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  • Pakistani-American journalist to become first South Asian to moderate US presidential debate

    Pakistani-American journalist to become first South Asian to moderate US presidential debate

    Pakistani-American journalist Amna Nawaz has been selected to moderate a United States (US) presidential debate and become the first woman of South Asian origin to have had the honour, according to media reports.

    Nawaz, 40, a senior correspondent for the Public Broadcasting Service news programme “NewsHour”, along with Judy Woodruff, PBS anchor and managing editor, and colleague PBS NewHour White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor, and Politico chief political correspondent Tim Alberta, will co-moderate the sixth Democratic primary debate, scheduled for December 19 at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.

    Amana is the daughter of Shuja Nawaz, a former Pakistan Television (PTV) journalist and currently a Distinguished Fellow, South Asia Center, at Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think-tank.

    Nawaz, who joined PBS NewsHour in April 2018, besides serving as its senior national correspondent is also its primary substitute anchor.

    Prior to joining the NewsHour, Nawaz was an anchor and correspondent at ABC News, anchoring breaking news coverage and leading the network’s digital coverage of the 2016 presidential election. Before that, she served as a foreign correspondent at NBC News, reporting from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Turkey, and the broader region.

    She is also the founder and former managing editor of NBC’s Asian-America platform, built to elevate the voices of America’s fastest-growing population.

    At the NewsHour, Nawaz has reported politics, foreign affairs, education, climate change, culture and sports. Her immigration reporting has taken her to multiple border communities in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico. She’s investigated the impact of the Trump Administration’s immigration policies, including following the journey of a single toddler as she left her home in Mexico, was separated from her family at the U.S. border, and later reunited with her family several weeks later. She also regularly covers issues around detention, refugees and asylum, and migrant children in US government custody.

    Earlier, at NBC News, her work appeared on NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, Dateline NBC, MSNBC, and MSNBC.com.

    She was NBC’s Islamabad Bureau Chief and Correspondent for several years, and was the first foreign journalist allowed inside North Waziristan. She covered the Taliban attack on Malala Yousafzai, the US raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound, and broke news in a series of exclusive reports on the impact of US drone strikes. Nawaz reported for the network’s investigative unit, covering the US housing crisis and the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill, and also covered the election and inauguration of Barack Obama, the earthquake in Haiti, and Hurricane Katrina.

    Nawaz has also been honoured with an Emmy Award for the NBC News Special “Inside the Obama White House,” a Society for Features Journalism Award, and was a recipient of the International Reporting Project fellowship in 2009.

    She’s an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania–where she earned a bachelor’s degree, majoring in politics, philosophy and economics, and also where she captained the varsity field hockey team—and the London School of Economics—from where she received her master’s degree majoring in comparative politics.

    Asked about the effect of her being an Asian American woman on her career,  Nawaz told Jade magazine.com, , “Sure, in the parts of the world I’ve covered, there have been a lot of times when I’m the only woman at the protest, or in the briefing room, or on the military embed.”

    “I’m certainly not the first woman to be any of those places and was actually really lucky to have the support and encouragement of female journalists before me who’d been there and done that.”

    But she acknowledged, “I’ve had people make assumptions about me – because I’m a woman, because I’m Asian, because my family’s from Pakistan, because I’m Muslim – but I can’t control what others think. All I can do is bring my whole self to this job, to report the stories as I see them, and try to treat others’ stories with the same care and respect I’d want someone to treat mine.”

  • Shehbaz Sharif employed ‘money launderers’ in CM’s office: report

    Shehbaz Sharif employed ‘money launderers’ in CM’s office: report

    Two suspicious characters — Imtiaz Gill and Ali Ahmad — were employed by former Punjab chief minister (CM) Shehbaz Sharif as his staff members but they, even during his tenure, were more known for their association with Suleman Shehbaz than anything else, The News has reported.

    The report quoted sources as confirming the PTI government’s allegations that Gill and Ahmad were given some titles — like directors of political affairs and strategy — but they were not part of the hardcore bureaucratic team of the CM Secretariat.

    These two people had no office in the CM Secretariat and they rarely even had any interaction with the Secretariat’s bureaucracy but were mostly seen in the private office of Suleman Shehbaz at 55-H Model Town. They were also found in the Model Town Office of the then Punjab CM.

    These two people were generally referred to as the class fellows and friends of Suleman Shahbaz. The sources said that they were appointed as directors on meager salaries like Rs30,000 a month each but were not doing any official work associated with the CM Secretariat.

    At that time the bureaucracy working in the CM Secretariat had no idea what Gill and Ahmad were actually doing. There was a general perception that the two might have been favoured by Suleman Shahbaz because of his past association with them.

    However, now the government revelation alleged that these two people were key characters involved in money laundering for Shehbaz Sharif family. Although mostly they are linked with Suleman, the fundamental question arises why Shehbaz Sharif offered them official position.

