The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has retired record foreign loans worth $9.5 billion during the current fiscal year, which according to Minister of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar, had never been done by any government in a single year.
On point of personal explanation in the National Assembly, Azhar said that during the first year of PTI government, external debts increased by $2.7 billion whereas, in the last year of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government, foreign loans surged by over $7 billion.
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حکومت پاکستان نے اس سال ریکارڈ 9.5 ارب ڈالر قرض واپس کیا یے – حماد اظہر https://t.co/NhgurEZ3XS
Responding to the opposition’s claim of obtaining domestic loans worth Rs7,000 billion or Rs 10,000 billion during PTI’s first year in power, he further said the figures were highly exaggerated.
The minister added that previous governments were responsible for the current economic situation of the country, while the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan-led government was taking the economy towards stability.
Soon after Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said the British government has agreed to extradite Ishaq Dar, it was reported that the former finance minister had approached Home Office in London “to apply for political asylum”.
Dar, 69, is currently in London, “undergoing medical treatment”. He is absconding from several cases in Pakistan since 2017 and has been declared a proclaimed offender by the courts.
He is facing charges of accumulating assets beyond known sources of income.
With the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government continuing to claim Dar is only evading the cases against him since he has been spotted walking upright on the streets of London time and again, PM Imran Khan’s special assistant on Tuesday said the former finance minister “will be brought back soon”.
A day later, a private media outlet claimed that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader had reached the Home Office in London for a second interview with regard to political asylum in the United Kingdom (UK).
Rejecting the reports, a close aide of Dar told The Current that he had visited the UK Home Office “only to inform them about the fabricated reports in the name of a recently-signed extradition agreement between the two countries”.
The source’s claim was validated when British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the United Kingdom (UK) would not sign any extradition treaty that could be used for “politically-motivated” cases.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mahmood Qureshi at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Hunt confirmed the two had discussed the issue of an extradition treaty between Pakistan and the UK.
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“Let me say it straightforward. The UK will never sign any treaty allowing for politically motivated extradition,” said the British official to which Qureshi added that Pakistan did not intend to use the treaty against political rivals.
Senior journalist Hamid Mir has trolled Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda for claiming that “anti-Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)” media houses had started liking the government after financial benefits.
Speaking on Mir’s show, Vawda on Tuesday said that media outlets, known for their alleged affiliation with opposition parties, were now highlighting achievements of the PTI government as they had been “provided with ease of doing business”.
“It wasn’t our job, but we fought against lay-offs in the media industry. We made doing businesses easy by giving them [media houses] budgets,” he said.
When Mir asked if he meant the government had paid media houses any money, Vawda agreed, saying the PTI had “paid them against government advertisements”.
It wasn’t later that both Mir and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khurram Dastgir Khan broke into laughter.
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Senior journalists have time and again expressed concerns over the state of Pakistani media ever since the PTI government took reins of the country.
With cuts in government advertisements, a shakeout has been triggered and hundreds of thousands of media workers have gone jobless. Some journalists have also accused the PTI of using “stoppage of government ads to media as a weapon”.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government on Tuesday announced its first federal budget for the fiscal year 2019-20, which received mixed reactions from people.
It was presented by Federal Minister for Revenue Hammad Azhar, who delivered his speech while opposition members protested against Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and his government.
Amid all the confusion over the increase in prices of different products, which may follow the budget, here is a list of stuff The Current suggests you stock up on before an inflation bomb is dropped.
Rooh Afza
That was exactly our reaction. But, a new health tax has been proposed on sugary drinks, which will make it costlier to buy sharbat. It’s not just that though…
Soft Drinks
You heard that right. Those little soft drink breaks during summers will be costing you more now as the health tax will also be jacking up soda prices. The excise tax on soft drinks has been increased from 11.25 per cent to 13 per cent, which is not too much, but will ultimately affect you.
The good part? The money will reportedly be used to provide free medical treatment to people using Sehat Cards that offer treatment up to Rs720,000 from a private or government hospital.
Cooking Oil/Ghee
Branded cooking oil and ghee prices will also be rising as a 17 per cent sales tax will be imposed. You must be thinking that it doesn’t really affect you much, but you never know how it may or may not affect food prices.
The good news, however, remains no increase in General Sales Tax (GST) in case you’re planning to dine out.
