Current Final

Category: Politics

  • Gill dismisses report claiming he is ‘earning billions by importing COVID-19 vaccine’

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s aide on political communication, Dr Shahbaz Gill, has rubbished reports claiming that he is earning hefty profits by importing vaccine for COVID-19.

    “Some people are making false claims that I have imported coronavirus vaccine. This news is fake. I have nothing to do with it,” he tweeted, urging people to stop spreading it.

    The government has now allowed Gill’s company to import Russian vaccine with a profit of Rs7,000 on each dose, the report had alleged.

    It went on to claim that Gill’s company had ordered 200,000 Sputnik-V vaccines in the first consignment, keeping a net profit of Rs1.40 billion — with Rs8,500 for every Rs1,550 dose — in one consignment and that too with the permission of the government.

    In another tweet, Gill said the fake WhatsApp forward regarding him cracked him up.

    The news and its dismissal comes days after the government capped the maximum retail price of Russian and Chinese coronavirus vaccine injections imported by the private sector.

    The government has fixed the maximum sale price of Sputnik-V vaccine at Rs8,449 for two doses and China’s Convidecia at Rs4,225 per injection, showed the summary of the National Health Services and Regulations Ministry.

  • Modi writes to Imran with ‘desire for cordial relations with Pakistani people’

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said to Prime Minister Imran Khan that “as a neighbouring country, India desires cordial relations with the people of Pakistan”.

    The above was said in Modi’s Pakistan Day message to the premier, wherein he extended his greetings to the people of Pakistan who celebrated the anniversary of the Lahore Resolution across the country.

    The message was conveyed to PM Imran by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad through the Foreign Office (FO).

    “For this, an environment of trust, devoid of terror and hostility, is imperative,” Modi said in the message. He also sent his wishes to the prime minister and the people of Pakistan, who were facing a “difficult time for humanity” due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

    “Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration,” the message concluded.

    Modi’s comments come days after Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, speaking during the Islamabad Security Dialogue, said that lasting peace in the sub-continent will remain elusive until the resolution of the Kashmir issue, stressing that it was time for Pakistan and India to “bury the past and move forward”.

    The army chief had noted that stable Indo-Pak relations were the key to unlocking the potential of South and Central Asia by ensuring connectivity between East and West Asia.

    But this potential has always remained hostage to the disputes and issues between the two “nuclear neighbours”, he said.

    “The Kashmir issue is obviously at the heart of this. It is important to understand that without the resolution of Kashmir dispute through peaceful means, [the] process of sub-continental rapprochement will always remain susceptible to derailment due to politically motivated bellicosity.”

    “We feel it is time to bury the past and move forward,” he said, adding that the onus for meaningful dialogue rested with India. “Our neighbour will have to create a conducive environment, particularly in occupied Kashmir.”

    It is worth mentioning here that recently Bloomberg reported that the government of United Arab Emirates (UAE) was facilitating the development of a four-step “roadmap for peace” between Pakistan and India.

    The report cited the surprise joint statement by directors general of military operations (DGMOs) of Pakistan and India on February 25, that agreed to end Line of Control (LoC) ceasefire violations (CFVs) as the outcome of the talks brokered by the Emirati government months earlier.

    The report also stated that progress on the Pakistan-India “peace” process had been discussed during Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed’s meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during the former’s visit to New Delhi on February 26.

  • ‘Aasteen ka saanp’ PPP, ‘Selected’ PML-N? Sharmila Faruqi, Hina Parvez seem to be trading barbs

    ‘Aasteen ka saanp’ PPP, ‘Selected’ PML-N? Sharmila Faruqi, Hina Parvez seem to be trading barbs

    Hina Parvez Butt of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Sharmila Faruqi of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) seem to be trading barbs over Twitter as fate of the joint opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) hangs in balance amid widening cracks.

    While rumour has it that a deal has been struck, pundits believe that the PPP could soon be backstabbing the PML-N and other PDM member parties despite being on the same page to oust the government until a month ago.

    Differences have cropped between the PPP and the PDM over the issue of resignations from the assemblies and also on the election of Sherry Rehman or Yousaf Raza Gilani as leader of the opposition in the Senate. Both the PPP and PML-N — two of the largest political parties that are a part of the anti-government alliance — have intensified lobbying to win maximum votes for the slot.

    PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman have strongly opposed Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s idea and asked him to stick to the original agreement agreed upon in the PDM meeting according to which the alliance had to support Yousaf Raza Gilani for the slot of Senate chairman while the PML-N would get the slot of leader of the opposition.

    With the gulf between PPP and its allies in the PDM growing, Chairman Bilawal has reportedly intensified contacts with like-minded opposition parties hinting at an independent opposition alliance in the making.

    Amid reports of trade of barbs between Maryam and Bilawal, it has emerged that other party leaders are following suit.

    “Selection does not run in our veins but then there are some who always were [selected],” PPP’s Faruqi tweeted in an apparent jibe at the PML-N, a day after Bilawal referred to a “family from Lahore that had always been selected [by the establishment to run the country]”.

