Author: newsdesk

  • Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s wife awarded Rs35 million penalty by FBR

    Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s wife awarded Rs35 million penalty by FBR

    The wife of Justice Qazi Faez Isa has been stated to have a tax liability of Rs35 million on account of her foreign assets and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has slapped a penalty on her against the same amount.

    According to reports, this was revealed in 164-page order issued by Inland Revenue and International Taxes Zone Commissioner Zulfiqar Ahmed on September 14.

    While the decision may have bearing on Justice Isa’s future as a Supreme Court (SC) judge in line to become the chief justice of Pakistan, his wife Sarina Isa has accused the FBR as well as the federal government of mala fide abuse and announced she will challenge the decision at a higher forum.

    In June this year, a 10-judge SC bench had suppressed a presidential reference that had accused Justice Isa of misconduct based on non-disclosure of his family’s offshore properties in his wealth statement.

    However, the bench had also directed the FBR to investigate Isa’s familial assets abroad and submit a report to Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), which is the constitutional forum with the authority to hold a superior court judge accountable.

    Sarina, in a written statement, has cast doubt on the order and went on to accuse FBR official Zulfiqar Ahmed of creating “artificial tax liability of over Rs35 million” against her.

    “I don’t even know if he wrote the order himself,” she added.

    Under the apex court’s June 19 split order, Sarina may use all legal options against the FBR order.

    Sarina went on to reject the FBR official’s referring to her alleged refusal to deliver the FBR notice, citing that her father had passed away on that day.

    In the statement, she claimed that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan was leading a team aiming to victimise her husband and his family in a bid to remove Justice Isa from his position.

  • Is Nutella Halal?

    Is Nutella Halal?

    Nutella has caused a storm this week after the brand’s US Twitter account incorrectly said the product was not halal.

    The claim was made after a Manchester-based Twitter user asked the company if the product is halal, to which Nutella responded, “No, they are not halal”.

    Muslim customers were not happy with the reply. Following the tweet, Muslims all over the world started questioning the brand where are the forbidden ingredients.

    https://twitter.com/nafology_/status/1305338092140867585?s=20

    The brand’s Twitter account later clarified its original post, telling users “All Nutella sold worldwide is suitable for Halal consumption”.

    The brand added, “We apologise for the mistake made in our earlier tweet.”

  • PTV accused of ‘insulting’ veteran actor Rashid Mahmood

    PTV accused of ‘insulting’ veteran actor Rashid Mahmood

    Pakistan Television (PTV) has been accused of ‘humiliating’ veteran actor Rashid Mahmood by giving him a cheque of Rs 620 of which Rs 500 is the Pride of Performance fees, leaving him with only Rs 120. The baffled actor took to social media to express his confusion and disappointment over the matter, saying “What are the criteria of paying a Pride of Performance winner in this country and who spent 50 years of [his] life in PTV.”

    In a video message, Mahmood shared how he was invited to recite a marsiya two years ago in Muharram.

    “I hadn’t really received any work opportunities from PTV in the past two years. During Muharram, Pakistan Television Lahore had commissioned me to recite Mir Anees’s marsiya. I recorded it and it aired on the 9th and 10th Muharram multiple times. After two years, I received a cheque of only Rs 620,” he said, referring to the compensation as an ‘insult’.

    “In this Naya Pakistan, will my mother institute insult me and give me this sort of attitude? People whose worth in the showbiz industry is questionable take Rs 1.5 to 2.5 million. Today I announce that I will never work for PTV,” he lamented.

    Following Mahmood’s tweet, several celebrities including Ali Zafar, Shamoon Abbasi and Omair Rana extended their support to the senior actor and expressed their disappointment over the state-owned channel.

    Read more – Shaan is disappointed with PTV for airing ‘Diriliş: Ertuğrul’

    PTV management later apologised to Mahmood and clarified that the cheque was “mistakenly issued in his name”.

    However, PTV then issued a new cheque to the veteran actor which was worth Rs 9600 only. Posting a picture of the new cheque, Mahmood said that he will not work with PTV in the future and will not be cashing the cheques either.

