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Tag: Prime Minister Imran Khan

  • ‘Misbah was made chief selector, coach on Maulana Tariq Jamil’s recommendation’

    Pakistani journalist Sohail Warraich has claimed that Misbahul Haq was given the role of both chief selector and head coach on the recommendation of famous religious scholar Maulana Tariq Jamil.

    The journalist has made these claims in his latest column, in which he has said that no one in this country knows cricket better than Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and claimed that every change in Pakistan cricket is happening on PM Imran’s order.

    Sohail said that Maulana Tariq Jamil is one of Pakistan’s most loved personality and rejecting his orders is considered as a grave sin, therefore PM Imran while honouring his love with Maulana Tariq “gave these responsibilities to Misbah”.

    Warraich further claimed that batsman Babar Azam was made the captain of cricket team on Imran Khan’s order.

    “Khan appointed Misbah as coach and chief selector and Babaq Azam as team’s captain, but he [Imran] shouldn’t be held responsible for their poor performance”, Sohail added.

    Earlier, Pakistan Tehreeke Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Javed had said that PM Imran Khan will now focus on improving sports, especially cricket.

    “The premier could not concentrate on cricket earlier as he was focused on stabilising the economy and strengthening the institutions, which were in shambles”, reports quoted Faisal Javed as saying.

    The statement from the senator came after Pakistan cricket team’s poor performance against Australia and Srilanka in Test and T20 series, respectively.

  • Pakistan outperforms leading stock markets, including Germany, Russia

    Amid efforts by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s team to stabilise the country’s economy, Pakistan has outperformed some of the world’s leading stock markets, including those of Germany, Sweden, Russia and Ireland.

    According to Bloomberg, Pakistan’s stock market surged by 30% (almost 10,000 points) during the past three months, outperforming the leading stock markets. Ireland’s stock market rose by 19%, followed by Russia’s RTS Index with a 16% increase, Sweden OMX Stockholm 30 with 14% and Germany’s DAX Index that increased by 13.9%, during the same period of time.

    Pakistan’s KSE-100 Index has advanced to the highest level in seven months, after falling to the lowest in almost five years in August, amid attempts by the government to stabilise the economy with a $6 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after a deficit blowout.

    At the same time, bond yields have begun to fall after peaking around 14% mid-year, making debt investments less attractive.

    Even over a week after the report, the stock market remains positive and continues its upward trend. On Tuesday, it touched over 40,000 points in the beginning trade hours. This came a day after the stock exchange gave the highest monthly return in over 6.5 years as the benchmark index rallied past 40,120 points.

    The upward trends in the market, coupled with Moody’s — financial services company — upgrading credit rating of Pakistan, have boosted the confidence of investors. The collective response and profits for traders and investors are making the local market lucrative for prospect interests within and without the country.

    This has materialised also in figures of net-buyers. More people are currently buying shares compared to those selling them.

    According to Samaa, Moody’s expects the current account deficit of Pakistan to continue narrowing in the current and next fiscal year, averaging around 2.2% of the GDP. It was more than 6% in the fiscal year 2018 and around 5% in the fiscal year 2019.

    The stock market had investors pulling out their funds since it plummeted to below 29,000 points in August, owing to the political instability causing negative sentiment and pushing stocks to the verge of a crash. Contrary to the erstwhile beliefs and speculations, the market hit on Monday its highest benchmark index in over 6 months, while the ROI were recorded to be the most since May 2013.

  • Imran govt admits obtaining $10 billion loan within over a year

    Imran govt admits obtaining $10 billion loan within over a year

    The Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan-led government has admitted to have obtained a total of $10.37 billion debt from different countries and international lenders up until September 30, this year.

    In a written reply to a question in the National Assembly, Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insadf (PTI) government secured $10.37 billion from various governments and international institutions from August 14, 2018 to September 30, 2019.

    The government, during this period, received $1.54 billion from China, $151.79 million from Saudi Arabia, $68.6 million from France, $0.4 million from Germany, $62.48 million from Japan and $0.01 million from Kuwait.

