Pakistani actor Yasra Rizvi shared pictures and messages from a recent campaign on toxic marriages.
The actor posted a picture with the caption, “Shaadi aik social contract hai jisme huqooq aur faraaiz dono fariqain ke hote hain, isse umer qaid ya sazaa-e-moat samajh laina khud apne saath zyaadti hai!” (Marriage is a social contract involving the rights and duties of both sides. Considering it as death sentence or life imprisonment is not fair with your self).
Indian actor, Ayushmann Khurana, liked the picture while Pakistani actor, Ghana Ali, highlighted this under Yasra’s post.
Earlier in August, Actor Yasra Rizvi took to her Instagram stories to hit out at the Lux Style awards after they announced their nominations for their award ceremony.
More than 700 Pakistanis are in the data revealed in Pandora Papers and a majority of them are tax residents in Pakistan, reports Umar Cheema for The News.
Key members of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s cabinet, retired civilian and military officials and their families as well as owners of some of the country’s top media outlets, secretly own or have owned an array of companies and trusts holding millions of dollars in offshore jurisdictions, Fakhar Durrani reports for The News.
Politicians in Pandora Papers
The revelations made in the Pandora Papers, which contain the names of some prominent and key figures in Prime Minister Imran Khan’s cabinet, will be a test case for PM Khan to make his close associates answerable for holding offshore companies.
Below is the list of a few of the many prominent politicians of the government and Opposition whose names are in the Pandora Papers.
1. Shaukat Tarin:
Shaukat Tarin was recently inducted into Khan’s cabinet and appointed Finance and Revenue Minister. Tarin and three of his family members have four offshore companies registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) jurisdiction. The Tarin family incorporated four offshore companies —Triperna Inc, Hamraa Inc, Seafex Inc, and Moonen Inc — all of them in 2014.
Tarin confirmed being part of the above companies directly or through his family members for the sole purpose of raising capital for his bank.
“We were in negotiations with a Middle East conglomerate for raising capital for my bank, through a structured transaction. The proposed investor had also taken the Central Bank’s in-principle approval for the investment.” He added that the companies remained dysfunctional and no business was carried out through them.
2. Faisal Vawda:
Former minister for water resources, Faisal Vawda, his wife, and his sister have an offshore company. The Vawda family incorporated Dazzling Worldwide Ltd in the BVI jurisdiction in 2012 to invest in UK properties, the Pandora Papers show.
Vawda told the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) that he has declared all the worldwide assets held in his name to the Pakistani tax authorities.
3. Abdul Aleem Khan:
Another close aide of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Abdul Aleem Khan also owns an offshore company. The Pandora Papers show that the registered directors of Hexam Investment Overseas Limited (BVI) — Aleem Khan and his wife — approved a written resolution of the offshore company on March 1, 2017, and confirmed being directors of Hexam Investment.
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had also initiated an investigation against Aleem Khan. It is, however, not confirmed whether he has declared the company in his tax returns or not.
Aleem Khan is now the owner of Samaa News.
4: Chaudhry Moonis Elahi:
Federal Minister for Water Resources Moonis Elahi was the Settlor and Investment Director of the Green Hills Trust and Winthrop Fund.
Moonis wanted to invest money from the 2007 sale of land owned by Phalia Sugar Mills, an Elahi family business. Thomson Reuters Risk Management Solutions carried out due diligence of Moonis Elahi and produced a 19-page report with the details of his alleged involvement in corrupt land projects. The report mentioned fraudulent loans from the bank and selling the land to a government department. However, despite this due diligence report, Moonis was accepted as Asiaciti’s client.
The family spokesperson of Chaudhrys said that the assets of the family, including Chaudry Pervaiz Elahi and Chaudry Moonis Elahi, are declared as per applicable law.
5. Ali Dar:
The Pandora Papers reveal that former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s son, Ali Dar, owns two companies — Baraq Holdings Ltd and Dar Al Nahyan Ltd — registered in the British Virgin Islands.
Dar in his reply to The News said Dar Al Nahyan Limited remained dormant and no business has been done in the company, which has now been struck off the register. He said he has never been a tax resident in Pakistan and nor has he ever been involved in any professional employment or business activities whatsoever in Pakistan.
6. Sharjeel Inam Memon:
Former information minister in the Sindh government Sharjeel Inam Memon also owned three offshore companies in the BVI jurisdiction. The three companies that are owned by the Memon family include Ocean Wave Technologies Corp, Arctic Development Corp., and New Coast Executive Inc.
The companies are involved in the real estate business. The former provincial minister while talking to The News neither denied nor confirmedthe companies’ ownership.
Media owners included in Pandora Papers
The Pandora Papers have brought forth some media owners’ names who have offshore companies in offshore jurisdictions.
