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  • Battle begins: Hamza Shehbaz refuses to step down after ECP decision

    Battle begins: Hamza Shehbaz refuses to step down after ECP decision

    Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Hamza Shehbaz has reportedly refused to step down from his position following the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to de-seat 25 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) dissident Member of Provincial Assembly (MPAs) who voted for Hamza.

    PTI says it will send the CM home through legal means in line with the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) and ECP’s decisions.

    “The game for the fake CM is over after de-seating of the 25 lotas (turncoats),” Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s (PML-Q) Moonis Elahi said. He added that after losing the majority in the House, Hamza has no moral or legal grounds to cling to the office.

    Moreover, the Opposition — PTI-PML-Q alliance — sees a run-off election in the coming days claiming Hamza cannot “illegally” hold the office for long.

    It is pertinent to mention that the allocation of five vacant reserved seats will assume an important role if the run-off election is held. According to legal experts, ECP will now distribute these seats as per the current strength of each party in the Punjab Assembly, which means if the PTI gets the most share, it may be able to get the CM post.

    Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said Hamza Shehbaz is not going to resign and still has a majority in the Punjab Assembly. Similarly, PML-N deputy secretary-general Attaullah Tarar said that the ECP’s decision has no impact on Hamza’s office.

    Tarar claimed the PML-N enjoys the support of 177 members in PA against 168 of the PTI-PML-Q combined. He also claimed the PML-N will get three of the five reserved seats, which would take its tally to 180.

    The PTI-PML-Q joint candidate for the CM’s slot and the current PA Speaker Chaudhry Parvaiz Elahi said, “I am Imran Khan’s candidate and after taking oath as the CM, I will dissolve the assemblies if he asks me.”

    The Punjab Assembly’s current strength is 346 members: PTI has 158 lawmakers, PML-Q has 10, PML-N 165, PPP seven, five independents, and one Rah-e-Haq Party.

  • Boy brings mother’s gun to school, injures seven-year-old

    Boy brings mother’s gun to school, injures seven-year-old

    A Class 2 student in Chicago, USA, brought a gun to school where it accidentally discharged and grazed a classmate . The eight-year-old boy found the gun under his mother’s bed. The incident took place in Walt Disney Magnet School in Chicago on Tuesday.

    The 28-year-old woman, charged with child endangerment, appeared in court on Wednesday. A fine of $1,000 was imposed on her.

    “We are inches away, possibly centimetres away, from a very different case and a very different tragedy,” Judge Michael Hogan told the woman.

    According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the bullet struck the ground, ricocheted, and grazed the abdomen of a seven-year-old boy. The child was subsequently sent to a nearby hospital.

    A Glock 19 handgun was found inside the student’s bag, which was handed over to school security personnel.

    According to the woman’s lawyers, her firearms were licensed, and the incident was not planned or done on purpose.

  • ‘Spoiling the morals of the people’: PM Shehbaz on IK’s ‘sexist comments’

    ‘Spoiling the morals of the people’: PM Shehbaz on IK’s ‘sexist comments’

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Friday referred to Maryam Nawaz’s Sargodha rally and said: “Someone had sent me the speech delivered by Maryam Nawaz in Sargodha yesterday.”

    “In that speech, she uttered my name with such passion that I would like to tell her: Maryam, please be careful, your husband may get upset because you were constantly repeating my name again and again with such emotion.”

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the entire nation, especially women, should strongly condemn the “deplorable language used against the daughter of the nation Maryam Nawaz”.

    “Your crimes against the country and the nation cannot be hidden. How could those — who cannot respect the sanctity of Masjid Nabawi (PBUH) — be expected to respect the honour of someone’s mothers, sisters, and daughters?”

    He continued: “Imran is the first person in history to fall into this abyss of rudeness as the leader of a party. His party went out to make a nation but spoiled the morals of the people instead. To Allah, we belong and to Him, we shall return.”

    PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif responded to Khan’s controversial comments about his daughter and said, “He does not know how to respect women. He uses derogatory language, which has not even been witnessed in the worst society. He does know not how to respect women, and he talks about Riyaasat-e-Madinah.”

    Former president Asif Ali Zardari said that he condemned the derogatory language used by the PTI chairman.

    “Those who have mothers and sisters in their homes do not use such language against other women,” the PPP co-chairman said. “Please, do not stoop so low in the name of politics.”

    He added that every person’s mother, sister, and daughter was worthy of respect and that was the message of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto to the nation.

    “I wish someone would also write a letter to the chief justice of Pakistan based on personal observation and he would take notice of the matter,” he said.

    PML-N on its official Twitter account, right after the Multan rally, shared a photo of Imran Khan’s sons and Tyrian White with the message saying how could a man who has not “owned up to his own daughter” respect the daughters of others.

    Screenshot of a tweet of PML-N

    However, the tweet has now been deleted once people started condemning it.

  • Neha Rajpoot, Shahbaz Taseer’s pregnancy shoot oozes goals, couple introduces son Shavez

    Neha Rajpoot, Shahbaz Taseer’s pregnancy shoot oozes goals, couple introduces son Shavez

    Model Neha Rajpoot tied the knot with businessman Shahbaz Taseer in September 2021, the duo were blessed with a baby in April 2022.

    Now the talented model has shared the news on her Instagram handle. The couple shared the news with a stylish pregnancy shoot.

    Neha wrote,” Shahbaz and I feel so blessed to introduce the newest member of our family Shavez Ali Taseer to the world! We are eternally grateful to Allah for our bundle of joy and have been so busy enjoying these precious first moments with our little one. “

    Model Neha Rajpoot, Shahbaz Taseer welcome first child

    “For all of my insta- fam wondering and messaging where I’ve been, I want to thank you for your love, care and prayers! Will be posting baby Shavez soon.”

