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  • Women not being mistreated in Punjab jails: IG Punjab

    Punjab Inspector General (IG) Dr Usman Anwar held a joint press conference with SSP Dr Anoush Chaudhry on Tuesday, to dismiss allegations of mistreatment of women in jails.

    He said that people should have trust in their institutions, adding that there are more than 150 cameras inside Kot Lak Pat jail.

    Dr Anoush said that women were being provided facilities as per rules. She said that she had met with the detained women herself and inquired about any issues they were facing.

    The IG also said that old pictures and videos were being posted to propagate a false narrative.

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan, in a televised address to the nation on Sunday, claimed that he had received reports that women belonging to his party are being harassed in jails.

    He requested the judiciary to take suo motu action against the arrests.

  • IMF’s conditions for agreement: Pakistan must arrange foreign loans and restore foreign exchange market

    IMF’s conditions for agreement: Pakistan must arrange foreign loans and restore foreign exchange market

    In a recent development, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged Pakistan to address its political disputes in accordance with the constitution. This statement came after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reached out to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in a last-ditch effort to revive the derailed $6.5 billion bailout package and avoid default.

    Following the conversation between Shehbaz and Georgieva, IMF Mission Chief to Pakistan Nathan Porter made an unusual statement, expanding the IMF’s focus to the political arena.

    While the IMF typically refrains from commenting on domestic politics, Porter emphasised the importance of finding a peaceful way forward in line with the constitution and the rule of law. This statement comes in the midst of an ongoing crackdown against PTI workers, abductions of individuals, and other political issues.

    Responding to questions from The Express Tribune, Porter outlined the conditions Pakistan must fulfill to reach an agreement with the IMF. These conditions include arranging foreign loans, approving a new budget in line with the IMF framework, and restoring proper functioning to the foreign exchange market.

    Prime Minister Shehbaz sees the IMF as the last resort to avoid default and thus decided to intervene. Following the conversation with the IMF chief, he instructed the finance ministry to share details of the next budget with the IMF.

    Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar criticised the IMF again, stating that it would be biased and shameful if the 9th review did not take place. However, a top finance ministry official confirmed that the prime minister had contacted the IMF managing director to break the deadlock.

    Time is running out for Pakistan, as there is only one month left before the program expires. Pakistani authorities still believe that the IMF can shorten the review completion period by calling a board meeting within two weeks of announcing the staff-level agreement.

    Porter emphasised that sustaining strong policies, obtaining sufficient financing from partners, and engaging in ongoing reforms are crucial for Pakistan to maintain macroeconomic stability. He also stressed the importance of strengthening domestic revenue mobilization, eliminating state-owned enterprise losses, reducing inefficiencies, and allowing for increased social and development spending.

    While Pakistan claims to have fulfilled all the conditions agreed upon in February, the sources indicate that Pakistan is currently not meeting all three conditions set by the IMF. The value of the rupee in the open market is significantly different from its value in the interbank market, and the new budget is not aligned with the IMF’s requirements.

    To bridge the financing gap until June this year, the IMF had asked Pakistan to arrange $6 billion in fresh loans. So far, Pakistan has obtained assurances for $3 billion from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The government is ready to share the details of the budget and the foreign exchange policy with the IMF.

    The $6.5 billion bailout package has been derailed since November last year and is set to expire on June 30. Of the total amount, the IMF has not disbursed $2.6 billion, including a $1.2 billion tranche linked to the completion of the 9th review. Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves stand at $4.1 billion, which is not sufficient to cover the upcoming $25 billion in repayments.

    There are still differences of opinion regarding the current account deficit for this fiscal year. The government’s revised estimate of around $4 billion to $4.5 billion has not yet been accepted by the IMF.

    Initial reports suggest that the government intends to announce an expansionary budget of around Rs14.6 trillion with a deficit of around 7.4 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). However, this budget would need to be adjusted to align with the IMF’s requirements.

    The IMF’s Fiscal Monitor report projected a budget deficit as high as 8.3 per cent of the GDP for the next fiscal year, significantly higher than the government’s proposal. The finance ministry had initially proposed an overall budget deficit of around 6.9 per cent of the GDP or Rs7.3 trillion.

  • ‘People said I was making a mistake’: Director Abu Aleeha on casting Yasir Hussain for ‘Kukri’

    Director of the anticipated crime thriller ‘Kukri’, Ali Sajjad Shah aka Abu Aleeha, sat down for an interview with Geo Digital, where he opened up about his decision to cast actor Yasir Hussain for the film, revealing that initially people thought he was making a mistake with casting the actor:

    “They said I am committing suicide and Yasir can’t pull off this character, I received many calls from the people associated with our industry; however, the statements changed when the poster came out, and the very same people spoke to me again and said ‘Tum ne ye kiya bana diya hai!’”

    He further praised the ‘Badshah Begum’ actor for being one of the finest in the industry:

     “I have seen Yasir’s best work in the theatre, I know how far I can go with him. People have seen his work in dramas but that’s not his finest work.”