    For the same reason, Barrister Shahzad Akbar put some relevant questions to Shehbaz Sharif which include if Nisar Gill and Ali Ahmad were not appointed as director political affairs and director strategy respectively by Shehbaz Sharif in the CM Office.

    The government alleged that these two men were the front-men of Shehbaz Sharif and Suleman Shehbaz for money laundering and corruption. They were alleged to be the owners of a company named Good Nature Trading, which was involved in money matter for Suleman Shehbaz.

    Nisar Gill is also alleged to have visited some foreign countries along with Suleman Shehbaz. The government alleged that the two had transferred huge amounts in the accounts of Shehbaz Sharif family.

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar on Thursday in a press conference alleged that PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif was involved in corruption worth billions of rupees, claiming his assets had grown by 70 percent during the last 10 years.

    Shahzad Akbar pointed out that three employees of Shehbaz’s GMC Company, who were found involved in running a multi-billion rupee network, were working at the CM Secretariat on different posts and challenged him to respond to them.

    Shahzad Akbar also called on the NAB to probe the Good Nature Trading Company under which billions were laundered through the fake TTs. He explained that the GMC emerged when investigation was carried out against the assets of Sharif family. He said through over 200 TTs, billions were ‘transferred’.

    Independent sources also believe that the money laundering case against Shehbaz Sharif family appears to be the most serious among all cases presently being pursued by the NAB against the former Punjab chief minister and members of his family.

    In this particular case, the government has yet to find any evidence whether money involved in laundering has anything to do with kickbacks, commissions and corruption or is the consequence of a general practice of big businessmen of Pakistan who don’t show their full profits to avoid taxes and thus launder their untaxed income by using hundi and remittances modes.

    However, despite this “usual practice” of the big businessmen this case may really haunt the Sharif family because of the kind of evidence regarding alleged doubtful remittances received by different members of Shehbaz Sharif family and also because of the fact that two people used for the alleged money laundering were employed in the CM Office.

  • ‘Misbah was made chief selector, coach on Maulana Tariq Jamil’s recommendation’

    Pakistani journalist Sohail Warraich has claimed that Misbahul Haq was given the role of both chief selector and head coach on the recommendation of famous religious scholar Maulana Tariq Jamil.

    The journalist has made these claims in his latest column, in which he has said that no one in this country knows cricket better than Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and claimed that every change in Pakistan cricket is happening on PM Imran’s order.

    Sohail said that Maulana Tariq Jamil is one of Pakistan’s most loved personality and rejecting his orders is considered as a grave sin, therefore PM Imran while honouring his love with Maulana Tariq “gave these responsibilities to Misbah”.

    Warraich further claimed that batsman Babar Azam was made the captain of cricket team on Imran Khan’s order.

    “Khan appointed Misbah as coach and chief selector and Babaq Azam as team’s captain, but he [Imran] shouldn’t be held responsible for their poor performance”, Sohail added.

    Earlier, Pakistan Tehreeke Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Javed had said that PM Imran Khan will now focus on improving sports, especially cricket.

    “The premier could not concentrate on cricket earlier as he was focused on stabilising the economy and strengthening the institutions, which were in shambles”, reports quoted Faisal Javed as saying.

    The statement from the senator came after Pakistan cricket team’s poor performance against Australia and Srilanka in Test and T20 series, respectively.

  • Pakistan declared ‘more attractive destination for global investors than India’

    An international credit rating agency, Moody’s Investors Service, has upgraded the outlook for Pakistan’s economy from negative to positive, declaring the country a more attractive destination for global investors than India as the latter’s credit outlook downgraded to negative earlier this year, Sputnik News reported.

    According to the agency, upgrade in Pakistan’s status is driven by “Moody’s expectations that the balance of payments dynamics will continue to improve”. On the other hand, it said that India’s outlook downgraded, “on concerns that its economic growth would remain materially lower than in the past”.

    “Moody’s decision to change the outlook to negative reflects increasing risks that economic growth will remain materially lower than in the past, partly reflecting lower government and policy effectiveness at addressing long-standing economic and institutional weaknesses than Moody’s had previously estimated, leading to a gradual rise in the debt burden from already high levels.”

    Meanwhile, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s Adviser on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh said the upgradation of outlook to stable was affirmation of the government’s success in stabilising the country’s economy and laying a firm foundation for robust long term growth.

    The announcement also pushed Pakistan’s stock market above 40,000 points — highest after a gap of 10 months.

    The premier himself has also claimed that over the first four months of the current fiscal year beginning April 2019, Pakistan’s current account deficit fell by 73.5%, as compared to the same period last fiscal year. “The country’s exports of goods and services in October 2019 rose 20 per cent over the previous month and 9.6 per cent over October 2018.”