1. Hameed Haroon:
Hameed Haroon — CEO of Dawn media group — owns an offshore company Bardney Limited, registered in Seychelles.
In his official response to The News, Haroon said the company is duly declared and is being reported to the relevant authorities in Pakistan in accordance with the applicable laws of the land.
2. Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman:
Jang Group’s Publisher Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman (MSR) owns an offshore company Brookwood Ventures Limited in the BVI jurisdiction. Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman was transferred the shares of the company on April 17, 2008.
Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, responding to the investigation cell, said, “No, it’s not true, I don’t own any company. However, I had this till 2018.” The News also asked him that the British Virgin Islands is a tax and secrecy haven. Why he opted to set up a company there. MSR replied that people invest in BVI as it offers attractive conditions for investment. MSR was also asked if he declared the company with the relevant tax authorities to which he said, “Yes, it was part of my wealth for the tax year 2018 and subject to taxes where applicable.”
3. Sultan Ali Lakhani:
Express Media Group Sultan Ali Lakhani also owns an offshore company Century Media Network Inc. The company was incorporated in February 2005.
The spokesperson of the Lakhani family said all companies are legal and as per law of the land wherever applicable.
4. Gourmet Group:
Pandora Papers reveal that an employee of Gourmet group named Amna Butt was appointed director of an offshore company, Gourmet Holdings Limited in the BVI jurisdiction. The Gourmet group owns a large chain of bakeries across Punjab. In addition, the group owns a news channel called Gourmet News Network (GNN) as well.
It is, however, not confirmed whether the company is declared with the Pakistani tax authorities or not. Amna Butt was sent a questionnaire by The News, but no response has been received from her.
Military officials and family included in Pandora Papers
Apart from the politicians, media owners, and civilian bureaucrats, some top retired military officials have also been named in the new leaks.
1. Major General (retd) Nusrat Naeem:
Major General (retd) Nusrat Naeem owned a BVI company, Afghan Oil & Gas Ltd that was registered in 2009, shortly after his retirement. In his response to the ICIJ, he said that the company had been set up by a friend and that he did not use it for any financial transactions.
2. Ahsan Latif:
Ahsan Latif — son-in-law of former Governor Punjab Lt General (retd) Khalid Maqbool — owned an offshore company, Dylan Capital Limited, registered in the British Virgin Islands.
It is not clear whether Ahsan Latif has declared the above-mentioned assets before the tax authorities in Pakistan. The News sent a query to him but received no response from him
3. Muhammad Hasan Muzaffar:
Pandora Papers reveal that Muhammad Hasan Muzaffar, son of Lt General (retd) Muhammad Afzal Muzaffar, owned shares in a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, Creek Growth Capital Holding Ltd. The offshore company owned Southeast Healthcare Holding, which in turn controlled a Dubai-based medical centre that now appears to be closed.
Hasan told ICIJ that the simple fact is there is no relation of this investment to his father. He further commented that the investment was made solely from his own income earned in the UAE and came from his UAE bank account. No other family member, including his father, was involved.
4. Shafatullah Shah:
The former military secretary of Gen Pervez Musharraf, Lt Gen (retd) Shafatullah Shah owns an expensive apartment in London through an offshore company, which is in the names of his wife and son.
5. Raja Nadir Pervez:
Pandora Papers also reveal that Raja Nadir Pervez, a retired army lieutenant colonel and former minister in the Nawaz Sharif-led government, owned International Finance & Equipment Ltd, a BVI-registered company. In the leaked files, the firm is involved in machinery and related businesses in India, Thailand, Russia, and China.
He is currently a member of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Raja Nadir Pervez did not respond to ICIJ reporters’ questions.
Businessmen and civil bureaucrats included in Pandora Papers
1. Yawar Salman:
Son of bureaucrat Salman Siddique, Yawar Salman along with another partner Noeen Ahmed Anwar registered an offshore company, just a little before the former’s father’s retirement. The company is called Cres Tech Holdings Limited in the BVI.
Yawar Salman told The News that the entity Cres Tech Holdings was incorporated as part of a then-envisaged plan to undertake a foreign business. However, owing to certain circumstances, neither any equity was contributed nor any bank account opened. Since no equity was ever contributed and the entity’s worth remains ‘nil’, the question of disclosing it to the tax authorities does not arise.
2. Javed Afridi:
The Pandora Papers have also revealed that the owner of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise, Peshawar Zalmi, and renowned industrialist Javed Afridi owns three offshore companies in the BVI jurisdiction. Afridi is the beneficial owner of Old Trafford Properties Ltd, Sutton Gas Works Properties Ltd, and Gas Works Property Ltd.
Javed Afridi in his response confirmed to The News ownership of three offshore companies. He said the reason to incorporate them was for the good intention to save tax rather than avoiding any tax. According to him, the companies were almost dormant, and no business or investment was done by any of the companies.
