig Rana Sanaullah has offered Gilani to bring his 31 votes in the Upper House to the table and get elected as the chairman with 27 others of the PML-N in the 104-member house.

    While the PPP is yet to respond to the offer, here’s what you need to know about Gilani becoming the opposition leader in Senate…

    Last week, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani notified Gilani as the opposition leader in the Senate after the PPP submitted a list of 31 senators to him.

    PML-N’s Azam Nazir Tarrar had the support of 21 opposition senators while Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), which has five senators, did not support any candidate.

    “In pursuance of Rule 16 (3) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate 2012, the chairman Senate has been pleased to declare Senator Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani as leader of the opposition in the Senate, with effect from March 26, 2021,” read a notification issued by the Senate Secretariat.

    The list carried the signatures of 30 senators; 21 PPP senators, two from the Awami National Party (ANP), one from the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), two from the erstwhile Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) and five from independent Senator Dilawar Khan Group.

    With the appointment of Gilani as the opposition leader in the Senate, the gulf between the PPP and PML-N widened, putting the 10-parties PDM alliance on the rocks.

  • Top PPP leaders also unhappy over reason behind differences with Opp alliance

    Top PPP leaders also unhappy over reason behind differences with Opp alliance

    Former Senate chairman and senior leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Mian Raza Rabbani has said that the party should not have taken the support of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and Dilawar Khan group in the Senate for the post of opposition leader in the upper house of Parliament.

    The move, that has also been spoken against by PPP’s Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, is the latest bone of contention among members of the joint opposition, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

    “Though the slot of the opposition leader in the Senate was right of the PPP being a largest single party at the opposition benches, it should not take n the support of the BAP Senators Dilawar group for the slot of opposition leader in the Senate,” he said while answering a query of The News on Wednesday.

    Rabbani said the support of BAP in the Senate was not good for the ideological foundations of the PPP, adding that rules of the Senate were clear that the slot goes to the single largest party at the opposition benches.

    He advised the opposition to keep its unity intact for broader object of supremacy of the constitution and parliament and objectives of supremacy of the constitution could not be achieved without unity in the ranks of the opposition.

    “It’s time to stand united to achieve the objectives,” he said.

    Earlier, Khokhar also said that the party should not have sought the support of BAP and led to this infighting that is only benefitting the government.