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Tag: Pakistan

  • Nawaz still very ill, new medical reports submitted to court

    Nawaz still very ill, new medical reports submitted to court

    Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s new medical reports have been submitted to the Lahore High Court (LHC) after the British authorities turned down his request for an extension in his stay, pleading that he cannot return as doctors have not yet allowed him air travel, reports Dawn.

    Since November 2019, this is Nawaz’s 11th medical report submitted to the LHC.  In all medical reports, a similar plea had been taken that ‘doctors have stopped him (Nawaz) from air travel’.

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) President Shehbaz Sharif has already said that Nawaz Sharif will not return until his complete recovery and stated that he can legally stay in the UK till the British immigration tribunal makes a final decision.

    Nawaz’s consultant, cardiothoracic surgeon David Lawrence, in Nawaz’s medical report wrote, “Nawaz Sharif, undoubtedly, has complex and complicated medical issues which need to be treated holistically. Great care needs to be exercised in dealing with each of the diseases and comorbidities he is suffering in order to maintain the right balance.”

    “There is also the appearance of the transient ischemic dilatation suggesting significant ischemic burden that amounts approximately 22 per cent of the myocardium. This is indicative of significantly reduced blood supply to the heart in the circumflex territory and impaired functionality. Mr Nawaz is advised cardiac catheterisation and subsequent management given the significant risk of worsening of his heart disease but once his comorbidities (ITP, hypertension, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease) were stabilised by a multidisciplinary approach,” said the doctor.

    “He developed Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) during his incarceration and his response to the first and second-line therapies was unsatisfactory, a stable platelet count within the medically prescribed range was paramount to ensure the safety of diagnostics and treatment. In addition to the recent finding of him having developed carotid artery’s stenosis, he was assessed to have had an exacerbation of his coronary artery disease and deterioration of renal functions. The intention was indeed to proceed with the management of his cardiac and carotid diseases once he was given clearance from hematology and nephrology specialties,” says the medical report.

    “He should, by all means, avoid travelling and visiting public places like airports. He should only stay in close proximity to the healthcare facilities where he has been getting his treatment until the Covid-19 threat is over and his health problems are adequately addressed,” Lawrence said.

    “Mr Nawaz needs to take serious precautions being a clinically extremely vulnerable person,” added the report.

  • Newborn baby’s body goes missing from grave

    The body of a newborn baby buried in a graveyard in Burewala disappeared from the grave, Geo News reported.

    Police said that the footprints of a man and a woman could be seen near the grave. All the evidence has been collected, which will help in the investigation to reach the accused.

    An eight-day-old baby boy named Ashfaq died in a village near Burewala and was buried in the village cemetery.

    Read More: Eight-year-old Indian girl killed in ‘human sacrifice’ ritual, four held: police

    According to his parents, when they reached the grave to recite Fateha the next day, the grave was open and the newborn’s body was missing.

    The family protested and demanded immediate recovery of the child’s body.

  • National Assembly member bitten by a rat

    A female member of the National Assembly was bitten by a rat at the Parliament Lodges, ARY News reported.

    National Assembly member from the Pakistan People’s Party, Shahida Rahmani, was reportedly bitten by a rat.

    Shahida Rahmani said that she was sleeping when the rat bit her. She has gotten an injection after the rat bite.

    After Shahida Rahmani informed the authorities about the incident, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly said that he would ask the CDA to ensure better arrangements.

  • Police arrest Peshawar man for wearing scary mask

    Police arrest Peshawar man for wearing scary mask

    Police have arrested a man for wearing a costume mask and frightening citizens.

    The Yakatoot police received complaints about a motorcyclist riding around the streets with a scary mask to frighten pedestrians. The police traced and detained the man after complaints

    Naila Inayat, a journalist, shared a video of the man behind the bars. “This guy arrested in Peshawar had plans to celebrate Independence Day by scaring people. Apparently, the police wasn’t much impressed. He was caught in his scary mask,” she wrote in a tweet.

    Journalist Iftikhar Firdous tweeted, “Peshawar police and masks don’t get along.”

    Firdous was referring to a man who was wearing a ‘wolf mask’ in Peshawar on New Year’s Eve and was arrested by the Peshawar police for “trying to scare off people” in the provincial capital.

  • Police investigators find ‘mastermind’of Rs 750M bank gold scam

    Police investigators find ‘mastermind’of Rs 750M bank gold scam

    The investigation officials have found out that a ‘woman manager’ was a mastermind in the Rs750m gold scam at a private bank in Karachi, ARY News reported.

    As per reports, the investigators have found more hints while investigating financial fraud at a Karachi private bank after they interrogated the suspects.