    “I [have] framed the decorated [the cheques] in my drawing room,” said Mahmood.

    Meanwhile, when Minister for Information Shibli Faraz was asked to share the government’s stance on the matter, Faraz said he immediately reached out to PTV MD when he saw the tweet and was assured that the matter has been dealt with.

    VJ and TV presenter Sophiya Anjum also shared her experience of not getting her dues from PTV, commenting that the channel lacks basic deceny.

  • Marwah rape case: Five-year-old assaulted even after death

    Marwah rape case: Five-year-old assaulted even after death

    The two men who confessed to raping a minor girl earlier this month in Karachi continued the sexual assault even after the five-year-old was dead.

    The child’s burnt body was found from a garbage dump two days after she was reported missing. The girl had gone to buy some sweets from a neighbourhood shop in the Old Sabzi Mandi area when she was kidnapped.

    Officials investigating the rape and murder case said the arrested suspects had done this heinous crime on the roof of a house, adding that they have confessed to their crimes.

    “This is not just a rape case but a gang-rape case,” a police officer familiar with the investigation said, adding that the fingerprints of both suspects had also matched.

    The two prime suspects, Faiz and Abdullah, lived in the same area where the girl’s house is located. While Faiz is a tailor by profession, Abdullah is a garbage collector of Afghan origin. Abdullah has also been reportedly deported from the UK after seven years. Faiz was the one who first kidnapped the child but both men had raped her.

    Faiz has been involved in the same crime before and lived alone a few houses away from the child’s residence in the same street. Abdullah, on the other hand, lived on a footpath in the area. Faiz had revealed the name of his accomplice after he was taken into custody.

    Faiz informed police that they had kidnapped the minor girl and brought her to his house, before raping her one by one, during which she died. He also confessed that the two had continued raping the child even after she died before wrapping her body in a waistcoat and stuffing it in a gunny bag to dump at the garbage site at Milk Plant plot in the PIB Colony police station’s jurisdiction.

    While both had confessed to the crime on Thursday, officials said they now had the fingerprint report that pointed towards Faiz and Abdullah’s involvement in the gang-rape and murder. However, a DNA report was yet to be released.

    One of the investigators in the Esa Nagri case said Faiz’s house is located across the girl’s.

    “The piece of cloth wrapped around [her] body was taken from Faiz’s shop,” the official said.

  • Motorway gang-rape: Lahore CCPO could be arrested

    Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Umer Sheikh, who recently made headlines for his controversial statements regarding survivor of the Lahore-Sialkot motorway gang-rape victim, can be arrested if he continues to ignore the summons from the upper house of the parliament.

    As per the details, Senate Committee on Human Rights has dismayed over the absence of Lahore top cop who had been directed by the body to appear in person during its Wednesday meeting. Other than not appearing before the human rights body of the upper house, Sheikh did not notify any reason either.

    Irked over the cop’s absence, the committee chairperson, Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, has said that it is unacceptable.

    While the committee has reportedly decided to submit a privilege motion against the CCPO and issued summons to ensure the officer’s presence at its next hearing, Khokhar has also hinted at the possibility of arresting the cop in case of continued absence.

    Speaking to senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir, Khokhar said that the committee “will issue CCPO’s arrest warrants” if needs be.

    “Despite public outrage, the CCPO hasn’t had the courtesy to appear before public representatives. If he doesn’t appear, we will have no other option than to issue his warrants,” he said, adding that all committees of the parliament can do so owing to the powers vested in them under the constitution.

  • How govt outnumbered opposition for passage of FATF-related bills during joint session

    How govt outnumbered opposition for passage of FATF-related bills during joint session

    Opposition absentees outnumbered their counterparts on the treasury benches during the joint sitting of parliament on Wednesday, which passed three bills related to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), official records revealed Thursday.

    According to The Express Tribune, the attendance record released by the National Assembly Secretariat showed that more than two dozen opposition lawmakers did not turn up for the joint sitting, including 13 from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and 11 from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

    From the treasury side, those conspicuous for their absence were Asim Nazir, Amir Liaquat Hussain, Ahmed Hussain Dehar and Abdul Majeed Khan of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and Chaudhry Moonis Elahi of the Pakistan Muslim League.