    It also obtained a total of $991.2 million loan so far from International Monetary Fund (IMF) during this period.

    The government received a total $2.751 billion from multilaterals including $997.45 million from Asian Development Bank (ADB), $23 million from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), $155.04 million from International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), $556.05 million from International Development Association (IDA), $6.14 million form Islamic Development Bank (IDB), $922.84 million from IDB (short terms), $42.24 million from International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), $8.36 million from Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC Fund), and $39.8 million form ECOT/BANK.

    The government obtained $4.805 billion loan from commercial banks including $365 million from Ajman Bank, $2.235 billion from Consortium of Chinese banks (ICBC, CDB, BOC), $150 million from Citibank, $410 million from DIB/Noor, $195 million from DIB, $500 million from Emirates NBD, $300 million from ICBD and $650 million from Credit Suisse.

  • Mexican couple converts to Islam after watching PM Imran’s favourite Turkish TV series ‘Resurrection: Ertuğrul’

    Mexican couple converts to Islam after watching PM Imran’s favourite Turkish TV series ‘Resurrection: Ertuğrul’

    A Mexican couple was inspired to convert to Islam after watching Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s favourite Turkish TV series “Resurrection: Ertuğrul”, and meeting with one of its actors at a convention in the United States (US), a Turkish daily newspaper reported.

    According to reports, Celal Al, who plays Abdulrahman Alp in the hit period drama, attended the 22nd annual meeting of the Muslim American Society (MAS), a flagship Muslim organisation, and delivered a speech about the series and Turkey.

    Al, who was the guest of Zekat Foundation, was met with great interest at the event, which enables Muslims from all over the US to meet up. At the end of the meeting, a Mexican couple converted to Islam by reciting the Shahadah (Islamic proclamation of faith) with the help of the famous actor.

    “We were affected by Turkish TV series ‘Resurrection: Ertuğrul’ and Turkey’s humanitarian activities around the world, and then decided to be Muslim,” the Mexican couple was quoted as saying.

    After becoming Muslims, Al gifted the couple two Qurans, one in English and another in Spanish, as well as a Turkish flag.

    Taking place in 13th century Anatolia, “Resurrection: Ertuğrul” tells the story of the period prior to the establishment of the Ottoman Empire Ertuğrul Gazi, the father of the empire’s first leader.

    The series illustrates the struggle of Ertuğrul and his warriors against a plethora of adversaries from the Knights Templar to Mongol invaders.

    Turkey is one of the top five series-exporting countries in the world, enthralling audiences from Latin America to Central Asia. Dozens of Turkish series are being followed by more than 500 million viewers in over 150 countries, according to Turkey’s Culture Ministry.

    A day earlier, PM Imran had directed Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) to air the famous Turkish series.

    According to Arab News, the drama will soon air on PTV after being dubbed in Urdu. the national broadcaster has gotten exclusive rights for dubbing and screening it in Pakistan and voice actors for the drama have been selected.

    The development came two months after the premier announced that Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia have decided to launch a joint English channel to counter Islamophobia.

  • Punjab info minister says ‘Buzdar should be praised like Sher Shah Suri’

    Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan has said that Chief Minister (CM) Usman works silently without setting up any camp offices and consequently reducing the provincial government’s expenses by 60 per cent, therefore, “he should be praised like Sher Shah Suri”.

    Suri was the founder of the Suri Empire in the northern Indian subcontinent, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar.

    Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Information Minister Chohan asserted that the former government caused a loss of $21 billion to the national exchequer and more than 2,000 officials were appointed for the security of then CM Shehbaz Sharif’s relatives.

    “He [Shehbaz] had established eight camp offices but neither of them were in Lahore,” the minister said and added that Buzdar could not be compared to opposition leaders as the former had not laundered money.

    The provincial minister said that people like Tallal Chaudhry, Daniyal Aziz and Javed Latif had earlier “taken over the system”, while Buzdar’s government has recovered loans worth over Rs10 billion in one year, allocated 35 per cent budget for southern parts of Punjab and built shelter homes for the poor.

