Category: National

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  • Senior journalist accuses close aide of PM of disrupting Pak-Qatar ties; Twitter is guessing who…

    Senior journalist accuses close aide of PM of disrupting Pak-Qatar ties; Twitter is guessing who…

    Senior journalist Arif Hameed Bhatti has accused a close aide of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan of disrupting Pakistan-Qatar business ties.

    Speaking during a talk show on Saturday, Bhatti claimed that a cabinet member, who is also an advisor of the premier, visited Qatar and snubbed the government by asking to start personal business ties.

    He went on to claim that the issue was also discussed in the recently-held cabinet meeting.

    When the host of the current affairs programme, Paras Jahanzaib, asked Bhatti to name the advisor who visited Qatar and told the authorities to end business ties with the Pakistan government, Hameed seemed reluctant to answer, but Twitterati have not been holding back their guesses.

    What do they owe their guesses to? Well, this clip from the show…

    WATCH VIDEO:

    What do you think of the claims? Let The Current know in the comments below…

  • Osama bin Laden funded Nawaz govt in 1990s, says ex-envoy

    Osama bin Laden funded Nawaz govt in 1990s, says ex-envoy

    The government of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was supported and funded by global terrorist Osama bin Laden at some point during the 1990s, said Pakistan’s former envoy to the United States Abida Hussain.

    In an interview with Samaa on Saturday, the former ambassador said that the claims that OBL supported Nawaz are true. She, however, added that the story of Nawaz-OBL relationship is a “complicated one”.

    Abida Hussain also talked about Pakistan’s nuclear programme, saying Nawaz Sharif was not aware of the developments regarding the project due to an unfriendly relationship with then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan.

    She said that the nuclear programme was completed in 1992 and not 1983, adding that Pakistan was under a lot of pressure from US envoys and lawmakers to roll back the programme.

    Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda chief who was killed by the US special forces in a midnight raid in Abbottabad in May 2011, was the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks that left over 3,000 people dead. These attacks resulted in the US invasion of Afghanistan — a 20-year-long conflict that has claimed countless lives.

    Bin Laden made headlines last year when PM Imran Khan called him a “shaheed” during a National Assembly session.

    https://twitter.com/ventdeInde/status/1276144510121148417

    “Pakistanis were deeply embarrassed when Americans killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. Shaheed kar diya [was martyred]. But what happened after that? The entire world hurled abuses at us. Our ally [the US] entered our country and killed someone without even telling us. It was a big humiliation,” he said before going on to describe the drone attacks as the second set of incidents that embarrassed the country.

  • VIDEO: Robbers steal 12kgs of ‘Sohan Halwa’ after finding cash insufficient

    Robbers in Multan robbed a shop renowned for its Sohan Halwa. What made this loot unique is that the robbers ran off with 12 kilograms of Sohan Halwa after they felt the cash to be inadequate.

    CCTV footage of the incident widely circulated on social media shows two robbers snatching valuables and cash from the shop manager at gunpoint. Another man was spotted waiting on the bike while the crime was being committed.

    When the robbers failed to find sufficient amount of valuables, they asked the shop owners to pack sohan halwa for them.

    The two reportedly took 12 kilograms of halwa with them.

  • ICC falls in love with ‘picturesque’ Gwadar stadium

    The scenic cricket stadium in the port city of Gwadar has also caught the eye of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

    In a tweet, the ICC shared photo of the cricket stadium, located in Balochistan, asking people if they have seen “a more picturesque sports venue”.

    The stadium was inaugurated by the chief minister of Balochistan in November last year. “The government is planning to extend the newly-built stadium in Gwadar by establishing a cricket ground meeting international standards,” Jam Kamal had said on the occasion.

    Fakhr-e-Alam, an actor and TV host, also uploaded a video of the stadium on his Twitter handle, calling it as the “most beautiful cricket ground” he had ever seen. 

