Category: Politics

News stories of Politics, for the topics that matter the most to young professionals and college students, political news reported with a different angle.

  • ‘Hide in a basement, take a bath’: Indian media airs tips on surviving nuclear attack

    ‘Hide in a basement, take a bath’: Indian media airs tips on surviving nuclear attack

    As tensions continue to soar between nuclear-capable Pakistan and India amid Kashmir crisis, an India media outlet has aired tips on how to survive a nuclear attack, Scroll.in reported.

    According to the details, a recent video clip from television channel Zee News, informing its viewers about what to do in case of a nuclear attack, has left people on social media in disbelief.

    News anchor Sudhir Chaudhary’s tips on surviving nukes include not looking directly at the explosion, running to the basement of the strongest building around you for shelter, taking a bath and sealing clothes exposed to radioactive waves to avoid them from being spread further.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “The spe­c­ter of nuclear war haunts tensions between Pakistan and India, and the disputed territory of Kashmir could provide the spark that lights South Asia’s nuclear fuse,” warned a report published by a United States (US) think-tank last week.

    The report — by Stratfor, a geopolitical intelligence platform based in Austin, Texas — also disputed the classification of the Kashmir issue as India’s “internal affair” or a “bilateral” issue between the two neighbours.

    “It isn’t. A potential nuc­lear conflagration cannot be anything other than a matter of international peace and security,” the report warned.

    According to the report, the possibility of “the conflict going nuclear may have increased on Aug 16”, when Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh seemed to abandon India’s “no first use” doctrine.

    “India has strictly adhered to this doctrine. What happens in the future depends on the circumstances,” he had tweeted.

  • PTI govt waives off Rs228 billion dues of rich industrialists

    PTI govt waives off Rs228 billion dues of rich industrialists

    The Pakistan Tehreeke Insaf (PTI) government has waived off Rs228 billion of influential industrialists and owners of fertilizer, CNG and power sector companies through a presidential ordinance enforced with immediate effect from August 28 The News International has reported.

    As per the details, President Arif Alvi waived half of the outstanding liabilities of the said players of the amount collected from May 22, 2015 to December 21 2018.

    Furthermore, the government also reduced Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) rates by up to 75%, which would push down prices of gas and fertiliser for the end-consumers.

    According to the Petroleum Division statistics, as of the end of December 2018, the total principal liabilities of these sectors stood at Rs416.3 billion and half of those were written off by the government.

    Cumulative GIDC collection since 2012 was recorded at Rs701.5 billion till the end of December 2018, out of which only Rs285 billion had been deposited.

    The government further waived the late payment surcharge, which was supposed to be paid at the rate of 4% plus three-month Karachi Interbank Offered Rate (Kibor), which currently stands at 13.7%, meaning the government has written off 17.4% mark-up, which brings the total to over Rs300 billion.

    The ordinance also did not address the issue of how to refund 50% GIDC to those companies that timely discharged their legal obligations and paid the entire amount of GIDC.

  • PM Imran, UN chief made respondents in petition seeking ‘jihad in Kashmir’

    PM Imran, UN chief made respondents in petition seeking ‘jihad in Kashmir’

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and United Nations (UN) Secretary General António Guterres among others have been made respondents in a petition seeking “jihad in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK)”.

    As per the details, lawyer Muhammad Sharif Sabir has moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for directions to the government to “declare jihad” in the troubled valley.

    While the court has dismissed the plea “as non-maintainable”, among other respondents were the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) PM, ministries of defence, foreign affairs and Kashmir affairs.

    Emotions run high ever since New Delhi abrogated Article 370 of its constitution and robbed IoK of its autonomy. Pakistan has been protesting on all fronts against the move that can pave way for a Muslim genocide in the disputed territory.

    “Kashmir Hour” on Friday is also being observed across the country on PM Imran’s call for solidarity with Kashmiris.

  • PM Imran’s office likely to lose electricity over non-payment of bills

    PM Imran’s office likely to lose electricity over non-payment of bills

    The supply of electricity to the Prime Minister’s (PM) Secretariat is likely to be snapped over non-payment of bills running into millions, Khaleej Times has reported.

    According to reports, the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) has also issued a notice in this regard as the secretariat currently owes the distributor over Rs4 million in power bills.

    “This is a recurrent problem with the secretariat. We will cut off the power supply if dues are not paid,” reports quoted sources in the IESCO as saying and added that the dues had not been cleared despite several reminder notices being sent.

    Meanwhile, the country’s annual fiscal deficit has reportedly risen to the highest in the last three decades at 8.9 per cent for the financial year 2018-19.

    Fiscal deficit is the difference between revenues and expenditures of a federal government. According to reports, the deficit that increased to 8.9 per cent of Pakistan’s gross domestic product in the financial year that ended in June, was recorded at 6.6 per cent last year.

    The figure that depicts the situation of the country’s crippling economy, coincides with one-year completion of the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.

  • Dutch oil company to invest $2.8 billion in Pakistan

    Dutch oil company to invest $2.8 billion in Pakistan

    The famous Dutch oil company, Royal Vopak is going to invest $2.8 billion in Pakistan after improvement in investment regime under Pakistan Tehreeke Insaf (PTI) government, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) has reported.

    According to the details, a delegation of Royal Vopak called on Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile, Industries and Production, and Investment, Razak Dawood and discussed new opportunities for investment related to Terminal and Storage Facilities of Liquefied Natural Gas ( LNG) in Pakistan.