Sugar
The price of sugar is expected to increase by Rs3.60/kg since the government is unhappy with the tax collection from the sector. The new budget recommends increasing sales tax on sugar from 8 per cent to 17 per cent.
We don’t endorse the next thing you need to stock up on, but let’s be honest, we know a lot of people who smoke.
Cigarettes
The budget has also recommended a federal excise duty of Rs5,200 on every 10,000 cigarettes be imposed, which means every pack of 20 cigarettes you buy will cost you at least Rs10 more.
Just so you know, tobacco consumption kills nearly 160,000 Pakistanis every year, and a lot of people are supporting the move.
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry, who was sacked by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan as the information minister in April, has broken silence on the alleged rift widening within the government.
“At times, some important decisions are taken and we don’t even know. I still believe that we have some political weaknesses in decision-making,” he said during an interview to a private media outlet.
Earlier, sources had informed The Current that tensions are about to reach the boiling point within the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as a cold war continues between elected and non-elected people in the government.
Fawad too was replaced by non-elected Firdous Ashiq Awan, who was handed the reins of the Information Ministry in the capacity of special assistant to the PM (SAPM) on information and broadcasting.
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The former information minister, however, wasn’t the only one to be sacked as part of the major cabinet reshuffle. The then finance minister Asad Umar was also replaced by another non-elected member, SAPM for Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.
Hinting at the war going on within the ruling party, Fawad said that “non-elected people had the power to change portfolios of ministers”.
“As I have maintained before, there were too many people trying to manage it [Information Ministry],” he said and added that one can’t do much when so many people are involved.
“Your real strength is the parliament and the elected people, and you cannot leave them,” Fawad said. “You’re not going to redo the party and hand it over to those who have not even been a councillor.”
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s nephew and reporter of a private media outlet have escaped in Lahore a gun attack “by the goons of a minister of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)”.
As per the details, lawyer Hassaan Khan Niazi and journalist Rai Saqib Kharral were attacked in the Gullo Kot area of the provincial capital, where Darul Hikmat (DuH), a Christian education centre, has been illegally occupied by land mafia.
Today 4 fires were fired at me and the neo tv anchor @RaisaqibKharal – and Punjab human rights provisional minister and his son in law Nauraiz were behind the firing. They are involved in land grabbing of charity school land. @SHABAZGIL it’s shame that we(PTI) have such ministers
“At least four shots were fired at us as we reached the charity school to meet the person in charge,” Hassaan Khan told The Current, alleging that the attackers are related to a Punjab minister.
We have filed a complaint for registration of FIR in the nishter colony thana lahore and FIR has not been lodged. @Lahorepoliceops@ICT_Police is this the Naya Pakistan we were promised. You need act. No minister is above the law https://t.co/lOpiDhvyzd
“Norez, one of the people responsible for the attack, is a provincial minister’s son-in-law,” he said further.
CM TAKES NOTICE:
Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar has taken notice of the incident and illegal occupation of the school.
According to a private media outlet, CM Inspection Team Chairman Malik Asad Khokhar has sought a report from the Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO).
Breaking: CM Punjab takes notice of the qabza of charity school in yuhanabad by Nauraiz with help of PTI human rights minister. There can’t be two laws. Thank you CM Punjab And CM complaint Cell pic.twitter.com/9J2iCxgDJ9
Owned by the Darul Hikmat Trust, the community school was established in 1986 and houses hostels for both boys and girl, besides multiple lawns as well as a football ground.
Relative of PTI human rights minister directly involved in turning this trust property into housing scheme in Christian community area. His people fired 4 gun shots at us today. This used to football ground. No action taken. 1500 students used to study. Within 2 years 70 Left pic.twitter.com/PsN8CVQK3B
The administrative affairs of the institute are now being run by the minister’s relatives.
Meanwhile, several deserving students from nearby localities who were studying at the institution have started leaving the school amid the catastrophic situation that’s prevailing there.
No official version of the incident had been released by the time this report was filed.
An image has been shared multiple times on social media alongside the claim it shows Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi dining with his Pakistani counterpart, Imran Khan.
The claim is false as PM Imran’s photo has been doctored to make it appear as though Modi is sitting beside him, reported AFP Fact Check, a blog that focuses on fact-checking in response to the multiplication of disinformation online.