    “The CM has allocated a huge portion of funds for the development of South Punjab in the provincial budget for the first time in the history of the province.”

    Chohan said that policies pertaining to district industry and special education were approved during Buzdar’s tenure and construction of nine universities and nine hospitals had now been started.

    “Previously, every person raised slogans against neglecting South Punjab. Now, six out of nine hospitals in the province are being constructed there. CM Buzdar can be titled as Waseem Akram-Plus, if we thoroughly review his performance within over a year.”

    He said Punjab had collected 104 per cent tax revenue that increased the province’s income up to Rs75 billion and in the first year, policies for tourism, agriculture, labour, industries, water and forests had been approved in Punjab.

    The provincial minister continued that 36 bills were approved by the Punjab government for the first time in the history of the province.

    “So-called political leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had only grabbed government lands during their tenures,” the provincial government’s mouthpiece maintained.

  • Pakistan declared ‘more attractive destination for global investors than India’

    An international credit rating agency, Moody’s Investors Service, has upgraded the outlook for Pakistan’s economy from negative to positive, declaring the country a more attractive destination for global investors than India as the latter’s credit outlook downgraded to negative earlier this year, Sputnik News reported.

    According to the agency, upgrade in Pakistan’s status is driven by “Moody’s expectations that the balance of payments dynamics will continue to improve”. On the other hand, it said that India’s outlook downgraded, “on concerns that its economic growth would remain materially lower than in the past”.

    “Moody’s decision to change the outlook to negative reflects increasing risks that economic growth will remain materially lower than in the past, partly reflecting lower government and policy effectiveness at addressing long-standing economic and institutional weaknesses than Moody’s had previously estimated, leading to a gradual rise in the debt burden from already high levels.”

    Meanwhile, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s Adviser on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh said the upgradation of outlook to stable was affirmation of the government’s success in stabilising the country’s economy and laying a firm foundation for robust long term growth.

    The announcement also pushed Pakistan’s stock market above 40,000 points — highest after a gap of 10 months.

    The premier himself has also claimed that over the first four months of the current fiscal year beginning April 2019, Pakistan’s current account deficit fell by 73.5%, as compared to the same period last fiscal year. “The country’s exports of goods and services in October 2019 rose 20 per cent over the previous month and 9.6 per cent over October 2018.”

  • PM Imran requests PTV to air Turkish drama in Urdu

    PM Imran requests PTV to air Turkish drama in Urdu

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has requested PTV to air famous Turkish historical fiction series Dirilis: Ertugrul. The drama is popularly referred to as the Turkish ‘Game of Thrones‘ by fans.

    According to a report in Arab News, the drama will soon air on PTV after being dubbed in Urdu. PTV has gotten exclusive rights for dubbing and screening it in Pakistan and voice actors for the drama have been selected.

    The report said that PM Khan had recommended the popular TV opera to all Pakistanis as promoting the true Islamic values.

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said that the initiative has been taken at the behest of the prime minister to protect “our social, cultural and religious norms.”

    She said that the Muslim world has its own cultural heritage and values and that the drama can enlighten and broaden the understanding of the history of Islam, especially among younger generations.

    “It is also PM Khan’s vision to share media content to counter Islamophobia and improve understanding of Islamic values,” Awan added.

    Back in September PM Khan has shared that Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia will jointly launch a TV channel to fight Islamophobia. PM Imran had said that the English language TV Channel will be like BBC which will also highlight the issues faced by the Muslim world.

    Dirilis: Ertugrul is set in 13th century Anatolia, before the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. It illustrates the struggle of Ertugrul Gazi, the father of Osman I – the founder of the Ottoman dynasty.

    Since its premiere on state-run Turkish TV channel TRT 1 in November 2014, the serial has been telecasted in 60 countries.

  • VIDEO: Federal Minister Fawad messes up US history on-air; makes Benjamin Franklin president

    VIDEO: Federal Minister Fawad messes up US history on-air; makes Benjamin Franklin president

    Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry, in yet another faux pas, has messed up the history of the United States (US) on-air by not only making polymath Benjamin Franklin an “American president”, but also accrediting him for 1930s’ New Deal.