    Royal Vopak is a Dutch company that stores and handles various oil, chemicals, edible oils and natural gas-related products all over the world.

    The Adviser to the PM urged the delegation to invest in Pakistan owing to its improved global ranking in Ease of Doing Business Index by 11 points.

    In this regard, Pakistan has launched a program titled Regulatory Guillotine to ease the business regulations to facilities investors.

  • PML-N MPA caught stealing electricity

    Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz MPA Rahila Khadim Hussain has been caught stealing electricity in Larex Colony, Mughal Pura, Lahore.

    According to a newspaper clipping shared by journalist Mansoor Ali Khan on Twitter, MPA Rahila is involved in stealing electricity over Rs500,000 with a fake meter that is installed at her house.

    The clipping further reveals that the authorities from eastern circle area under direction’s from Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) Chief Mujahid Parvez conducted the raid in Angoori bagh’s sub-division with superintendent Engineer Muhammad Rasheed and caught MPA stealing electricity.

  • Imran Khan says ‘became PM by taking U-Turns’

    Imran Khan says ‘became PM by taking U-Turns’

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that he became the prime minister of Pakistan by taking “U-turns”.

    He was speaking at the inauguration of a new academic block at the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute (GIKI) of Engineering Science and Technology in Topi, where he said his opponents often accused him of taking U-turns from a particular stance.

    PM said “I make compromises for achieving my goals, rather than compromising on my goals”, adding that “The opponents are raising hue and cry so that I give them NRO. This is simply out of question”.

    This is not the first time Imran Khan has said something like that. Last year in November 2018, PM Imran on Twitter wrote that “Doing a U-turn (sic) to reach one’s objective is the hallmark of great leadership just as lying to save ill-gotten wealth is the hallmark of crooks”.

  • Punjab govt removes name of Hamid Mir’s father from underpass

    Punjab govt removes name of Hamid Mir’s father from underpass

    The Punjab government has renamed the Waris Mir Underpass on the provincial capital’s Canal Bank Road near the Punjab University (PU), where the late writer and intellectual taught journalism for about 25 years.

    The name of Waris Mir, a Hilale Imtiaz recipient, was removed from the underpass on Saturday and renamed the Kashmir Underpass in a sudden and mysterious move that has been condemned by the Waris Mir Foundation.

    Senior journalist and anchorperson Hamid Mir’s father, Waris, taught for 30 years at the PU’s Mass Communication Department.

    He was not the only one to be honoured by the state in March 2013, since all newly-constructed underpasses, which tallied up to more than a dozen across the city, were named after outstanding intellectuals and prominent personalities, including Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ashfaq Ahmed, Habib Jalib, Justice A R Cornelius, Ustad Daman, Chaudhry Rehmat Ali, Khushaal Khan Khatak, Liaqat Ali Khan, Chakare Azam Rind, Justice A R Kiyani and Patras Bokhari.

    The names had been decided through a procedure in several meetings of the City District Government, headed by a former judge of the Supreme Court (SC).

    Commenting on the move, Waris Mir Foundation spokesperson said “it was nothing but an act of aversion, not against Waris Mir alone, but a sequence of hatred and uncalled-for enmity towards the Pakistani media, in general, which seems to be a line of action of the government”.

    “This act, in general, has only been secretly carried out to hurt the sentiments of hundreds of Waris Mir’s students, readers and his posterity,” the spokesperson added.

  • Indian Air Force finally admits ‘accidentally’ shooting down its own helicopter

    Indian Air Force finally admits ‘accidentally’ shooting down its own helicopter

    After six long months, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has finally confirmed that Mi-17 V5 helicopter crash in Budgam on February 27, which killed seven people, including six uniformed personnel, was caused by friendly fire, The Print has reported.

    According to reports, the investigation has discovered that the crash was a result of system failure, while the IAF has blamed two officers: the chief operations officer (COO) and the senior air traffic control officer (SATCO), who can face court-martial proceedings as a punishment.

    The report further said that the helicopter was shot down by IAF’s Israeli-made Spyder Air Defence System following the failure of command and control.

    The Russian-made chopper had crashed near Srinagar on the same day Pakistan Air Force (PAF) downed two intruding IAF fighter jets, killing one pilot while capturing another, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman.

    Budgam is a town located in Indian occupied Kashmir’s (IoK) district of the same name. The helicopter had crashed in an open field near Garend Kalaan village at around 10 am on February 27.

  • ‘Maryam distances herself from NAB judge’s scandalous video’

    The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has informed the Supreme Court (SC) that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President (VP) Maryam Nawaz has “distanced herself” from the video scandal of ex-accountability court judge Arshad Malik, Express Tribune reported Thursday.

    Maryam on July 6 had presented to journalists a secretly recorded video of judge Arshad Malik and claimed that he was “forced to give the verdict against Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia reference case”.

    According to latest reports, FIA presented before the court a 105-page report, wherein it said that Maryam has now distanced herself from the video and placed burden of the details and specifics of the video upon Nasir Mehmood Butt.

    Butt is the person who reportedly recorded the conversation during which Malik had allegedly confessed convicting Nawaz under pressure.

    The FIA report further said that PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif has also distanced himself from the videotapes.

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had on July 12 removed Malik as a judge and directed the registrar to repatriate him to his parent department, the Lahore High Court (LHC).