    Speaking on how Aleeha and Hussain built up the notorious serial killer Javed Iqbal’s character, who reportedly murdered and raped more than a 100 boys in Lahore giving himself up to the police, the director said that he and Hussain researched to get the accent right:

    “I took Yasir to many chai dhabbay in Androon–e –Lahore. There, I observed local people chatting in different Punjabi accents. I used to record their conversations and that’s how we picked one of the accents for Javed Iqbal. Later, Yasir practised it.”

    Aleeha also talked about why he had chosen to work on the serial killer, a topic that had intrigued audiences last year when the film was announced under the name ‘Javed Iqbal’. The ‘Taxali Gate’ director cited his stint working as a crime news reporter for ten years, which was when he heard about Javed Iqbal:

    “I’ve been working as a crime reporter for a private channel for 10 years. [I remember] a criminal was arrested in Lahore and accused of raping 100 children. It was around 1999 and since then, the character has been stuck in my mind.

    “Musharraf Sahab’s take over and Javed Iqbal were the two most sensational stories at that time.

    “The case was handed over to the honorary Supreme Court and Javed Iqbal was detained, where he committed suicide. 

    “I got a copy of the challan after a month, from a lawyer and decided to make a web series on the serial killer but no one took me seriously. Then, I published the first book about his crimes and it got a massive response.

    “The second edition I published was about the investigation and the back story of this notorious man; the book came out in eight editions and sold out in six months — which indicated that people are intrigued by the story.

    “Then I decided to make a film on Javed Iqbal.”

     

  • Abrar ul Haq apologises for London concert

    Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and singer Abrar ul Haq has apologised for performing at a property expo held in London, two days after he quit the party.

    “I shouldn’t be in London if Pakistanis are unhappy,” said Abrar.

    The singer stated that he went to the London ceremony for a hospital’s charity fundraising.

    Denying media reports that he was mobbed by PTI workers, Abrar said that the miscreants who targeted him were planted people.

    Haq further said that he is sorry if anyone’s sentiments were hurt.


    During the show, the anchor played a video chunk of Abrar’s 2019 statement in which he justified assassination attempt on his constituency rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ahsan Iqbal. The host then asked Abrar if he regretted his statement. To which Abrar said that such acts should be condemned.

    Abrar ul Haq had announced on Friday that he is parting ways with PTI, saying he didn’t see any purpose in staying with the party. He was in tears as he made the announcement.

  • ‘Fashionable now to hate on Muslims’: Naseeruddin Shah slams Modi on Islamophobia

    Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah spoke to Indian Express about growing Islamaphobia under the rule of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its influence on Bollywood.

    “Oh sure, these are worrying times absolutely,” the veteran actor said. “The kind of stuff that’s pure, undisguised propaganda is being lapped up and it’s a reflection of the zeitgeist of the times. Muslim hating is fashionable these days, even among educated people. It’s what the ruling party has very cleverly tapped into this nerve. We talk about secular this, democracy that, so why are you introducing religion into everything?.”

    The actor is well known for his out-spoken critique on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the spread of fascism in India, especially on the Indian Premier’s silence on growing hate speech in India.

    “I mean how spineless is the election commission of ours? Who doesn’t even dare utter a word. If there had been a Muslim leader who had said, ‘Allah Hu Akbar bol ke button dabao’, sh*t would have hit the fan. But here our Prime Minister goes ahead and says things like this and yet he loses. So, I have hope that this will wear off. But it’s definitely, at the moment, at its peak. It’s been a very clever card played by this government, and it has worked. Let’s see how long it continues to work.”

    Speaking on the rise of state propaganda films like ‘Mission Majnu’ and ‘Kashmir Files’, Shah said that the best thing that actors can do in these times is stay quiet and not participate in any propaganda, because artists these days are scared to raise their voice or fear their movies will be boycotted by the masses.

    Further addressing the role of art in influencing society, Shah urged all artists to raise the right questions, but also stressed on the need to come from a place of fearlessness. He further said that words and no action will not resolve the issue, but one has to practice what they preach.

  • Imran Khan sends defamation notice to Abdul Qadir Patel for accusations of mental instability

    Imran Khan sends defamation notice to Abdul Qadir Patel for accusations of mental instability

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has sent a Rs10 Billion defamation notice to Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel for sharing details about an alleged medical test conducted during his arrest, stating that the PTI chief had faked his fracture and that alleging that he is mentally unstable.

    Imran Khan asked the minister through the legal notice to, “retract his statements in the same mode and manner in which he made them in the first place”.

    The private medical reports of the tests that the government is said to have conducted on PTI leader Imran Khan earlier this month while he was under arrest were made public on Friday.

    The investigations stated that Imran Khan’s mental stability was under question and that while no leg fractures were found, there was evidence of alcohol and an illicit substance in his urine.