    In the parliamentary session, 317 members of National Assembly, out of the Lower House’s current strength of 340, were present. From the Upper House of parliament, which currently has 103 members, around 14 opposition senators were absent.

    The prominent absentees included former president Asif Zardari, who did not attend because of illness and Syed Khurshid Shah, who is in the custody of the National Accountability Bureau. Besides these two top PPP lawmakers, Sardar Akhtar Mengal of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), was also absent.

    The list also includes Amir Haider Hoti of the Awami National Party (ANP), Ali Wazir, a lawmaker from the former tribal areas, Afrin Khan of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), PML-N’s Afzal Khokhar, Ahmad Raza Maneka, Ehsanul Haq Bajwa and Riaz Pirzada and the PPP’s Makhdoom Jamiluz Zaman, Amir Magsi, Khalid Loond, Roshan Junejo and Ghulam Ali Talpur.

    According to the attendance record, the senators who skipped Wednesday’s joint sitting were PML-N senators Kulsoom Parveen, Chaudhry Tanveer, Shamim Afridi, Raheela Magsi, Saleem Zia, Dilawar Khan, Yaqub Nasir and Najma Hameed.

    Other absentee senators were Talha Mahmood and Ataur Rehman of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Rubina Khalid of the PPP, Sitara Ayaz of the ANP, Ashok Kumar of the National Party (NP) and Tahir Bizenjo and Shafiq Tareen of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP).

    PASSAGE OF FATF BILLS:

    Earlier, the government on Wednesday managed to pass three crucial FATF-related laws in a joint session of the parliament that was marred by the opposition’s protests.

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan also attended the joint session which was chaired by National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser. Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and others, including senators Sirajul Haq, Mushtaq Ghani and Raza Rabbani among others were also in attendance.

    After walking out in protest, opposition leaders held a joint press conference and criticised the government over the passage of FATF-related bills.

    Opposition leader Shehbaz termed today as a “black day in the history of democracy”. He said that the government “crossed red lines” today and added that “until now, the opposition cooperated with the government for the sake of Pakistan”.

    The PML-N president also said that the NA speaker had “disappointed everyone”.

    PPP chief Bilawal also lashed out at the government, saying that the vote count could have been conducted again but the treasury members were “scared of being exposed”.

    “The opposition only has one option remaining and that is [to move] a no-confidence [motion],” said Bilawal.

    Both Shehbaz and Bilawal told reporters that the opposition will come up with a strategy in the multi-party conference.

  • Punjab CM Usman Buzdar served food with expired masala at inauguration ceremony

    Punjab CM Usman Buzdar served food with expired masala at inauguration ceremony

    Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Sardar Usman Buzdar, at a recent gathering, was served food with expired masala, leading to action against the caterer, local media reported Friday.

    According to reports, the incident took place in Tibba Sultanpur town of Vehari where Buzdar, as well as several others, had arrived for the inauguration of a building of Danish School.

    Besides the provincial chief executive, among others served food with expired ground spices were Punjab parliamentarians, including Education Minister Murad Raas and Transport Minister Jahanzeb Khan Khichi; Multan Commissioner Javed Akhtar Mehmood, Vehari Deputy Commissioner Capt (r) Waqas Rasheed and journalists.

    While the incident has raised a question mark on the efficiency of the Punjab Food Authority (PFA), action is reportedly being taken against the caterer and his restaurant without any names being revealed.

    Earlier, speaking to the media, CM Buzdar had said that Danish School is a state of the art institution which has been built at a huge cost.

    “With the establishment of the school, the children of Vehari and nearby districts will be able to seek quality education,” he had said, announcing the construction of new Danish Schools in Bhakkar and Taunsa as well.

    He announced Honihaar Punjab Programme to encourage good performing students and said students will be encouraged to excel in academic, sports, fine arts, science and technology fields.