    She was reacting to a tweet by PML-N’s Parvez, who had called out an “aasteen ka saanp [an ally who betrays]”.

    While the two did not take any names, the exchange falls conveniently in time for netizens to assume the insults were aimed at each other amid deteriorating ties.

  • Twitter blunder: PTI dates Lahore Resolution (1940) as a 1947 event in Pakistan Day post

    Twitter blunder: PTI dates Lahore Resolution (1940) as a 1947 event in Pakistan Day post

    In yet another Twitter blunder from political quarters, the official Twitter handle of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday-Tuesday midnight mistakenly dated the Lahore Resolution of 1940 as a 1947 event, which was passed seven years before actual independence.

    “23rd March: Pakistan Resolution Day Back in 1947, our ancestors resolved on this day to lay the foundation of Pakistan. On this day, once again we resolve to save our homeland from corruption and rebuild Pakistan!” read a tweet that was deleted after netizens pointed out the blunder.

    Here’s the new tweet:

    LAHORE RESOLUTION:

    The Lahore Resolution was a formal political statement of declaration of independence of Pakistan adopted by the All-India Muslim League on the occasion of its three-day general session in Lahore from March 22–24, 1940.

    The resolution called for independent states as seen by this statement:

    That geographically contiguous units are demarcated regions which should be constituted, with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority as in the North Western and Eastern Zones of (British) India should be grouped to constitute ‘independent states’ in which the constituent units should be autonomous and sovereign.

    Today marks 81 years since its adoption that was followed by creation of Pakistan seven years later in 1947.

  • ‘Too-weak-to-fight-establishment Zardari’ has also apologised to Maryam, Rana Sanaullah claims

    ‘Too-weak-to-fight-establishment Zardari’ has also apologised to Maryam, Rana Sanaullah claims

    Punjab president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Rana Sanaullah, has revealed that confusion prevails among ranks of the joint opposition ever since Asif Ali Zardari, co-chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) — also a member of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), said he is weak and cannot fight the establishment on his own.

    The PML-N leader, speaking to Geo News’ programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath, said he was unable to understand what the former president meant by that statement.

    Sanaullah said the joint opposition had decided that office of the leader of opposition in Senate would be set aside for the PML-N but the PPP kept saying it deserved to appoint him or her from within their ranks.

    “During Zardari’s speech, someone came inside [his room] and said that there is chaos outside. After that, Zardari changed his stance,” he said.

    Following the disturbance, according to Sanaullah, Zardari said he is weak and cannot fight the establishment on his own. “I have only one son, and no one else.”

    Sana also said PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz was upset over some words of the former president’s speech, adding that the PPP co-chairman even apologised to Maryam Nawaz for it.

    The PML-N leader was talking about the key PDM meeting from last week during which opposition parties were unable to achieve a breakthrough on the issue of resignations from the parliament before the long march as the PPP remained the only party reluctant to resign.

    Following the meeting, rumours of the PPP backstabbing the joint opposition went rife, as they remained at crossroads over the appointment of the Upper House’s Opp leader.

    “It was not my intention to hurt your feelings,” Zardari said to Maryam after the meeting during which Zardari had spoken at length to PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif via videoconferencing and urged him to return to Pakistan if he was ready to wage a war against the government.

    Maryam and Bilawal have reportedly since been trading barbs.

  • Historic first: India could participate in military exercises in Pakistan this year

    Historic first: India could participate in military exercises in Pakistan this year

    In yet another signal that the ties between Islamabad and New Delhi are improving every day, India could take part in a multi-nation exercise to be hosted by Pakistan later this year at its premier anti-terrorism centre in Nowshera district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

    The exercise will be held under the aegis of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

    According to Indian media reports, if the plan goes through, it would be a historic event, given that it would be the first time that Indian forces will travel to Pakistan for any military exercise.

    The decision to hold the joint exercise “Pabbi-Antiterror-2021” was announced during the 36th meeting of the Council of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on March 18.

    The development comes at a time when Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa last week stressed on the need for India and Pakistan to “bury the past and move forward”. Just weeks ago, the two countries had agreed to observe ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC).

    Meanwhile, a report by Bloomberg has claimed that United Arab Emirates (UAE) Royals are brokering Pakistan-India peace.

  • COVID-19: Get vaccinated privately for only Rs4,225 per injection

    With the federal cabinet deciding to cap the maximum retail price of Russian and Chinese coronavirus vaccine injections imported by the private sector, the Drug Pricing Committee of Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) had proposed the same for two vaccines.

    Only those of 60 years of age or above are currently being vaccinated free of cost by the government in the absence of a wider state-run vaccination programme.

    However, Sputnik V’s GAM-Covid-Vac solution manufactured by the FSBI NF Gamalaya RCEM of the Russian Health Ministry and Convidecia vaccine manufactured by CanSino Biologics Inc will soon be available for Pakistanis seeking to get privately vaccinated against the deadly virus.