    In a short video clip, Alam asked leagues to come out and play cricket in the Gwadar cricket ground. “To all #cricket playing friends everywhere in the world….come visit us…come play cricket with us here in Gawadar cricket ground….it’s the most beautiful cricket ground I have ever seen……,” he tweeted. 

    The stadium is located in Gwadar that holds prime importance for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project. However, due to the security reasons, the provincial government had decided to fence the city that was criticised by all quarters and subsequently halted.

  • KP govt offers job to Pakistan’s ‘Charlie Chaplin’

    KP govt offers job to Pakistan’s ‘Charlie Chaplin’

    The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has announced that it will offer legendary comic actor Charlie Chaplin’s Pakistani doppelgänger Usman Khan a job to encourage talent in the province.

    According to details, KP Minister for Labour and Culture Shaukat Yousafzai invited Khan to his home and offered him a job.

    Talking to the media, Yousafzai said the provincial government will offer Khan a suitable job and ensured that they will support him at every level. The minister added that he had forwarded Khan’s videos to the chief minister.

    Khan thanked the minister and the provincial government for the appreciation and job offer.

    Earlier, videos of ‘Peshawar’s Charlie Chaplin‘ went viral on social media due to his comic expressions and style. His objective was to bring smiles to people’s faces amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The stand-up comedian wears Chaplin’s trademark oversized shoes and baggy pants, and holds a cane and black bowler hat as he performs across the city.

  • If you have questions, PM is just one call away

    In a first, Prime Minister Imran Khan has decided to answer the questions of the public via telephone on Monday.

    According to a Twitter post by the Prime Minister’s Office: “Talk directly to Prime Minister Imran Khan on telephone. […] Your questions, the prime minister’s answers.”

    People Members of the public can dial this number, 051-9210809, to speak to the prime minister, starting 4pm.

    This will be the first time that the PM will available to the public to answer its questions. Earlier, he had launched the Pakistan Citizen Portal.

    “It is an integrated citizens grievance redressal system connecting all government organisations both at federal and provincial levels. The App will serve as a complementary channel between citizen and government.”

    After coming to power, the PM had also promised to answer questions of parliamentarians during Prime Minister’s Question Hour. “Twice every month I will answer to the people during the question-answer session in the assembly,” he said at the time. But the promise never materialised.

  • Mention ‘sewing machines’ of PM’s sister, Marriyum spotted telling PML-N lawmaker

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Marriyum Aurangzeb is facing criticism from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) spokesperson for goading PML-N leader Afzal Khokhar into targeting PM Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, during his speech on the floor of the National Assembly.

    PM’s focal person on digital media, Dr Arslan Khalid shared a video on his Twitter wherein Marriyum, who was also overheard in the Khokhar’s mic, can be seen asking Khokhar to mention Aleema Khan over her alleged corrupt practices.

    “I did not use government funds to gift sewing machines to my sisters,” he said referring to Imran Khan. His remarks were cheered on by the PML-N lawmakers. However, the PTI said that it was unfair of Marriyum to target the sisters of PM Imran who aren’t even a part of politics.

    Khokhar also tabled a privilege motion. During the session, while talking about the operation to demolish his Lahore residence, the Khokhar Palace, the PML-N leader told the House that the administration had stormed his place late at night and destroyed furniture among other things.

    “This type of attitude of Punjab authorities will not be tolerated,” he said.

    The same session saw PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal getting a dressing down by the NA speaker. “Please mind your tone. You have been a minister, and you call yourself ‘professor’… is this the way to talk?” Asad Qaiser chided Iqbal who kept talking back at the speaker.

    CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS AGAINST ALEEMA:

    In 2019, Aleema was accused of concealing her offshore assets in the United Arab Emirates and New Jersey.

    Aleema Khan maintained that her foreign assets had nothing to do with the charity funding. Aleema said she had made her fortune through inherited property and sewing machines.

    “My textile export business has represented international buyers and assisted Pakistani textile mills in business development, procuring orders which have averaged over Rs2 billion worth of exports yearly from Pakistan and contributed to the economy,” The News had reported at the time.

    Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had taken suo motu notice of Aleema’s property in Dubai on November 28. Subsequently, Aleema was asked to pay Rs29.4 million in taxes and fines — a move dubbed as NRO by the opposition.

  • UAE decides to grant citizenship to ‘talented and innovative’ people

    The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has adopted amendments that would allow Gulf state to grant citizenship to investors and other professionals, including scientists, doctors, engineers, artists, authors and their families, the government said on Saturday.

    “The UAE cabinet, local Emiri courts and executive councils will nominate those eligible for the citizenship under clear criteria set for each category,” Dubai’s ruler and UAE Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum tweeted.

    “The law allows receivers of the UAE passport to keep their existing citizenship,” Sheikh Mohammed added.

    It was unclear if new passport holders would benefit from the public welfare system. The UAE spends billions of dollars each year on free education, healthcare, housing loans and grants for its estimated 1.4 million citizens.

    Foreigners in the UAE usually have renewable visas valid for only a few years tied to employment. The government in recent has made its visa policy more flexible, offering longer residencies for certain types of investors, students and professionals.

    Last year, the government extended its “golden” visa system — that grants 10-year residency in the Gulf state — to certain professionals, specialised degree-holders and others.

  • ‘Not bound by it’: Pakistan questions legitimacy of UN treaty on nuclear weapons

    ‘Not bound by it’: Pakistan questions legitimacy of UN treaty on nuclear weapons

    Pakistan says it is not bound by any of the obligations enshrined in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons — adopted in July 2017 — as the accord failed to take on board the “legitimate interests of all the stakeholders”.

    The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was adopted by the UN in 2017 and it reached 50 ratification in October by Austria, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Nigeria, and Thailand among other countries.

    In a statement issued by the Foreign Office, Islamabad said this treaty neither forms a part of nor contributes to the development of customary international law in any manner.

    According to the statement, the treaty was negotiated outside the established UN disarmament negotiating forums.

    “None of the nuclear-armed states, including Pakistan, took part in the negotiations of the treaty which failed to take on board the legitimate interests of all the stakeholders. Many non-nuclear armed states have also refrained from becoming parties to the treaty,” it added.

    “The United Nations General Assembly, at its first special session devoted to nuclear disarmament in 1978, had agreed by consensus that in the adoption of disarmament measures, the right of each state to security should be kept in mind, and at each stage of the disarmament process, the objective would be undiminished security for all states at the lowest possible level of armaments and military forces,” the statement said.

    The FO said the nuclear prohibition can only be achieved “as a cooperative and universally agreed undertaking through a consensus-based process involving all the relevant stakeholders which results in equal and undiminished security for all states”.

    “It is indispensable for any initiative on nuclear disarmament to take into account the vital security considerations of each and every state,” the FO statement implored.

  • ‘You call yourself professor… mind your tone’: Ahsan Iqbal gets a scolding from NA speaker

    Ruckus on Friday marred yet another session of the National Assembly as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Ahsan Iqbal got a scolding from speaker of the House, Asad Qaiser.

    “Please follow rules. I am doing so too […] mind your tone,” the speaker told the opposition lawmaker.

    While the reason behind the war of words has not yet been confirmed by any, a video of the episode showed Iqbal repeatedly interrupting the speaker, demanding what appeared to be more time on the floor of the House.

    “Please mind your tone. You have been a minister, and you call yourself ‘professor’… is this the way to talk?” a visibly displeased Qaiser was seen asking Iqbal who kept talking back at the speaker.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Earlier, rumpus also erupted after PML-N MNA Afzal Khokhar tabled a privilege motion.

    During the session, while talking about the operation to demolish his Lahore residence, the Khokhar Palace, the PML-N leader told the House that the administration had stormed his place late at night and destroyed furniture among other things.

    “This type of attitude of Punjab authorities will not be tolerated,” he said.

    The House has been adjourned to meet again on Monday.