Author: newsdesk

  • PTI reappoints Fayazul Hasan Chohan as Punjab information minister

    PTI reappoints Fayazul Hasan Chohan as Punjab information minister

    After certain administrative alterations in Punjab amid much criticism from the opposition parties, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has reappointed Fayazul Hasan Chohan as the provincial information minister, Dunya News reported.

    According to the details, Chohan has been granted the additional charge besides that of provincial minister for colonies. The development comes after the previous information minister, Aslam Iqbal, excused himself from the additional charge.

    Fayaz was earlier removed as Punjab’s information minister amid intense criticism over his derogatory remarks against the Hindu community.

    Chohan, during a press conference had said, “You cow urine-drinking people, listen to me. We are Muslims and we have the flag of Hazrat Ali (RA) and Hazrat Umar (RA)’s bravery. You don’t have that flag.”

    He had further said that “idol-worshippers” shouldn’t operate under the delusion that “they are better than Pakistanis”.

  • SOS Pakistan to launch app to rescue stray animals

    SOS Pakistan to launch app to rescue stray animals

    Save Our Strays (SOS) Pakistan, an animal welfare community, is launching a mobile phone application to rescue stray animals. According to the makers of SOS Animal Rescue, this will be Pakistan’s first-ever rescue app for strays.

    The app will spot the exact location of animals in danger and provide instant help through the nearest volunteers and vets. The app is expected to launch on March 23, 2020, to end violence against stray dogs, cats, donkeys and other local breeds.

    Director Operations and PR from SOS, Mustafa Ahmed, said
    “People could not share the exact location of animals in need, especially when
    reporting from the roads, hence the rescue work would get delayed,”

    As per reports, the app will initially launch in Karachi, Badin, Bahawalpur, Lahore and Islamabad, but will soon cover other cities as well in the next phase.

    The application will only require address, nearest landmark, contact number and details of the animal in danger to provide help. The volunteers are also being trained for this purpose while CNIC and mobile number based verification system are also being presently developed.

    Ahmed shared that more than 1,500 animals, that were mostly wounded or poisoned, were rescued and around 130 animals in November alone. He hoped that more strays would be saved via this app.

  • 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.

  • Justice denied? Slain Naqeebullah Mehsud’s father passes away awaiting justice

    Slain South Waziristan youth Naqeebullah Mehsud’s father, Muhammad Khan, on Monday passed away at Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Rawalpindi after a long battle with cancer; still awaiting justice for his son.

    Khan was admitted to CMH Rawalpindi seven months ago and the body of the deceased will be sent to Waziristan later in the day.

    Khan had gathered the support of not only his son’s peers, but also political leaders, government officials and rights’ activists ever since the extra-judicial killing of his son by “encounter specialist” of the Sindh, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rao Anwar.

    On January 13 last year, Mehsud was killed in a fake encounter carried out by a police team headed by then Malir SSP Anwar in Karachi. On January 17, his body was handed over to his relatives at the Chhipa Welfare Association morgue in the metropolis.

    The fake encounter had sparked countrywide protests against extrajudicial killings in the country and to bring Anwar to justice.

  • JKT, Fawad Chaudhry attend Zainab Abbas’ valima

    JKT, Fawad Chaudhry attend Zainab Abbas’ valima

    Zainab Abbas’ wedding festivities came to a close Sunday night with a grand valima.

    Among those in attendance were PTI’S Jahangir Khan Tareen, Fawad Chaudhry, Dr Yasmin Rashid and cricketer Mohammad Amir. Zainab’s mother, Andleeb Abbas is an integral member of PTI.

    Jahangir Khan Tareen
    Fawad Chaudhry with the newly weds

    Zainab looked ethereal in a lavender outfit by Élan.

    The glowing bride being escorted by her parents

    Aren’t these two adorable?

    Zainab tied the knot with Hamza Kardar in an intimate nikkah last month. Hamza is the son of the former finance finance minister and former governor of State Bank of Pakistan, Shahid Hafeez Kardar and the grandson of the renowned cricketer Abdul Hafeez Kardar. Zainab’s other events included a mayun and a shendi.

    Nikkah
    Mayun

    VIDEO: Zainab Abbas hits a sixer as Amir bowls on her shendi

    Shendi

    Wishing the happy couple all the very best for their future.

  • Faulty product costs online retailer heavy fine

    Faulty product costs online retailer heavy fine

    A consumer court imposed heavy fines on prominent online retailer Daraz.pk for providing a faulty product to a customer.

    According to reports, consumer court judge Mukesh Kumar Talreja directed Daraz.pk to pay Rs50,000 to the claimant in compensation and also pay a fine of Rs15,000 to the government treasury account.