    Speaking to a private media outlet on Monday, the minister had said that it was time for a “New Deal” among all state institutions. “At the moment, no institution in Pakistan is strong enough to challenge any other institution. Everyone is looking to enhance their own mandate. We must slow down and strike a New Deal.”

    “A deal like the one by US president Benjamin Franklin. It changed the entire country. It is what we need as well. Specially, at a time when the chief justice has also highlighted the need for a dialogue and the army chief as well as the prime minister want to strengthen civilian institutions,” Fawad had said.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    But what many, including the show hosts, didn’t realise, was that the science minister himself didn’t know what he was talking about.

    Not only was Franklin never elected president of the US, the New Deal — a series of programmes, public work projects, financial reforms and regulations enacted by President Franklin Roosevelt between 1933 and 1939 — came over a 140 years after his death. The programmes responded to needs for relief, reform and recovery from the Great Depression.

    This, however, isn’t the first time that Fawad has put himself in an awkward situation by presenting “alternate” facts. In May this year, he had said that the Hubble Space Telescope was sent into space by Pakistan’s aeronautics and aerospace research agency Suparco, instead of its US counterpart, NASA.

    Twitter had erupted into a volley of laughs and memes following the gaffe, as people had mercilessly mocked the minister.

  • Imran trying to save Buzdar by bringing back Shehbaz’s favourite bureaucrats: report

    Imran trying to save Buzdar by bringing back Shehbaz’s favourite bureaucrats: report

    Former Punjab chief minister (CM) Shehbaz Sharif’s rule is back in the province without him as the massive bureaucratic reshuffle, ordered directly by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, has brought back the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief’s team, contradicting the narrative of his own government against Shehbaz’s alleged corruption.

    According to The News, all key positions in the new set-up have been given to Shehbaz’s blue-eyed officers, who were responsible for development and governance during the now PML-N president’s ten-year rule in Punjab.

    Most of these officers were responsible for key projects, which are identified by PML-N and Shehbaz, suchas the Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT), Multan Metro, underpasses and other mega projects of Lahore besides the Nandipur Power Project and others. More than a dozen officers, now brought back to deliver for CM Usman Buzdar’s government, were directly working with Shehbaz at the CM Secretariat.

    However, with their fingers, crossed many in the bureaucracy wonder if Buzdar would be able to lead this team of go-getters like Shehbaz successfully did in the past.

    The new bureaucratic team being marketed as panacea for all the ills of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Punjab, is led my Major (r) Azam Suleman — the new chief secretary who has been the secretary of the most lucrative provincial department, Communication and Works (C&W), for five years under Shehbaz.

    The former Punjab CM took so much interest in development that he never appointed a C&W minister and directly interacted with the secretary. Azam was instrumental in execution of mega projects in Punjab, especially Lahore, and is reputed to be a tough no-nonsense officer and Shehbaz’s blue-eyed.

    According to reports, Shehbaz had such great liking for Azam that even after his promotion to BS-22, he was retained as the additional chief secretary (ACS) (Home) for five years — longest tenure ever. Strangely, at that time, the PTI used to blame him for the 2014 Model Town massacre.

    Bureaucrats like Nabeel Awan, Abdullah Sumbal, Nadeem Mahboob, Javed Qazi and Sajid Dahl — all reputed ace officers of the administrative services, who served Shehbaz’s immediate team — have also been given key positions in the recent reshuffle.

    Nabeel has been posted as the health and livestock secretary, Sumbal as finance, Nadeem as housing, Qazi as local government, while Dahl has been appointed as the higher education secretary.

    Similarly, a number of former principal staff officers (PSOs) like Sumair Syed, Amara Khan, Ahsan Waheed and Naseem Sadiq, who were given key portfolios by Shehbaz, have now been brought back by the PTI government to mainstream administration.