    The government has fixed the maximum sale price of Sputnik V vaccine at Rs8,449 for two doses and China’s Convidecia at Rs4,225 per injection, showed the summary of the National Health Services and Regulations Ministry.

    Further details have not yet been disclosed.

  • Qazi Faez Isa’s wife moves court for contempt case against Fawad Chaudhry

    Qazi Faez Isa’s wife moves court for contempt case against Fawad Chaudhry

    The wife of Supreme Court (SC) judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa has moved court for a contempt case against Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry over a tweet by the latter.

    Sarina Isa’s application seeking the case against Fawad comes days after he tweeted that speeches were being made for the past one week, but reply would result in “concern” or “contempt”.

    The minister had said that those inclined towards politics must contest elections to realise their popularity and acceptability.

    In a later tweet, Fawad had also dedicated a poem to the judge.

    Meanwhile, “#IStandWithFawadChaudhary” is trending on Twitter.

  • UAE Royals brokering Pak-India peace: Bloomberg

    About 24 hours after military chiefs from Pakistan and India surprised the world last month with a rare joint commitment to respect a 2003 cease-fire agreement, the top diplomat of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) popped over to New Delhi for a quick one-day visit.

    The official UAE readout of the Feb 26 meeting gave few clues of what Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed spoke about with Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, noting they “discussed all regional and international issues of common interest and exchanged views on them.”

    Yet behind closed doors, the Pakistan-India ceasefire marked a milestone in secret talks brokered by the UAE that began months earlier, according to officials aware of the situation who asked not to be identified. The cease-fire, one said, is only the beginning of a larger roadmap to forge a lasting peace between the neighbors, both of which have nuclear weapons and spar regularly over a decades-old territory dispute.

    The next step in the process, the official said, involves both sides reinstating envoys in Islamabad and New Delhi, who were pulled in 2019 after Pakistan protested India’s move to revoke seven decades of autonomy for the disputed Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir.

    The article originally appeared on Bloomberg 

  • Bilawal-less PDM decides to resist PPP’s bid to field its own candidate for Senate Opp leader

    Amid rumours of a rift between joint opposition members after “a deal was struck” and pundits’ predictions of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) “backstabbing” others, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has decided to resist a bid by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s party to bring in its own nominee as leader of the opposition in the Senate.

    According to reports, with an aim to keep the PDM on the same page, head of the opposition alliance, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, called on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz and Opposition Leader of Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz in Jati Umra on Sunday.

    As per details of the meeting, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) head met the PML-N leaders to discuss future strategy regarding long march and resignations from the parliament.

    It emerged that Fazl and Maryam decided during the meeting to resist the PPP’s bid to secure the leader of opposition’s slot which in principle had been awarded by the alliance to the PML-N’s nominee, Senator Azam Nazir Tarar.

    PDM has postponed the long march for an indefinite period after the PPP, a key member of the alliance, refused to resign from assemblies and stressed to continue the movement from within the parliament.

    Fazl has said that apart from PPP, all parties have agreed on giving resignations from assemblies. He said that PPP has sought more time for consultation on the issue.

    PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari had said that be it long march or no-confidence motion against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, former prime minister and PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif must return to Pakistan.

    “This is not the first time that the democratic forces have encountered rigging,” he said and added he had spent 14 years of his life in jail.

    After the meeting at Jati Umra, the two senior leaders of the opposition alliance addressed the media, where Fazl said that the PDM would be present during Maryam Nawaz’s hearing on March 26 with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a show of solidarity.

    “The apparent reasons cited by NAB have exposed the bureau for the puppet institution it is. It has approached the court for cancellation of [Maryam’s] bail on the basis that she speaks against institutions.

    “So the institution has been formed not to combat corruption but to serve other institutions,” he said.

    Fazl maintained that the workers of the PDM will number in the thousands. Furthermore, he shot down any rumours of a rift within the alliance after the appointment of Yousaf Raza Gillani was appointed as the leader of the opposition in the Senate.

    “PDM is not only united, through mutual consultations we have matters under control. We all have to move ahead forward. The nine parties that have a particular ideology will request the PPP to respect their viewpoint,” he said.

    Fazl said that nine parties of the PDM are united on one principle while the PPP has yet to make a decision. He added that the PDM would wait for the decision of the PPP’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) – which will meet in April – so that the alliance can move forward effectively.

    “The PDM is united and we are trying to resolve our internal issues mutually. We are trying to find a solution and we are ready to consider further the arguments of the PPP. We will effectively improve our issues with the PPP and will wait for the decision of the PPP CEC. We will tell the PPP to agree on the decision of nine parties,” he said.

    He said that the PDM is united and we have to move together while the people of Pakistan will stand by the sovereignty of the country.

    He said that there was a detailed discussion with Maryam on the situation facing the country.

    “NAB has summoned Maryam Nawaz on March 26. I wonder whether the NAB has been tasked to serve and represent the state institutions? The reasons given for Maryam Nawaz’s NAB summoning have exposed the NAB. PDM workers and leaders will be present on the occasion of Maryam Nawaz’s appearance in NAB,” he warned.