    They revealed that a woman manager of the bank’s Gulistan-e-Johar branch who had allegedly planned the gold scam divided the shares and gave the money earned from the frauds to the accused bank staffers.

    The accused woman kept giving gifts to the staffers. Investigators also found Rs2,400,000 funds in the bank account of the bank’s gold finance executive Adeel.

    The woman manager had also gifted expensive mobile phones to the bank employees and invested the remaining money to the stock exchange, as well as bought luxurious vehicles.

    The officials said that the mastermind had also given ‘pocket money to the bank staffers in both branches. Police said that 14 arrests have been made in the Rs750 million bank gold scam case so far.

  • Pakistan responds to UK’s concerns amid Red List travel ban

    Pakistan responds to UK’s concerns amid Red List travel ban

    The Pakistan government has responded to the United Kingdom (UK) government’s reasons for keeping the former on its travel Red List in a detailed letter written by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan.

     Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari shared the letter on Twitter and said, “The table exposes claims of UK govt, clearly it has been a political decision.”

    Mazari further tweeted, “UK’s Conservative govt with a strong Indophiles’ presence playing discriminatory politics against Pakistan on Covid.”

    Dr Sultan in his letter writes that Pakistan has “no interest in allowing” its nationals who pose a health risk to other societies to travel abroad. He said this is a shared global objective.

    Dr Sultan presented a table comparing key indicators from Pakistan and some other countries in the region, which currently sit on the Amber List, to illustrate what he referred to as “obvious disparities”. He said that when looking at countries’ track record of managing the epidemic, “numbers alone, without context, can be deceptive”.

    The SAPM explained how the Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests in Pakistan were being conducted and highlighted that testing is done through “agreed-upon national algorithms”. He explained how it makes for “accurate and timely data inputs”.

    “We feel that the number of tests being done is a large enough sample size to be a sensitive and accurate barometer of the epidemic and the number, especially when seen with the percentage positivity rate, has accurately reflected the rise and fall of all the waves seen so far,” Dr Sultan wrote.

    SAPM agreed that Pakistan does have limitations in whole-genome sequencing throughput, compared to the UK, which is the current leader in this arena. So far 854 samples have been sequenced during July and August 2021 and the details are shared with the World Health Organisation (WHO) regularly.

  • Police arrest teacher for raping, blackmailing woman in Chiniot

    Police arrested a schoolteacher for allegedly raping a married woman, recording her videos and blackmailing her to get gold jewellery and cash, Dawn reported.

    The suspect is a teacher at the Government High School, Chiniot. The woman’s son, a student of 10th class, was his student at his private academy.

    The survivor’s husband filed a complaint with the city police stating that the suspect would call his wife to his academy for discussing matters related to his son’s studies.

    He said some weeks ago his wife fell sick and went to a local quack, Shafiq, to take medicines where the suspect also arrived. He said that Shafiq and the teacher gave sedatives to his wife and when she was falling unconscious, the suspect (teacher) accompanied her to their house to drop her there.

    The complainant said that finding her alone at the house, the suspect raped her and filmed objectionable videos.

    Read More: Nowshera man arrested for trying to rape five-year-old granddaughter

    He said later the teacher started blackmailing his wife and asked her to give her gold jewellery to him, or he would post the obscene clip on social media.

    He said his wife got blackmailed and gave the suspect nine-tola gold jewellery. Similarly, he said, a few days later the suspect received Rs250,000 cash from her. Then the suspect demanded one million rupees but she could not arrange the amount.

    When she refused to pay the amount, the suspect got angry and sent the videos to the in-laws of their daughter, who was divorced by her husband over the issue.

    Finally, the blackmailed woman revealed the whole story to her husband, who registered a complaint with the city police.

    The police registered a case under sections 376, 382 and 506 of PPC against the suspect and arrested him and his accomplice Shafiq.

    District Education Officer Dr Khadim Hussain said the teacher had been suspended from service and a departmental inquiry had been started against him under the Punjab Employees Efficiency and Discipline ACT (PEEDA), 2006.

  • Pakistani exiles in UK not on ‘hit list’, Pakistan rejects Guardian report

    Pakistani exiles in UK not on ‘hit list’, Pakistan rejects Guardian report

    Pakistan on Tuesday “categorically rejected” a report published in The Guardian, which alleges that Pakistan was cracking down on dissidents abroad, adding that such accusations were baseless.

    Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said that the unsubstantiated allegations appeared to be part of the rather “blatant on-going misinformation campaign” against Pakistan to malign the country and its state institutions.