  • VIDEO: Police arrest TikToker for risking his life for TikTok video

    A boy who got hit by a train while recording a TikTok video in Abbottabad has been arrested. Umar Hayat was shooting a video of himself near the railway tracks of the Haripur station.

    In the video, Hayat can be seen posing beside the railway tracks while one of his friends was filming him. It looked like he misjudged the distance between him and the train and was hit by one of its handles on the back of his head. 

    Read more – TikTok reunites man with family after more than a year

    The boy survived and was later arrested by the police.

    According to the details, a case under Section 325 (attempt to commit suicide) of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 122A1 of the Railways Act, 1980 has been registered against him.

  • Prime suspect of motorway rape case escapes police again; this time after pushing cops away

    Prime suspect of motorway rape case escapes police again; this time after pushing cops away

    The prime suspect of the motorway gang-rape case has once again managed to avoid arrest after dodging the cops, this time in Nankana Sahib, The Current has learnt.

    “Abid Ali was visiting his sister-in-law in Nankana Sahib on Thursday afternoon when local authorities received information about his whereabouts and cordoned off the area,” police sources said, adding that suspect Abid Ali, however, managed to escape.

    According to Dunya News, this was the fourth occasion within the past 10 days when Abid managed to escape.

    “He was present at a park with his sister-in-law, and despite intel, the police responded after a delay of at least 30 minutes. When they tried to nab him, he pushed the cops and fled,” sources said.

    Earlier on Wednesday, Abid managed to avoid being arrested when a heavy contingent of police and other law enforcement agencies raided Raja Jang area of Kasur.

    According to reports, police had received information about Abid’s arrival but he disappeared into nearby fields amid suspicion over heavy cop presence.

    The incident was followed by a five-hour search operation in vain and the arrest of five of Abid’s relatives from Kasur for interrogation.

    Meanwhile, Abid’s ID card has been blocked to keep him from fleeing abroad.

    The statement of the gang-rape survivor, on the other hand, has also not yet been recorded.

    THE INCIDENT:

    A woman, along with her three children, was driving to Gujranwala in her car when she was forced to stop at the Gujjarpura section of the Lahore-Sialkot motorway after running out of fuel at around 1:30 am last week.

    She immediately called a relative and sent him her location. He asked her to also dial the Motorway Police helpline 130 but she was reportedly refused help.

    In the meantime, two robbers approached the car, broke the window and took the woman and her children to nearby bushes where they raped her repeatedly in front of the children. They also snatched her purse that had cash around Rs100,000, one bracelet, car registration and three ATM cards.

    READ: ‘We took her kids to the bushes to make her follow us,’ says man who gang-raped mother of three

    The Gujjarpura police have registered a case, while Motorway Police spokesperson said they had not been able to take action as the incident did not occur in the limits of Motorway Police.

    Amid a strong reaction by the public and countrywide protests, at least one of the two culprits has surrendered. Abid is the arrested individual’s co-accused.

  • Intl Equal Pay Day: Women earn 84% of what men earn

    Intl Equal Pay Day: Women earn 84% of what men earn

    International Equal Pay Day is being observed for the first time this September 18 under an initiative by the UN. According to the UN, the day aims to highlight the importance of achieving equal pay for work of equal value.

    While, a paycheck may bring a sense of relief or joy, it can also represent inequalities between men and women at the workplace.

    According to UN Women Pakistan, “Globally, the gender pay gap stands at 16% meaning women workers earn an average of 84 percent of what men earn. For women of colour, immigrant women, and women with children, the difference is even greater.”

    These differences in pay add up and have real, daily negative consequences for women and their families.

    Equal pay means that all workers have the right to receive equal payment for work of equal value. While the concept is straightforward, what equal pay actually entails and how it’s applied in practice has proven to be difficult.

    Work of equal value can mean a job that is similar, as well as a job that is not the same but is of equal value. This distinction is important because women’s and men’s work sometimes may involve different types of qualifications, skills, responsibilities, or working conditions, yet be of equal value, and, therefore, merit equal pay.

    Gender pay gap estimates can vary significantly across regions and even within countries. Higher-income countries tend to have lower levels of wage inequality compared to low and middle-income countries.