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.

  • Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, Faisal Vawda decide to remain single in Senate

    Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, Faisal Vawda decide to remain single in Senate

    Former caretaker prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar and former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda announced on Tuesday that they will not join either the government nor opposition sides in the Senate. 

    The Senate Secretariat released a notification about the six independent senators in the senate and their decision to join a party.
    According to the issued notification, two out of the six senators, Kakar and Vawda, decided to not join any side in the Senate.

    Similarly, Senator Mohsin Naqvi, who is also a federal interior minister, was not sure about joining a side in the upper house.

    However, Naqvi’s name was mentioned as a senator on the treasury bench with an additional note of “(Federal Minister, however, not yet opted)”.

    Senator Abdul Qadir joined the government benches after winning the senate polls. The senator was initially part of PTI and then left the party after May 9.

  • Shaandar renovation? Government approves more than Rs16 crore for renovating Shehbaz’s office

    Shaandar renovation? Government approves more than Rs16 crore for renovating Shehbaz’s office

    The government on May 7 approved a supplementary budget worth Rs147 billion for various expenses including more than Rs36 crore for renovating the Prime Minister Office and expenses for the employees of the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Corporation.

    The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved a budget of Rs162.5 million for renovating the PM’s Office, the Express Tribune has reported.

    The ECC of the Federal Cabinet authorized the financial decisions, including increasing the federal government’s wheat procurement quota by another 400,000 metric tonnes.

    Punjab farmers have suffered due to the flawed decision-making of the past caretaker government which imported 3.5 million tonnes of wheat despite domestic surplus.

    Correspondingly, the government also allowed borrowing Rs41.5 billion to buy the commodity from farmers at Rs3900 per 40kg rate.

  • Together again: Bushra Bibi going from Banigala sub-jail to Adiala jail

    Together again: Bushra Bibi going from Banigala sub-jail to Adiala jail

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered on Wednesday to transfer former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, from Banigala to Adiala jail, Geo is reporting.

    IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb announced the decision on Bushra Bibi’s plea seeking her transfer from Banigala to Adiala jail. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan is also currently in Adiala jail.

    IHC reserved a verdict on Bushra Bibi’s petition on May 2 after hearing arguments. On the other hand, the Adiala jail superintendent said that they can’t accommodate Bushra Bibi as the jail is already overcrowded and there are security concerns.

    Bushra was placed under house arrest at her residence in Bani Gala on January 31, following her conviction in the Toshakhana case. Authorities had declared the Bani Gala residence a “sub-jail” to confine the former first lady at the request of the Adiala jail superintendent.

  • Toshakhana luxury car case: Nawaz wants to be declared not guilty

    Toshakhana luxury car case: Nawaz wants to be declared not guilty

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif asked an accountability court on Tuesday to drop charges against him in the Toshakhana reference.

    Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer Rana Muhammad Arif Khan filed the petition. President Asif Ali Zardari and former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani are also accused in the same case.
    The prosecutor representing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) stated in court that he would forward the application to NAB headquarters.

    After that, the court issued a notice on Nawaz’s plea for May 23 and adjourned the hearing till June 3.
    Earlier this month, NAB cleared the PML-N leader of any wrongdoing in a case about him getting a luxury car from the Toshakhana (gift repository).

  • PML-N MPA faces charges for allegedly torturing PTI MNA’s servant

    PML-N MPA faces charges for allegedly torturing PTI MNA’s servant

    A case has been filed against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Malik Tariq Awan for allegedly mistreating a servant of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) MNA Asif Khan, in Peshawar.

    Police confirmed that the case has been filed against PML-N’s MPA on behalf of Asif’s servant. Malik Tariq Awan will face multiple charges, including terrorism, the police added.

    The First Information Report (FIR) stated that at least 20 people came to the guest house, and Awan was leading them. They tortured the servant present there.

    “At least five persons have been arrested on MNA Asif’s report, which alleges Awan of attacking,” said the police.

    Superintendent of Police Faqeerabad, Usama Amin Cheema, stated that there was no firing incident during the entire episode. The SP mentioned that workers from both parties shouted slogans at each other during the face-off.

