Author: newsdesk

  • Kashmir crisis not Muslim Ummah’s issue, UAE had told Pakistan; claims Hamid Mir

    Kashmir crisis not Muslim Ummah’s issue, UAE had told Pakistan; claims Hamid Mir

    United Arab Emirates (UAE) had said that Pakistan and India should not make the Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) crisis an issue of the Muslim Ummah as it was a dispute between two neighbouring countries, The News International reported Thursday.

    According to reports, senior journalist Hamid Mir on Wednesday quoted federal government officials as saying that UAE Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan is visiting Pakistan apparently to express solidarity with Pakistan on the IoK issue.

    However, the foreign minister, in his earlier interaction with Pakistani authorities, conveyed that Kashmir issue should not be made an issue of the Muslim Ummah as, according to him, it is a bilateral issue and should be resolved through talks between Pakistan and India.

    The report quoted Mir as saying that Pakistani leadership must convey to the world in general and the Muslim countries in particular that Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s atrocities were not limited to the troubled valley, rather he wanted to unleash a reign of terror across India to forcibly convert Muslims.

    In this context, he added, the Kashmir issue was not a dispute only between Pakistan and India.

  • Amid tensions with India, Pak to acquire 36 Dassault Mirage-V jets from Egypt

    Amid tensions with India, Pak to acquire 36 Dassault Mirage-V jets from Egypt

    Amid tensions with India over the Kashmir crisis, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is expected to soon sign a deal with Egypt for the purchase of 36 upgraded Dassault Mirage-V combat aircraft, The News International has reported.

    According to reports, the two countries have been negotiating the contract for years and now the final one may see the light of day as PAF wants these fighter jets to strengthen its existing squadron of jets.

    The 36 Mirage-V resemble India’s Mirage 2000 in terms of delta wing design and have the ability to perform night strikes with mission pods and helmet-mounted display.

    The Mirage V is a dedicated ground-attack variant of the Mirage-III, with greater space for fuel in place of avionics.

    Pakistan has been acquiring retired Mirage-III and Mirage-V from Egypt and Australia and presses the aircraft into service after upgrading them with modern Italian radars and other electronics.

  • India to offer Russia $1 billion loan for development of Far East

    India to offer Russia $1 billion loan for development of Far East

    Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on Thursday said India will “walk shoulder-to-shoulder with Russia in its development of the Far East” and announced a $1 billion line of credit for the development of the resource-rich region.

    Addressing the plenary session of the 5th Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok city of Russia, Modi said the friendship between India and Russia was not restricted to governmental interactions in capital cities, but was about people and close business relations.

    “India’s connection to the Russian Far East goes back a long way. India was the first country to open a Consulate in Vladivostok,” Indian media reports quoted Modi as saying. “For its development, India will give a line of credit worth $1 billion.”

    “My government has actively engaged East Asia as part of its ‘Act East’ policy. I firmly believe that today’s announcement will add a new dimension to the economic diplomacy of the two countries,” he added.

    The Indian premier, in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, also unveiled the “Act Far East” policy to boost India’s engagement with Russia’s Far East region. “Let us deepen the bond between India and Russia even further.”

    The development comes a day after media reports claimed that India was trying to garner Russia’s support as Pakistan attempts to challenge the Modi-led government for robbing occupied Kashmir of its autonomy.

    New Delhi had in August abrogated Article 370 of its constitution to snatch away the held valley’s special status — a move which Pakistan fears can pave way for a Muslim genocide in the disputed territory.

  • ‘Govt collected Rs644bn taxes against target of Rs580bn’

    ‘Govt collected Rs644bn taxes against target of Rs580bn’

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has succeeded in collecting Rs644 billion taxes against the envisaged target of Rs580 billion, Adviser to Prime Minister (PM) on Finance and Revenue Dr Hafeez Shaikh has said.

    Addressing a press conference, Shaikh said the government is confident to surpass the growth target of 2.4 per cent set for the current fiscal year as after gaining stability on the external front during the past year, the economy is currently moving in a positive direction.

    “There has been considerable growth in exports, which grew from $2.01 billion during first two months of last year to $2.23 billion this year, while imports have declined from $5 billion to $4.1 billion, reducing overall current account deficit of the country by 7.3 per cent.”

    PM Imran Khan’s adviser also said that the overall revenue has increased from Rs509 billion during the first two months of the last year to Rs580 billion during the current year, showing a 25 per cent growth.

  • Govt gives Zardari TV in jail, denies AC

    Govt gives Zardari TV in jail, denies AC

    The government has granted Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari the access to a television (TV) set, books, newspapers and icebox for medicine at his Adiala Jail cell in Rawalpindi, a private media outlet reported.

    However, he was denied an air-conditioner (AC) despite request because the medical board that had recently examined him at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), didn’t “recommend” it.

    The ailing former president has also been provided with medical staff to regularly monitor his health condition, including blood pressure and sugar level, in addition to a physiotherapist.

    Zardari, who is in jail for his alleged involvement in the fake accounts case, was transferred to the hospital last week after he had fallen sick.