  • Pakistan repays $1 billion Sukuk bonds issued by PML-N govt

    Pakistan repays $1 billion Sukuk bonds issued by PML-N govt

    Pakistan has successfully reapaid a foreign debt of over $1 billion, shaking up the country’s foreign currency reserves on the day Moody’s rating agency upgraded Islamabad’s credit rating outlook to from ‘negative’ to ‘stable’, Express Tribune reported.

    According to the details, Pakistan on Monday has paid back around $1 billion on maturity of five-year international Sukuk.

    “We paid over $1 billion including interest payment at the maturity of a Sukuk today (Monday),” reports quoted SBP’s official as saying.

    Pakistan had earlier launched a $-denominated Islamic bond worth $1 billion with a five-year tenure in the international bond market in November 2014, during the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government’s tenure. The sovereign bonds were issued at a rate of 6.75%.

    The bond got matured in November 2019 and accordingly, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has repaid $1 billion, borrowed to build the foreign exchange reserves.

    A sukuk is an Islamic financial certificate, similar to a bond in Western finance, also commonly referred to as “sharia compliant” bonds. Since the traditional Western interest-paying bond structure is not permissible, the issuer of a sukuk sells an investor group a certificate, and then uses the proceeds to purchase an asset, of which the investor group has partial ownership. The issuer of the sukuk bond must also make a contractual promise to buy back the bond at a future date at par value.

    The said payment from the SBP’s foreign exchange reserves will be reflected in the next weekly forex report. However, the reports reveal that with this repayment, the SBP’s reserves will most likely slip below $7 billion.

    Moody’s in its report has highlighted that Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserve adequacy remains low, adding that that foreign exchange reserve adequacy will take time to rebuild.

    At the time of launching the Sukuk, the bond fetched bids amounting to $2.3 billion, five times higher than the actual target set by the government.

    The government had planned to raise $1-2 billion in fresh foreign debt before the Sukuk payment was made.  The floating of new Sukuk and Eurobond has remained pending for long.

    At the time of launching the Sukuk bond, it fetched bids amounting to $2.3 billion which is five times higher than the actual target set by the government.

    The government had planned to raise $1-2 billion in fresh foreign debt before the Sukuk payment was made. The floating of new Sukuk and Eurobond has remained pending for long.

  • VIDEO: Federal Minister Fawad messes up US history on-air; makes Benjamin Franklin president

    VIDEO: Federal Minister Fawad messes up US history on-air; makes Benjamin Franklin president

    Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry, in yet another faux pas, has messed up the history of the United States (US) on-air by not only making polymath Benjamin Franklin an “American president”, but also accrediting him for 1930s’ New Deal.

    Speaking to a private media outlet on Monday, the minister had said that it was time for a “New Deal” among all state institutions. “At the moment, no institution in Pakistan is strong enough to challenge any other institution. Everyone is looking to enhance their own mandate. We must slow down and strike a New Deal.”

    “A deal like the one by US president Benjamin Franklin. It changed the entire country. It is what we need as well. Specially, at a time when the chief justice has also highlighted the need for a dialogue and the army chief as well as the prime minister want to strengthen civilian institutions,” Fawad had said.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    But what many, including the show hosts, didn’t realise, was that the science minister himself didn’t know what he was talking about.

    Not only was Franklin never elected president of the US, the New Deal — a series of programmes, public work projects, financial reforms and regulations enacted by President Franklin Roosevelt between 1933 and 1939 — came over a 140 years after his death. The programmes responded to needs for relief, reform and recovery from the Great Depression.

    This, however, isn’t the first time that Fawad has put himself in an awkward situation by presenting “alternate” facts. In May this year, he had said that the Hubble Space Telescope was sent into space by Pakistan’s aeronautics and aerospace research agency Suparco, instead of its US counterpart, NASA.

    Twitter had erupted into a volley of laughs and memes following the gaffe, as people had mercilessly mocked the minister.

  • VIDEO: Congress leader chants ‘Priyanka Chopra Zindabad’ instead of Priyanka Gandhi

    VIDEO: Congress leader chants ‘Priyanka Chopra Zindabad’ instead of Priyanka Gandhi

    Like a Pakistani political blunder, former Congress MLA (Member Lok Assembly) Surendar Kumar made a gaffe and was left embarrassed on stage at a public rally when instead of chanting the name of his leader Priyanka Gandhi, Kumar chanted Priyanka Chopra.

    Many people chuckled at a recent rally held across the border when it started echoing ‘Priyanka Chopra Zindabad’ instead of Priyanka Gandhi, who is one of the important figures of Indian National Congress.

    But Kumar soon realised his mistake and corrected it by screaming: “Priyanka Gandhi Zindabaad!”

    Watch the video here:

    https://twitter.com/Alter_Ego45/status/1201124891103121408

  • 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.

  • 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.