    “Pakistan is a parliamentary democracy with a vibrant civil society, free media, and independent judiciary, which remains fully committed to the promotion and protection of human rights for all its citizens without discrimination,” said the FO spokesperson. “Our strong commitment to the right to freedom of opinion and expression is demonstrated by the presence of scores of vibrant media channels and newspapers in the country.”

    Chaudhri said it was regrettable that any news outlet provided a “platform for the peddling of unsubstantiated and false narratives against Pakistan”.

    British security sources are understood to be concerned that Pakistan might be prepared to target individuals on British soil, said a report published in The Guardian.

    According to the report, there are further warnings given by other intelligence services across Europe to Pakistani dissidents, including rights activists from Balochistan, journalists, and members of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM).

    “If there is illegal pressure, in particular on journalists in the UK, then I would expect the law enforcement agencies and the British government to take notice of that and to make an appropriate legal and/or diplomatic response,” said Mark Lyall Grant, former UK High Commissioner to Pakistan.

  • Printing national flag in different colours prohibited by Lahore Court

    Printing national flag in different colours prohibited by Lahore Court

    A Lahore court has forbidden the printing of flags in different colours. The printing of flag in various colours,  other than its original scheme, and on distorted shaped portraits undermining the national dignity might be considered a defilement, Samaa News reported.

    “Our parcham (flag) is not merely a piece of cloth. The white and dark green field represents peace and prosperity, the crescent on the flag [symbolises] progress and the five-ray star signifies light and knowledge, which symbolises the five most Holy personalities (Panjtan-e-Pak A.S),” Justice Ali Baqar Najafi ruled while hearing a petition filed by Advocate Shakeela Rana.

    The court observed that according to the National Flags Protocol, people cannot legally do this while celebrating independence day. It must not touch the ground, shoes, feet, or anything unclean.

    • It must not be flown in the darkness
    • It must not be marketed with anything
    • When raised or lowered, it must be saluted
    • It must not fly or be displayed upside down or with a crescent and star facing left
    • It must not be displayed where it is likely to get dirty
    • It must not be set on fire or trampled upon
    • It must not be buried or lowered into a grave

    People who will violate any of these will be imprisoned for three years under Section 123-B (defilement of the national flag) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

  • ‘Kabul should avoid pointing fingers at Pakistan for its own failures’: Shah Mahmood Qureshi

    ‘Kabul should avoid pointing fingers at Pakistan for its own failures’: Shah Mahmood Qureshi

    Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mahmood Qureshi asked the Afghan government to avoid pointing fingers at Pakistan for its own failures and look into its governance issues.

    In a press briefing at the Foreign Office (FO), he said Pakistan had repeatedly said it had no favourites in Afghanistan and saw all sides of the conflict as Afghans.

    “It is unfortunate to scapegoat Pakistan for the failures of others; the issues of governance and meltdown of Afghan National Defence Forces need to be looked into — and not just start pointing fingers at Pakistan.”

    “The time has come when the world wants answers to what has been achieved in Afghanistan in these past 20 years. The taxpayer in the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), and Europe wants to know who is responsible for no achievement. Pakistan will not be apologetic, as we are not accountable nor responsible for the trillions spent and nothing to show for it. No capacity building, no arms, where has everything gone?” remarked Qureshi.

    “Pakistan is against a forceful takeover of Afghanistan. Pakistan does not want a military takeover, as we do not support one. We speak of a political takeover. A military takeover will result in more bloodshed and the people of Afghanistan have suffered and this suffering should end. Leadership inside Afghanistan should rise to the occasion and avoid a military takeover. We urge all sides to show respect for human rights and international humanitarian laws,” said Qureshi.

    “We had made a request to be present there, but unfortunately, it was not accepted,” he said, adding that at the time of India assuming the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) presidency, Pakistan had asked it to operate objectively.

    However, India did not behave in a manner that was befitting of that responsibility, the foreign minister said. “India has been, in our view, in breach of its obligation as president of the Security Council.”

    Pakistan has been facilitating the peace process, and its role has been and will continue to be of a facilitator, the foreign minister said.

    “We cannot guarantee, we can only facilitate,” he said, noting it was up to the Afghans to decide their future, and now the world community was backing Pakistan’s narrative that there is no military solution in Afghanistan.

    While on the request of President Ashraf Ghani, intra-Afghan peace talks were postponed in Islamabad, Pakistan now looks forward to the August 11 peace talks of the troika consisting of Pakistan, China, and Russia with an aim of chartering a political way out for an Afghan-led peace process.

    “We reiterate the need for the effective use of available peace mechanisms,” Qureshi said, adding Pakistan has always stressed the need for talks.