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Tag: Pakistan

  • ‘You call yourself professor… mind your tone’: Ahsan Iqbal gets a scolding from NA speaker

    Ruckus on Friday marred yet another session of the National Assembly as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Ahsan Iqbal got a scolding from speaker of the House, Asad Qaiser.

    “Please follow rules. I am doing so too […] mind your tone,” the speaker told the opposition lawmaker.

    While the reason behind the war of words has not yet been confirmed by any, a video of the episode showed Iqbal repeatedly interrupting the speaker, demanding what appeared to be more time on the floor of the House.

    “Please mind your tone. You have been a minister, and you call yourself ‘professor’… is this the way to talk?” a visibly displeased Qaiser was seen asking Iqbal who kept talking back at the speaker.

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    Earlier, rumpus also erupted after PML-N MNA Afzal Khokhar tabled a privilege motion.

    During the session, while talking about the operation to demolish his Lahore residence, the Khokhar Palace, the PML-N leader told the House that the administration had stormed his place late at night and destroyed furniture among other things.

    “This type of attitude of Punjab authorities will not be tolerated,” he said.

    The House has been adjourned to meet again on Monday.

  • FBR goes after NAB for not paying Rs69 crores in taxes

    FBR goes after NAB for not paying Rs69 crores in taxes

    The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has served a notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for costing the country a whopping Rs690 million (Rs69 crores).

    As per the details, NAB did not deduct 15% withholding tax while paying damages worth over Rs4 billion (Rs4 Arab) in the Broadsheet case.

    The News quoted sources as saying that a notice on behalf of the International Tax Department of FBR under Section 152 of FBR Ordinance was sent to NAB to pay the said amount.

    The notice said it had come to the knowledge of tax department that NAB had paid damages to Broadsheet LLC — the United Kingdom (UK) based company roped in during military ruler Pervez Musharraf’s regime to track down foreign assets purchased by Pakistani politicians “through looted money”.

    “NAB had to deduct 15% withholding tax and deposit it to the national exchequer at the time of payment under the Income Tax Ordinance, but it was not followed,” it said.

    The fine was paid to the UK-based firm after NAB ended with it the asset recovery agreement in 2003, pushing Broadsheet as a third party to move the London High Court for damages.

    The UK-based companies claimed that Pakistan owed them money according to the terms agreed upon since the government was taking action to seize assets identified by the firm, including the Avenfiled Apartments of the Sharif family.

    After much drama, an arbitration court of London had imposed a $20 million fine on NAB in the Broadsheet case. However, NAB had to pay an extra $9 million under the head of mark-up due to non-payment on time.

    The court in London had withdrawn over $28 million partially in this regard by freezing accounts of the Pakistan High Commission.

  • Father of minor driver in Multan fined Rs 1000

    Father of minor driver in Multan fined Rs 1000

    The father of a minor boy in Multan whose video driving a Land Cruiser SUV went viral on social media on Monday has surrendered to the police. The police had reportedly formed two teams to trace the boy and his parents.

    As per reports, the father came to a police station with his son on Thursday.

    The boy drove the car out of his home without telling his parents, a police official told Samaa TV. The vehicle was seized and the father was booked under the Motor Vehicles Ordinance, he added.

    The father was fined Rs 1,000 for negligence. He has also submitted an affidavit to the police stating that the incident occurred due to his negligence and will not happen again.

    The man and his son were allowed to go home after submitting surety bonds.

  • Multan: Woman declared dead by hospital returns to life a day later

    Multan: Woman declared dead by hospital returns to life a day later

    A woman pronounced dead at Multan’s Nishtar Hospital has come back to life and walked away a day later.

    According to reports, the woman, who was brought to hospital for a gunshot wound after getting caught in crossfire, was declared dead on Tuesday and is currently being treated for her injuries after spending one night “dead”.

    Doctors are providing her proper treatment and investigating whether declaring her dead was a mistake or if she has really returned to life as in a rare situation called Near Death Experience (NDE).

    In NDE people, for all intents and purposes, die but return to life.

    Nishtar Hospital Emergency Director Dr Amjad Chandio claims the woman was not pronounced dead in the emergency room, but a death certificate was issued by the hospital.

    “It is being investigated whether a blunder was committed and by whom,” he said.

  • Ex-ISI chief was working for India’s RAW?

    Ex-ISI chief was working for India’s RAW?

    The Ministry of Defence has opposed a request seeking removal of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general (DG) Lt Gen (r) Asad Durrani’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL), saying he had been “interacting with hostile elements” including Indian intelligence agency RAW since 2008 and was likely to be involved in future publications against the interest of Pakistan, Dawn reported.

    The spymaster had landed in trouble after co-authoring a book, “The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace”, with Amarjit Singh Dulat, the former head of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), in 2018.

    After the book’s publication, the Military Intelligence (MI) had written to the interior ministry to put Durrani’s name on the ECL and the same was done in May 2018. The former spymaster challenged the move in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in 2019.