The post’s Hindi language caption translates to English as:
“The one with the green cap looks a little familiar.”
Meanwhile, another picture breaking the internet showed Indian National Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Modi’s place.
The Hindi language caption of that image translates to
English as: “Who is this eating chicken biryani beside Miya Imran? Now the
people will judge. This is Pappu’s condition.”
Miya is an honorific for Muslim males, while Rahul Gandhi is
often referred to as “Pappu” – which means “fool” or
“simpleton” in Hindi – by supporters of the ruling Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP).
A reverse image search on Google found the image was doctored from this photo, which was posted on Twitter on July 5, 2015. The photo shows PM Imran dining with his then-wife Reham Khan.
Modi’s BJP has been accusing the Congress of playing for Pakistan.
It has even claimed that Islamabad “wants to fix the polling results in favour
of Congress”.
Things, however, took an unexpected turn after PM Imran said
there was better chance of peace between the neighbouring countries if
hardliner BJP was elected to power.
The statement was not very well received by a majority of
people right before the general polls in world’s largest democracy. Congress said
Pakistan had “now officially allied” with Modi and voting for him was “a vote
for Imran Khan”.
Seeking votes in national defence’s name and aggression towards Pakistan ahead of elections is not new to Indian politicians. The outcome of the 2019 general polls will also give a verdict on Modi’s hyper-Hindu nationalism that raised his nationalist BJP to power in 2014.
A resolution seeking ban on celebrities hosting Ramzan transmissions has been accepted by the Punjab Assembly.
The resolution, tabled by a Pakistan Rahe Haq Party lawmaker, states the “unfortunate practice afflicts the spirits of millions of Muslims every year”.
While the internet is divided over the proposed ban, many believe the Punjab Assembly is only keeping up with its tradition of discussing resolutions that “do not even affect the people”.
Here’s a list of some other interesting provincial house resolutions that don’t really make much sense.
SUMMONING GOOGLE CEO:
A resolution filed in December 2018 called for summoning Google Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai for showing Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s photo under “bhikari” (beggar) search.
Resolution submitted in Punjab assembly to summon Google CEO and ask him to explain why search for 'bhikari' shows PM Imran Khan's photo. pic.twitter.com/PTlBP49G3l
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmakers in April submitted a resolution calling for the reinstatement of Ishaq Dar as minister of finance “on contract”.
The resolution, reportedly tabled by PML-N MPA Hina Pervez Butt, stated that then Finance Minister Asad Umar was “incompetent to resolve economic issues of the country” and urged the government to accept the “golden chance”.
It is also mentioned that Dar had recovered the value of Pakistani Rupee (PKR) from Rs111 to Rs98 against the United States Dollar (USD) during the tenure of the PML-N.
ALEEMA KHAN’S ‘SEWING MACHINES’ FOR WOMEN:
Another resolution submitted in January this year called on the government to “benefit from Aleema Khan’s advice” and provide women across the country with sewing machines.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s sister Aleema, who is named as the owner of properties in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), had claimed that she bought properties from the money she earned through sewing machines.
The resolution was tabled by PML-N lawmaker Azma Bokhari.
Disgruntled former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA and PTI-Gulalai (PTI-G) Chairperson Ayesha Gulalai has advised Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari “to merge his small party with PTI-G”.
“I would suggest you merge your small party [PPP], which is now limited to Sindh, with PTI-G,” she said in a video message making rounds on the internet.
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قسمے۔۔۔ اس سے برے حالات کیا ہو سکتے ہیں پیپلز پارٹی کے؟؟؟ عائشہ گلالئی نے بلاول کو بولا ہے کہ وہ اپنی چھوٹی سی پارٹی کو ضم کر دیں پی ٹی آئی گلالئی میں۔۔۔۔ pic.twitter.com/gApJFVTRah
After Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s Germany-Japan statement, a Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) lawmaker, in yet another incident of slip of tongue, has chanted “Go Nawaz Go”.
In a video making rounds over the internet, PML-N MPA Uzma Bukhari can be seen protesting against the government outside Punjab Assembly.
Raising slogans, she accidentally chants “Go Nawaz Go” instead of “Go Imran Go”. When she realises her mistake, Uzma stops quickly.
According to reports, the leader of opposition in Punjab Assembly, Hamza Shehbaz, was also present during the protest. He, however, did not react to the blunder.