Pandora Papers
The papers are named after the Greek myth of Pandora’s box. In the tale, Pandora opens a sealed box containing the forces of evil and suffering which, once released, were uncontainable.
BBC quoted Gerard Ryle, the director of ICIJ, as saying this leak was given the name because “we’re opening a box on a lot of things”.
This information revealed above has been named Pandora Papers and it adds significantly to what was discovered in the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers.
The Pandora Papers have unmasked the fortunes of more than 330 public officials in 90 countries. Included among them are 35 current and former leaders of different countries. The King of Jordan, the rulers of Qatar and Dubai, presidents of the Ukraine, Kenya, and Ecuador, the prime ministers of the Czech Republic and Lebanon, and former British prime minister Tony Blair, all appear in the secret files.
For Pakistan, the files pose a big test to the accountability credentials of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who had found the Panama Papers a “God-sent” opportunity to burnish his credentials as an anti-corruption warrior.
The documents were leaked to the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) which for nearly two years led an investigation collaborating with more than 600 journalists in 117 countries. This is the biggest journalism partnership in history, which involved 150 media organisations. For the Panama Papers, almost 400 journalists from 80 countries participated in the investigation. The News was the only ICIJ partner from Pakistan on both occasions. The Pandora Papers comprise 11.9 million documents whereas the Panama Papers had 11.5 million, reports The News.
According to PM Khan, this initiative will bring improvement in the living standards of the public and his government is trying to change priorities to uplift unprivileged families.
While talking about the previous governments, he said that they had flawed policies which left behind the marginalized segments of the society and said that this project should have been launched 74 years ago.
“We made a huge mistake 74 years ago. We believed that we would make Pakistan a welfare state after there was prosperity and wealth in the country. The thought — that there needs to be surplus first and then we (government) will invest in the poor — I believe these were fundamentally wrong decisions,” said the premier.
Referring to China’s ideology, the PM said that Beijing took measures to facilitate the low sectors of people and became a developed country within 35 years.
The programme will be rolled out in phases. During the first phase, the loans will be provided to the deserving families in Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK), Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and the underprivileged areas of Punjab and Sindh.
Under this, the government will provide Rs1.4 trillion micro-loans to 3.7 million households across the country.
This scheme has five components Kamyab Kissan, Kamyab Karobar, Naya Pakistan low-cost housing, Kamyab Hunarmand and Sehatmand Pakistan.
It also includes a user-friendly portal called Kamyab Pakistan Information System (KPIS). The portal will be integrated with Ehsaas and National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) databases for verification of beneficiaries’ eligibility.
Fawad said, “The people who could not fulfill their pledge of allegiance to Pakistan want to return to fulfill this pledge.”
According to the minister, those people who wish to follow the constitution should be given a chance, adding that the government seeks to move forward with the conditions laid down by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.
The information minister added that in Balochistan more than 3000 people have come back to a normal life, the ones who had ‘fallen prey to India’s conspiracies.’
The TTP said that their leaders are engaged in “secret talks” and have asked all fighters to observe a ceasefire till October 20.
US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will meet with Pakistani officials during her October 7-8 visit.
Ahead of her visit, Sherman told reporters, “We seek a strong partnership with Pakistan on counterterrorism and we expect sustained action against all militant and terrorist groups without distinction.”
“Both of our countries have suffered terribly from the scourge of terrorism and we look forward to cooperative efforts to eliminate all regional and global terrorist threats,” she said.
“If the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) lay down their arms, we can forgive them and they can become normal citizens,” said PM Khan.
“I repeat I do not believe in military solutions. I am anti-military solutions, so I always believe that being a politician, political dialogue is the way ahead, which I always believed was the case in Afghanistan,” added the premier.
Mountaineer Sirbaz Khan summited the 8,167-metre-high Dhaulagiri mountain in Nepal on Friday, stated Alpine Club of Pakistan Secretary Karrar Haidri. The mountaineer has become the first Pakistani to summit nine of the world’s highest 14 peaks, each having the height of more than 8,000 meters,Dawn reported.
Sirbaz was part of the 19-member ‘SST-Dhaulagiri I Expd. 2021 Autumn’ expedition organised by trekking company Seven Summits Trek.
According to Seven Summit Trek officials, the climbers scaled the world’s seventh highest peak on Friday morning, with Sirbaz raising Pakistan’s flag upon reaching the mountain’s top.
Dhaulagiri, which forms part of the Himalayas mountain range, is commonly known as one of the hardest peaks to climb due to its steep sides and bitterly cold climate.
Soon after the news broke, social media users congratulated the climber for his achievement.
Sajid Ali Sadpara, the son of late Mohammad Ali Sadpara and a climber himself, tweeted: “Lots of congratulations to Sirbaz Khan to climb Dhaulagiri. After climbing Daulaghiri he is first Pakistani to summit nine 8000 mountains.”
Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Friday said the rates of petroleum products in Pakistan are still lower when compared to several regional countries.
Tarin said Pakistan ranks 17th in the region when it comes to petrol prices.
“There are only 16 other countries that have lower petrol prices than ours. They are oil producers and have their own oil,” said Tarin.
“Prices in the international market have increased recently forcing the government to hike local prices,” he said after petrol prices were increased by Rs4 per litre and that of high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs2 per litre.
Shaukat Tarin said Prime Minister Imran Khan stopped the ministry from increasing the levy as he wanted to lessen the burden on the masses. “This is the reason we want to give direct subsidy to the lower-income group.”
“We are not even charging [petroleum] levy even though we have kept a target of Rs600 billion for it in the budget. But we and the prime minister didn’t care for it.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman has criticised the government for dropping a “petrol bomb” on the masses in times of extreme inflation.
Once again #TabahiSarkar has dropped a #petrol bomb in times of extreme inflation. Petrol prices now stand at Rs127.3/L. During PPP’s govt in 2013, intl. oil prices remained high due to the global financial crisis, yet the price at home was nowhere close to the tsunami it is now. pic.twitter.com/D3iFI7tntt
Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM), Dr Shahbaz Gill, alleged that anchorperson Kamran Shahid was asked to spread fake news and misquote facts about the United Kingdom’s (UK) court order to unfreeze Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif and his family’s bank accounts for lack of evidence of corruption and money laundering. A heated exchange took place between the two on Dunya News‘ programme, ‘On the Front with Kamran Shahid’.
Gill started off by reading a few statements by Kamran Shahid and gave details of the statements, which as per him were fake news and were factually incorrect.
Gill’s comments led to a heated exchange of words between Gill and Kamran.
“Sir, no one can make me misquote statements, not the prime minister or Azhar Javed [UK-based journalist working for Dunya News],” replied Kamran Shahid.
“You cannot say that I misquote my facts. I have been in journalism for the past 15 years. I am not indulging in any personal attacks against you and neither should you. No one can make me say things that are factually incorrect, not PM Imran Khan, not Shehbaz Sharif, no one,” added Shahid.
“You are wrong here, no one has the courage to make me misquote my statements or facts. Refrain from doing this.”
“Let the masses decide about your statements, seems like you are running for an election,” said Gill in response to Shahid’s answer.
“I have the right to judge the prime minister, he is my PM as well. I supported him long before your [Shahbaz Gill] career as a politician started in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI),” said Shahid.
“You have a fascist regime, your party is monitoring everything, you all do one-sided reporting on Pakistan Television Network (PTV), there is no mention of the Opposition in their reporting. If you so highly support journalism why haven’t you made media independent from the information ministry,” said Shahid.
Unidentified men shot down a Sikh hakeem near Charsadda Bus Stand on Thursday, Dawnreported.
The police identified the deceased as hakeem Satnam Singh who was murdered in his clinic in the limits of Faqirabad police station.
A police official told Dawn that unknown attackers opened fire on Satnam Singh and escaped the scene.
A brother of the victim told the local police that Satnam Singh had gone from his home in Mohallah Jogan Shah to his clinic where he was murdered. He said that he had no enmity with anyone.
Faqirabad SHO Ejaz Nabi said that an investigation is underway. He said it was not clear at this moment whether this was a case of targeted killing or had some other motive.
Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan strongly condemned the murder of the Sikh hakeem.
CM Khan asked the city police to immediately find and arrest the criminals. He also condoled with the victim’s family and said the killers would be behind bars soon.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) issued a warning to Karachi residents as a cyclone named Gulab nears the Sindh-Makran coast.
People are advised to keep at a distance from trees, billboards and polls, Director Met Office Sardar Sarfaraz told ARY News.
Earlier, as per the official notification, the coastal belts had also been warned as the sea conditions would remain very rough with high surge at times till October 3.
The department also suggested that there will be urban flooding in Karachi, Badin, Thatta, Hyderabad, Dadu, Mirpurkhas, Shaeed Benazirabad, Lasbela, Sonmiani, Ormara, Pasni, Gwadar, Turbat and Jiwani.
The notification said: “The system is likely to intensify further into a cyclonic storm during the next 24 hours and move northwestwards.”
However, the Met Office said that the PMD Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre, Karachi is closely monitoring the system.
Currently, Hashtag #CycloneGulab is one of the top trends on Twitter Pakistan as heavy rainfall has caused electricity poles to fall in different parts of the city.
JUST IN: Gusty winds, taller waves feared in Pakistan's Karachi, as storm nears. People are advised to keep at a distance from trees, billboards and polls, authorities issue alert for people near coastal belts to evacuate. Para-military force on scene #CycloneGulabpic.twitter.com/nKYxBO4yOF