    In its para-wise comments submitted in response to Durrani’s petition in the IHC on Wednesday, the Defence Ministry said the ex-ISI chief’s name was placed on the no-fly list for “his involvement in anti-state activities”. It said a perusal of the book The Spy Chronicles revealed that it contained “certain contents concerning [the] national security of Pakistan, being in contravention of the provisions of the Official Secrets Acts, 1923”.

    “It is further highlighted that there are [a] number of such publications on the way, supported by hostile elements which contain content to create misperception, confusions, question marks against the top leadership circles at country level and to target the common people,” reads the ministry’s response.

    It added that Durrani had been “affiliated/interacting with hostile elements especially Indian RAW since 2008”, saying although he had submitted an affidavit “committing to refrain from such activities” to the government, the same had still not been seen “in tangible terms”.

    According to the ministry’s reply, Rule 2(c) of the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Rules, 2010, authorised the federal government to prohibit a person from exiting Pakistan for a foreign destination if the said person is involved in “‘acts of terrorism or its conspiracy’, ‘heinous crimes’ and ‘threatening national security’”.

    Moreover, it said Articles 15 and 19 of the Constitution clearly stated that the “freedom of movement and freedom of speech are subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by [the] law in the public interest and integrity, security or defence of Pakistan”.

    It said Durrani’s name could not be removed from ECL “at this stage” because inquiries being conducted against him were being finalised. It said the former ISI chief wanted to travel abroad with the intention of participating in international conferences, forums and talks which will have “serious national security implications as evident from the recently published book ‘Honour Among Spies’” — which was also authored by Durrani and published “through Indian publishers/RAW supported elements”, according to the defence ministry.

    “Moreover, the petitioner also appeared on social media on October 12 and 13, 2020, and expressed his views which of course cannot be well received by any patriotic citizen,” the ministry stated, continuing to defend the placement of Durrani’s name on ECL.

    The ex-ISI chief’s petition is expected to be taken up again by the IHC next month.

  • UK govt praises Pakistan on 10 Billion Tree Tsunami project

    UK govt praises Pakistan on 10 Billion Tree Tsunami project

    The UK government has appreciated Pakistan for showing global leadership in dealing with climate change with its 10 Billion Tree Tsunami project. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government introduced the Billion Tree Tsunami Afforestation Project in 2014 that was monitored by WWF-Pakistan.

    As per details, about 1.6 million native tree species were planted in different cities of Pakistan by WWF in 2019 and about 1.002 million native plants were planted with the provincial forest department, academic institutions, and civil society in 2020. 

    UK House of Lords member Lord Aamer Sarfraz, during a session of the House of Lords on January 25, said that the project is an effort that all Pakistanis can be proud of. 

    “There is no doubt that 2021 is the year of planet Earth, and by the COP26 due to be held later this year, we hope to celebrate more successes from Pakistan,” said Lord Sarfraz. 

    UK Environment Minister Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park also appreciated the initiative and called it a great achievement, which the world can learn from and emulate. 

    He called it “one of the most ambitious tree planting initiatives in the world”. 

    “I absolutely, enthusiastically, commend and celebrate Pakistan’s 10 Billion Tree Tsunami initiative and the tens of thousands of jobs that have been created due to the project. It goes to show what is possible and what can be achieved,” said Lord Goldsmith.

  • PTI’s Pakistan more corrupt than PML-N’s Pakistan for second consecutive year: Transparency International

    PTI’s Pakistan more corrupt than PML-N’s Pakistan for second consecutive year: Transparency International

    Transparency International (TI) — a Berlin-based international non-governmental organisation combating global corruption — on Thursday released a new report, according to which, the country under the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, for the second consecutive year, has witnessed more corruption than it did in the outgoing year of the former ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

    According to TI’s global report on the 2020 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), while Pakistan’s ranking and CPI score in 2019 dropped from 117 to 120 and from 33 to 32, respectively, the ranking has now fallen down to 123 and CPI score to 31 in 2020.

    The report comes at a time when the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan-led government boasts of the success of its promised accountability drive against opposition lawmakers and government officials. The same has time and again been termed as “political victimisation” by those on the radar of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

    Before the second consecutive drop, Pakistan witnessed a slight improvement in the 2018 CPI, scoring a point higher than in 2017 but remaining unchanged in the rankings. The country scored 33 out of 100 on the index — one point better than its score of 32 in 2017 and 2016. Its ranking, however, remained unchanged at 117 out of 180 countries, in 2018.

    TI’s annual report on CPI is formulated on the basis of input from 13 international agencies. In the case of Pakistan, however, the assessment of eight agencies is taken into account. These include the World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey; the World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment; the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index; the Bertelsmann Stiftung Transformation Index; the Economist Intelligence Unit Country Risk Service; the Global Insight Country Risk Ratings; the IMD World Competitiveness Center World Competitiveness Yearbook Executive Opinion Survey; and the Varieties of Democracy project’s findings.