  • Police arrests teenager in Okara for ‘khatam’ of Sidhu Moosewala

    Police arrests teenager in Okara for ‘khatam’ of Sidhu Moosewala

    A 15-years-old boy named Sharjeel has been arrested in Okara for inviting people to a ‘khatam’ and aerial firing for the death anniversary of slain Indian rapper Siddhu Moosewalla.

    Okara Police reached the boy through the address he provided on a social media poster.

    Police reached the address and then arrested Sharjeel for the invitation to aerial firing.

    Sindhu Moosewala, the Indian rapper who was shot dead last year on May 29, has a strong fan following in Pakistan.

    The teenager was released hours after arrest, as his young age came under consideration. He has been given a warning to practice caution in the future.


    Later, Sharjeel said he had posted the invitation only with the intention of creating mischief, stressing that he did not actually intend to go ahead with the event.

    He has tendered an apology.

  • ‘Should be held accountable for militant actions’: PM says resounding no to negotiations with PTI

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has refused to negotiate with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) after Imran Khan constituted a committee to hold dialogue with the government. The PM, in a tweet referred to the events of May 9, stating that ‘anarchists and arsonists’ who attack state symbols do not qualify for dialogue.

    “Dialogue is deeply embedded in the political process, which helps democracy mature & evolve. Many political & constitutional breakthroughs occurred when political leaders sat across the table to craft a consensus,” he tweeted.
    “However, there is a major difference here, the anarchists & arsonists who wear the garb of politicians and attack the symbols of the State do not qualify for a dialogue. They should rather be held to account for their militant actions. This is the prevalent practice even in developed democracies,” the tweet added.

    Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday, while talking about the possibility of negotiating with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said that negotiations with Imran Khan can be held if he took “corrective measures: apologises to the nation, admits his mistake and promises not to do anything like May 9 in the future.”


    Imran Khan on May 27 constituted a seven-member negotiation committee for talks with the incumbent government over elections.

  • PIA’s Boeing 777 seized once again in Malaysia due to unpaid lease dues

    PIA’s Boeing 777 seized once again in Malaysia due to unpaid lease dues

    Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) faced another setback as one of its Boeing 777 aircraft was once again seized at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport over an ongoing lease dispute. The incident marks the second time this specific aircraft has been halted in Malaysia due to payment issues.

    The aircraft, bearing the registration number BMH, was acquired by PIA on lease from Malaysia. However, the lease dispute resurfaced, and the airline was unable to settle outstanding dues amounting to $4 million. Subsequently, a local court ordered the seizure of the PIA plane upon receiving the company’s request.

    According to ARY News, this is not the first instance in which the national carrier of Pakistan has encountered such a predicament in Malaysia. In 2021, the same Boeing 777 was seized by authorities at the Kuala Lumpur airport due to non-payment of dues. The situation was resolved after diplomatic assurances were given, leading to the release of the aircraft.

    Following the recent seizure, the PIA plane was eventually released and safely returned to Pakistan on January 27, accompanied by 173 passengers and crew members. However, the lease dispute appears to have persisted, resulting in the aircraft being seized once again in Malaysia.

    The ongoing lease dispute poses significant challenges for Pakistan International Airlines, as it impacts their operations and raises concerns about the financial stability of the airline. PIA authorities have yet to comment on the recent seizure and the steps they plan to take to resolve the dispute.

    The incident highlights the importance of maintaining robust lease agreements and ensuring timely payment of dues to avoid disruptions in international aviation operations. Both PIA and Malaysia will likely engage in further negotiations to find a resolution to the long-standing lease dispute and prevent any future incidents that could tarnish the airline’s reputation.

    As of now, travelers and stakeholders eagerly await updates from Pakistan International Airlines regarding the situation and hope for a swift resolution to the lease dispute, allowing the airline to resume its operations smoothly.

  • ‘REINCARNATION’: Rahat’s son sounds just like Nusrat, leaving social media spooked

    Its been 26 years since Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan passed away, leaving the country in such deep mourning that it hasn’t ended yet.

    And though his nephew Rahat Fateh Ali Khan became a star in his own right, the Nusrat sized hole in our souls remained hollow.

    Until now.

    A viral video showing Rahat’s son Shahzaman, has taken social media by storm, astonishing users because of how similar the son sounds to the original maestro, Nusrat.

    A twitter user Dan Qayyum, shared the video, shot at a concert in the USA.

    Soon fans of the Qawalli singer from both Pakistan and India showered praises on young Shahnazam’s talent, proving that by the end of the day music does truly transcend borders!

    Shahnazam does not have an official Instagram account, but many users have spotted him in concert rehersals with his father, where he once even wrote a caption:

    What a great dad he is!
    Lets me occupy his seat as he takes mine.
    Knowing that i still have to earn this seat but still how willingly he wants to see me on this seat.
    How blessed I am to have a father & an Ustad like my dad❤️
    – Shahzaman Ali Khan “

    So does he sound exactly like Nusrat?

    You decide.