    Sadiq has been appointed as Dera Ghazi (DG) Khan commissioner, Syed as the director general (DG) of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA), Khan as the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) DG and Waheed as Sahiwal commissioner.

    Captain (r) Mahmood, who was responsible for the Nandipur Power Project and Lahore horticulture — two of Shehbaz’s favorite subjects — is now the new Rawalpindi commissioner.

    Capt (r) Saif Anjum, whom Shehbaz trusted with the Irrigation Department for three years, has been made Lahore commissioner, Momin Agha, another blue-eyed of Shehbaz and who served as his information secretary as well as the Faisalabad commissioner, has been posted as ACS (Home).

    The ec-Punjab CM’s Finance Secretaries Shaukat Ali and Hamid Yaqoob Sheikh have been placed on most important positions of Punjab ACS and Planning and Development (P&D) chairman, respectively. Abdullah Sumbal, who was appointed as Lahore commissioner by Shehbaz, is the finance secretary.

    Capt (r) Asadullah, who executed the Multan Metro project, is the new C&W secretary while Babur Tarar, who was Sahiwal commissioner, health secretary and cooperatives secretary under Shehbaz, will be a senior member of the Board of Revenue (BoR) in the new setup.

    Iftikhar Saho — another well-reputed officer — who was P&D secretary under Shahbaz for almost five years and was responsible for all development across the project, has been appointed as the principal secretary to CM Buzdar.

    A senior retired bureaucrat said that by bringing back the entire team back, the PTI government had contradicted its own mantra of corruption under Shehbaz.

    Another feature of the latest reshuffle is that many officers considered close to Buzdar or the Chaudhrys of Gujrat, have been sidelined.

  • Imran vs govt? FIR registered against student marchers despite PM expressing support

    Imran vs govt? FIR registered against student marchers despite PM expressing support

    A sedition case has been registered against organisers and participants of the recently held Students’ Solidarity March despite Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan expressing his government’s willingness to allow the restoration of student unions subject to the establishment of a “comprehensive and enforceable code of conduct”.

    “Universities groom future leaders of the country and student unions form an integral part of this grooming,” the premier tweeted Sunday.

    Referring to the student unions of the past, PM Imran said that they had become “violent battlegrounds and completely destroyed the intellectual atmosphere on campuses”.

    He, however, clarified that unions will be “restored and enabled to play their part” in grooming the future leaders of the country. The premier said that a “comprehensive and enforceable conduct” based on the “best practices in internationally renowned universities” will be developed so that their restoration can be made possible.

    The tweets came a while after reports claimed that a sedition case had been registered against participants of Friday’s march.

    According to reports, Lahore’s Civil Lines police, on behalf of the state, registered the case on sedition charges against Ammar Ali Jan, Farooq Tariq, Iqbal Lala (father of Mashal Khan, who was lynched over allegation of blasphemy in Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan), Alamgir Wazir (nephew of MNA and Pashtun Tahafuz Movement leader Ali Wazir), Mohammad Shabbir and Kamil Khan, besides 250-300 unidentified participants.

    The action flew in the face of the recent statements by several ministers and government representatives, including the premier, who supported the students.

    On Friday, the students had taken to the streets in 50 cities of the country to voice their demands, including the restoration of student unions.

    According to the FIR, complainant Sub-Inspector Mohammad Nawaz said he was on patrol when he received information that a rally of 250-300 people led by Ammar Ali Jan, Farooq Tariq, Iqbal Lala, Alamgir Wazir, Mohammad Shabbir and Kamil Khan was being taken out. He said he reached Faisal Chowk on The Mall where the protesters were forcibly blocking the road to set up a stage to deliver speeches.

    “The speakers incited the students against the state and its institutions and speeches and slogans were recorded on mobile phones and can also be checked through PPIC3 cameras,” he claimed.

    Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Zulfiqar Hameed told Dawn that one of the suspects, Alamgir Wazir, was arrested two days ago in the case. He said the case was registered on behalf of the state because the students were delivering provocative speeches and chanting slogans against the state and its institutions. He said police would arrest the other people involved in the case as well.