    Pakistan in the last 11 years had improved its index score from 23 in 2010 to 33 in 2018. However, never in the said time period had Pakistan been assessed to have performed negatively when compared to the previous year, which has now happened twice.

  • Here’s how you can register for COVID-19 vaccine in Pakistan

    Here’s how you can register for COVID-19 vaccine in Pakistan

    The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) has finalized the COVID-19 vaccination strategy as the country expects the first batch of a Chinese vaccine by January 31.

    The government has approved three COVID-19 vaccines including Russia’s Sputnik-V, China’s Sinopharm and UK’s Oxford-AstraZeneca so far.

    Here is a step-by-step guide to get coronavirus vaccine:

    Step 1: Citizens including frontline healthcare workers will send CNIC number to 1166 through SMS or use NIMS website for registration.

    Step 2: After necessary verification, designated AVC (Adult Vaccine Centre) (based on “Present Address” and PIN Code will be sent to the citizen through SMS)

    Step 3: If the designated AVC is outside the current tehsil of the citizen, he/ she can change the designated health facility by visiting NIMS web portal or by calling 1166 helpline within 5 days of receipt of the first SMS.

    Step 4: Upon availability of vaccine at the Designated Vaccination Centre, SMS will be sent to the citizen to intimate appointment date for vaccine administration.

    Step 5: After successful registration, the citizen will visit AVC on date of appointment along with original CNIC and received PIB Code (mandatory).

    Step 6: Vaccination staff will verify the CNIC and PIN code.

    Step 7: After successful verification, the citizen will be vaccinated. Upon vaccine administration, vaccination staff will enter the details in NIMS and confirmation message will be sent to the citizen through SMS. Citizen will stay in AVC for 30 min for the post-inoculation monitoring.

    Step 8: Real-time dashboard for the federal, provincial and district health department will be generated automatically.

  • GDP growth in 2021: Pakistan likely at par with Nigeria at 1.5%; India at 11.5%, China at 8.1%

    GDP growth in 2021: Pakistan likely at par with Nigeria at 1.5%; India at 11.5%, China at 8.1%

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised its forecast for global economic growth in 2021 but warned that there was still “extraordinary uncertainty” about the outlook.

    According to the latest World Economic Outlook forecast, the IMF projects global growth at 5.5%, which is higher than their previous forecast in October. Global growth will moderate to 4.2% growth in 2022, the IMF said.

    As per the forecast, Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the ongoing year will stand at 1.5% that it shares with Nigeria, while neighbouring India and China are likely to stand at staggering 11.5% and 8.1%, respectively.

    GDP is the total monetary or market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period. As a broad measure of overall domestic production, it functions as a comprehensive scorecard of a given country’s economic health.

    Malaysia’s growth is likely to stand at 7%, Turkey: 6%, Spain: 5.9%, France: 5.5%, the United States (US) 5.1%, Indonesia: 4.8%, the United Kingdom (UK): 4.5%, Mexico: 4.3%, Brazil: 3.6%, Canada: 3.6%, Germany: 3.5%, Japan: 3.1%, Russia: 3%, Italy: 3%, while the GDP growth of Saudi Arabia has been predicted to stand at 2.6%.

    The upgrade for this year reflects the positive effects from the start to vaccinations in some countries, additional fiscal support in the US and Japan, and at least a partial return to business and consumer normality as the health crisis wanes.

    “Much now depends on the outcome of this race between a mutating virus and vaccines to end the pandemic, and on the ability of policies to provide effective support until that happens,” said IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath in a blog post accompanying the updated forecast.

    The global economy contracted by 3.5% in 2020, the worst peacetime contraction since the Great Depression of the 1930s, the agency said.

    Close to 90 million people are expected to enter extreme poverty in 2020 and 2021, reversing the trends of the past two decades, the IMF said.

    Altogether, the COVID-19 pandemic will cost the global economy $22 trillion over 2020-2025 relative to pre-pandemic projected levels.

  • VIDEO: PIA pilots spot and record UFO above their plane in Karachi

    VIDEO: PIA pilots spot and record UFO above their plane in Karachi

    Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) pilots have spotted and unidentified flying object (UFO) flying at 35,000 feet above Karachi.

    According to ProPakistani, the “foo fighter” — a term used by Allied aircraft pilots during World War II to describe UFOs or mysterious aerial phenomena seen in the skies over both the European and Pacific theaters of operations — was a white round object above the jet which the plane’s captain noticed on Sunday.

    The flight crew immediately started filming the object and after landing found that similar sightings had been reported in the past across the world.

    The flight captain said that the round object had a metal ring around it and was emitting white light from the center.

    He added that it was difficult to determine whether the object was hovering or moving slowly due to relative motion.

    Sharing the video of the incident, UFO hunter and blogger Scott Waring said that PIA pilots had provided the most focused photo of a foo fighter in the history of UFO research.

    He added that it “proved that aliens follow planes and keep a close eye on human activities”.

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