  • The cipher was classified, copies to be destroyed within six months, Khan kept it knowingly, without authorisation: Investigation agency tells court

    The cipher was classified, copies to be destroyed within six months, Khan kept it knowingly, without authorisation: Investigation agency tells court

    Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) prosecutor Hamid Ali Shah informed Islamabad High Court (IHC) that former Prime Minister Imran Khan was aware of the sensitivity of the diplomatic cipher but he didn’t protect it. The FIA prosecutor also said that Imran Khan not only kept the copy of cipher without permission but also failed to safeguard it.

    He also said that the main purpose of cipher security is to prevent its circulation to unauthorised individuals.

    Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the petitions of founder Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Monday in the cipher case.  

    “The cipher document is stamped as classified, and its copies are mandated to be destroyed after six months,” the FIA prosecutor explained, and added that even after declassification, stringent measures are in place for its disposal.  

    However, the chief justice asked how the accused will present a defence without a lawyer and what the impact of the accused’s statement will be. In response, the FIA prosecutor said that the defence doesn’t need legal representation under Section 342.

  • CM Gandapur wants death penalty for Ice drug peddlers

    CM Gandapur wants death penalty for Ice drug peddlers

    Chief Minister of KP Ali Amin Gandapur appeared in an interview with journalist Hamid Mir and spoke against the dangers of the drug ice, aka crystal meth, mostly used by young students.

    The KP CM said that he would soon “introduce the death penalty for this drug.”

    Gandapur remarked, “This drug is destroying our nation and our youth.”

    “I will start the process of drug testing all the students in my province so their parents and I know what is happening,” he promised.

    The Chief Minister said that the process of drug tests is going to start very soon under his administration.

    Ice is the street name for the drug Methamphetamine or Crystal Meth which is a highly addictive and dangerous chemical concoction.

  • Contempt proceedings for culprits running smear campaign against Justice Babar Sattar

    Contempt proceedings for culprits running smear campaign against Justice Babar Sattar

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has decided to start contempt of court legal proceedings against the individuals running an online campaign against Justice Babar Sattar, The News has reported on Tuesday.

    The latest development comes after Justice Babar Sattar wrote a letter to IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq regarding the online propaganda being run against him.

    The High Court has decided to take action based on the contents of the letter and a bench is likely to be constituted today.

    A few days ago, a social media campaign against Justice Sattar claimed that he had dual citizenship which was against the law.

    However, the IHC in a press release on April 28 refuted the claims.

    The IHC, in its press release, said that Justice Sattar’s confidential information is being posted and reposted online. It further said that the judge’s wife and children’s travel documents were also uploaded online.

    Justice Sattar is one of the six IHC judges who have complained of interference in judicial affairs by the country’s spy agencies.

  • ‘PTI should learn from Fazlur Rehman to get back into power’, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur

    ‘PTI should learn from Fazlur Rehman to get back into power’, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur

    Khyber Pakhtunkhua (KP) chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur said on Monday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) should learn from Jamiat Ullema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s experience.

    In an interview on the Geo News programme “Capital Talk”, Gandapur said: “[We] should benefit from Maulana Sahib’s experience as he knows [better] what had been happening in Pakistan.”

    The provincial chief executive urged the JUI-F chief to be clear in his statements, as he had earlier announced that the PDM ousted former Prime Minister Imran Khan. However, now he claims that former army chief, Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, is responsible for regime change, said Gandapur.

    The JUI-F chief discovered “ideological coordination” in the anti-government movement, so he openly supported the PTI and urged the PML-N-led government to respect the “constitutional rights” of the former ruling party, Geo News reported.

  • CJP Isa disappointed at Faizabad Commission report

    CJP Isa disappointed at Faizabad Commission report

    Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa on Monday condemned the Faizabad Dharna Inquiry Commission stating that the report was “very disappointing” and he was “surprised” to read it.

    The CJP made these comments as a three-member bench — headed by Isa himself — resumed the hearing of the federal government’s review petition after the inquiry commission, formed to investigate the Faizabad sit-in, submitted its report.

    The commission was made on SC orders following the case regarding the 2017 dharna by TLP in Islamabad. The commission gave a “clean chit” to the former spymaster General (retd) Faiz Hameed and former Punjab Rangers director general Major General (retd) Azhar Naveed Hayat.

    “What did the commission do? It just wasted time. The commission is just making speeches,” said CJP Isa during the hearing.

    “It seems that all this was done just to exonerate General Faiz,” he observed.