    “Medical reports show that three arteries of Asif Zardari are blocked and he is suffering from severe spinal issues due to which he needs immediate medical attention,” his daughter Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari had told reporters at the time.

    His counsel had also moved an accountability court for A-Class jail accommodation and argued that the constitution guarantees facilities to a former president for life.

  • What’s the importance of the leaf behind D.G. ISPR?

    What’s the importance of the leaf behind D.G. ISPR?

    Military Spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor did a briefing yesterday, updating the press of Pakistan’s fight for Kashmir’s rights. He spoke about how Kashmir was Pakistan’s “jugular vein” and how Pakistan would protect it at all costs. He also warned India of any “misadventure” and said that “nuclear countries do not go to war”. During his briefing, the background was of a green leaf.

    D.G. ISPR Asif Ghafoor’s press briefing

    The leaf is a chinar tree leaf and symbolizes Kashmir. The chinar tree is largely found in Kashmir or European countries and it is largely believed that the Mughal Emperor Akbar planted chinars in the Kashmir valley.

    A large chinar tree

    1,200 saplings of chinar were planted at the same time in a ‘Char Chinar’ pattern, which is four chinar trees planted in four corners of a piece of land.

    Chinar leaf in autumn

    The Char Chinar pattern creates overarching shade so a person standing in any part of the area would have shade during the whole day.

    Chinar trees in autumn in Srinagar

    For Indians, visiting Srinagar in autumn, is an attractive holiday since the chinar leaves turn golden before they fall.

  • How to check or pay your traffic E-Challan online

    How to check or pay your traffic E-Challan online

    Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA) has launched the E-Challan system in Lahore, under the directives of the Lahore High Court (LHC).

    The system identifies the violators of the traffic rules with the help of modern Automatic Vehicle Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras, which PSCA installed across different roads of the city.

    E-Challan is an Electronic Traffic Violation Ticket system and is sent to the violators’ addresses registered against their vehicle IDs. The challan contains the details regarding how the driver violated the traffic rules with the picture of the vehicle posted on it.

    But there are many people who do not know how to check or pay their e-challans online and sometimes they are not even unaware that they have been charged for violation.

    So, in case if you are not sure that you have violated any rule, or want to check if you have been charged go through the instructions below regarding how you can check and pay your E-Challan.

    How to check E-Challan online:

    • Open the PSCA website to check your traffic violation status online.
    • On the website, two blocks will appear in front of you, one for your vehicle number and the other for your CNIC.
    • By placing the required details in the blocks you can check if you have been charged with a fine or not. You can also print the E-Challan document.

    How to pay your E-Challan:

    There are two ways through which you can pay your E-Challans.

    • The first one is to pay your challan manually, by downloading and printing the E-Challan document from the PSCA website and submitting in the National Bank of Punjab (NBP) with the required amount.
    • The second method is to pay your challan by the NBP’s ATM machines.

  • Twitter spat after Mazari ‘refuses’ to appear in Geo News show

    Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari and Geo news channels programme host Shahzeb Khanzada are exchanging responses on Twitter, right after the minister refused to come on the anchor’s show.

    The minister yesterday wrote on her Twitter account that “Shahzeb Khanzada’s man messaged me to invite me for the show, adding that, “I, unfortunately, was committed elsewhere! To then go on TV and say I refused to come is an absolute lie. Unfortunate for him to have distorted things [sic]”.

    To which the official account of Geo’s Shahzeb show “GeoASKKS” shared a screenshot of a conversation with Shireen Mazari, in which they invited her on their show and the minister refused to come.

    Shireen Mazari has now again responded to the tweet and wrote: “I specifically asked available for what and said not available for TV show – sometimes one gets requests for comment on an issue for print also”.

    “Anyhow I guess they think it will add the spice they need so I can’t stop them!”, the minister added.

  • Drugs awarded to Peshawar cops for good performance

    Drugs awarded to Peshawar cops for good performance

    The higher police officials in Peshawar have been alleged to have distributed drugs among the police constables as a gift for good performance.

    According to a recent newspaper clipping, the Peshawar police constables performed quite well over the past 6 months and managed to recover heavy amount of drugs from various places.

    So, in order to appreciate the raid team involved in recovering those drugs, the higher police officials distributed around “1-kilo drugs” (packets) to each of the raid team constables.

    However, CCPO (Capital City Police Officer) Karim Khan has directed SSP Coordination Sarfaraz Ali Shah to perform an inquiry on the matter and ordered a severe punishment for all those involved.

    Speaking on the matter SSP said, “we have visited all the areas specified in the news and have tried to gather evidence from people and police constables”, adding that we have not found any solid proof as of yet and the news seems fake.

    While talking on the morning show “Geo Pakistan” SSP Shah has requested the newspaper which published the story to provide any evidence (if they have any) on the matter and has asked them to help the authorities.

    “In case we found the news story to be fake or propaganda against the police, we will take strict action against the newspaper involved”, Shah added.