    The court also directed the online retailer to change the product or return the amount (Rs7,795) paid by the customer for the product and improve its services and standards as per the expectation of consumers. It further ruled that if the defendant failed to fulfill these orders within one month, he or she will be punished with imprisonment along with a heavier fine.

    The court in its order said it is undderstood that when mental torture, agony and emotional stress was made out then the court has to grant damages as compensation and therefore, the court quantified the general damages for suffering mental agony and emotional distress as Rs50,000.

    Dania Kashif filed a complaint against Daraz.pk via its managing director under Section 26 of the Sindh Consumer Protection Act, 2014. She ordered one Play-Doh DohVinci from the website of Rs7,795 which was delivered in a sealed parcel in November, but the product was dry and in bad condition and the price mentioned on the box was Rs6,730 instead of Rs7,795. The plaintiff felt severe stress and agony because of the faulty order. Before approaching the court, she had filed a complaint through the website’s helpline, but they did not entertain it.

    The defendant party denied the allegations and argued that the claim was filed beyond the legal period of 30 days and the complainant ordered the product by agreeing to terms and conditions of the website which read that the defendant was not a party to the contract with either the seller or any other third party. However, the court did not rule in their favour and slapped them with a fine.

  • 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.

  • Maiden trial of India’s ‘nuclear-capable’ missile ends in failure

    Maiden trial of India’s ‘nuclear-capable’ missile ends in failure

    The maiden night trial of India’s “nuclear-capable” Agni-III missile ended in failure on Saturday after it crashed into the sea in Odisha, according to a report published by Indian news outlet New Indian Express.

    According to the details, the missile deviated from its flight path and the mission team had to terminate it.

    “Starting from the launch to the first phase separation, everything was smooth in accordance with the mission plan but suddenly it started behaving abnormally” the publication quoted sources as saying.

    “It could possibly be due to metallurgical defects,” it added.

    The missile, which could carry both conventional and nuclear warheads weighing up to 1.5 tonnes, had already been inducted in the inventory back in 2011.

    Two other variants of the missile, Agni-I and Agni-II, have failed during both development and user trials in the past. Agni-II had failed to deliver desired result during its first night trial in 2009.

  • How much did the ‘Azadi March’ cost the government?

    How much did the ‘Azadi March’ cost the government?

    Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s ‘Azadi March’ which took place from October 31 to November 13 cost the government over Rs240 million, Rs248 million to be exact.

    According to a report in Dawn, this amount is payable to contractors/vendors whose services were hired for security and other arrangements which included lodging, meal and transportation of police called from other districts.

    As many as 5,000 from the capital police along with 3,000 Frontier Constabulary, 1,500 Punjab Constabulary, 2,000 from KP police and 500 from Kashmir and railway police were deployed in Islamabad during the sit-in. 550 containers were also arranged to block roads as a part of security measures and 105 vehicles, including 88 buses, were used to transport the security personnel.

    The rent of a 40-foot container was Rs20,000 a day and Rs14,000 for a 20-foot container. On the other hand, the rent of a bus was Rs25,000 per day and Rs15,000 of a wagon/truck. The fuel for these vehicles cost the police Rs 20 million.

    The capital police also purchased anti-riot gears to deal with confrontations, though none took place in the 13-day sit-in.

    Other expenses included the rent of nine buildings hired for the force requisitioned from other provinces.

    Meanwhile, Rs695.6 million were spent during PTI and PAT’s dharna in 2014.

  • CJP says Supreme Court will soon get female judges

    Chief Justice Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa has revealed that the judiciary is working towards inducting female judges in the Supreme Court.

    Addressing the concluding session of Women Judges Conference in Lahore, Justice Khosa said that more than 300 female judges are working in the district courts of Pakistan and that they are doing a brilliant job.

    “Our women judges have proven their abilities through their verdicts and by the way they have handled complex cases,” said Justice Khosa, adding, “We have as many as 300 women judges in district courts and we hope to soon have at least one or two in the Supreme Court. I had the opportunity to propose two names and they are being actively considered.”

    Justice Khosa said that the top court is working on women’s rights and with time, the differences between male and female judges will be eliminated, adding that women must be empowered for the society to develop.

    Explaining that the Constitution ensures equal rights and treatment to all citizens including minorities, Justice Khosa said that they are encouraging women to enter the judiciary.

    Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Shamim Khan, while addressing the conference, said that “the judiciary plays an important role in structuring and restructuring of the society.”

    Justice Shamim said that gender-based violence courts were being established in Punjab to protect the rights of women and children.