    While Neha did not share the picture of the newborn but promised to post it soon.

    An influencer wished the model cum actor with a heartwarming post and a glimpse of the little Taseer in April.

    The Moray Saiyan diva was seen dancing with her friends on her Mayun.

    They then turned spouses a day later.

    Neha Rajpoot

    Shahbaz has a four year old daughter with his former wife Maheen Ghani.

    Shahbaz Taseer Pics, First Wife, Biography, Wiki - celebrity news | entertainment news
  • ‘Becoming the next Amir liaquat’ : Twitter calls out Imran Khan on ‘misogynistic’ comments

    ‘Becoming the next Amir liaquat’ : Twitter calls out Imran Khan on ‘misogynistic’ comments

    PTI Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan while addressing a rally in Multan yesterday made misogynistic remarks about Vice President of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, Maryam Nawaz.

    “In that speech, she took my name with such passion that I would like to tell her: Maryam, please be careful, your husband may get upset because you were constantly repeating my name,” said IK during the speech.

    Have a look at the reactions:

    https://twitter.com/Mustafa_Chdry/status/1527682887067152385

  • ‘Stupid, Bully, yeh jalsa tha yaan gossip session’: Mathira lambasts Imran Khan for sexism

    ‘Stupid, Bully, yeh jalsa tha yaan gossip session’: Mathira lambasts Imran Khan for sexism

    Actor-host Mathira took to her twitter handle to call out former PM Imran Khan for his sexist comments about the Vice President of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, Maryam Nawaz.

    During his speech at the Multan jalsa, Mr Khan said: “Someone sent me a clip on social media of Maryam’s speech, somewhere. She took my name so many times and with so much passion, I want to tell her that Maryam, please be careful, your husband might get upset the way you call my name again and again.”

    Earlier when Muhammad Faheem, a former employee of a private media news organisation, committed suicide after being fired from his job during Imran’s regime, Mathira termed Khan’s governance as a failure. As per reports, he committed suicide due to continuing financial problems.

    She blamed the PTI government headlined by Khan for the economic turmoil in the country which is resulting in suicides due to unemployment.

    The Blind Love diva followed her stance with another post stating that the current government has failed big time.

  • 85 percent of Balochistan is without clean drinking water: report

    85 percent of Balochistan is without clean drinking water: report

    According to the provincial health department, the first case of cholera was identified in Balochistan on April 17th and since then 2,856 cases and six deaths have been reported so far in the province.

    A report, released by Geo News‘ Muhummad Ejaz Khan on the current crisis faced by Balochistan suggests that due to infection of cholera in the region, local health sources are rubbishing the official tally. They claim that at least two dozen people are dead due to the disease.

    Senator Sarfraz Bugti shared a video of locals in which they can be seen protesting in the scorching heat. In the tweet, he urged the concerned authorities to take action.

    It has been reported by the media outlet that residents of Dera Bugti (a district in Balochistan) are being forced to drink dirty water because of the unavailability of clean water. Last week, in the district six people, including women and very young children, died within hours of being infected with cholera.

    Dr Muhammad Azam Bugti, the district health officer in Dera Bugti, revealed to the media outlet that local people and animals use the same water ponds for drinking, which has become a major cause of the epidemic.

    “Over 85% of Balochistan’s population is deprived of clean drinking water,” he said. “This at a time when billions of rupees are being allocated every year for water supply schemes in the province”, he added.

    Chief Minister (CM) Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo has directed the department of public health and Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has also ordered emergency relief measures.

    Several demonstrations this month were also held in Quetta and other areas of Dera Bugti to demand that the government provide clean drinking water. According to Geo, in the long run, the provincial government will need to set up a research cell to study the epidemic which has now firmly rooted itself in the province.

  • PML-N supporter, PTI dissident leader Raja Riaz becomes opposition leader to PML-N led govt

    PML-N supporter, PTI dissident leader Raja Riaz becomes opposition leader to PML-N led govt

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) dissident leader Raja Riaz Ahmad has become the Leader of the Opposition in the lower house of Parliament, with the support of 16 lawmakers, following the withdrawal of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q)’s Moonis Elahi.

    Speaker National Assembly (NA) Raja Pervaiz Ashraf issued notification of Riaz as being elected as the Opposition leader.

    Earlier, Moonis Elahi withdrew his candidature as the Opposition leader, paving the way for a one-on-one contest between Ghous Bakhsh Mahar and Riaz.

    In 2016, Raja Riaz quit the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) after he decided to join PTI.

    Riaz, who switched sides from PTI during the vote of no-confidence against the then Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, had previously announced that he would contest the next general election on the ticket of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

    The Opposition leader’s seat fell vacant after Shehbaz Sharif was elected prime minister following the ouster of Imran Khan through a no-confidence motion vote.

  • Ban, what ban? Local alternatives to your favourite imported products

    Ban, what ban? Local alternatives to your favourite imported products

    Usually when we hear the word “imported”, the first that comes to our mind is good quality products and when we hear the word “local”, we think of not so great, local quality products. However, more small- to medium-enterprises are now making better quality products at low costs. The government yesterday announced that luxury or non-essential commodities have been completely banned in the country to help the nation emerge from its financial crisis. After the announcement, many are wondering how will they get their hands on their favourite imported products.

    The Current has complied a list of local products that you can as alternative to imported products.

    Mobile phones

    The production of mobile phones by local manufacturing plants has more than doubled against the import in the country during 2021. You will not be able to get your hands on Apple Iphones but you thankfully there are many locally made options, like Vivo, Techno, and Oppo among many others.

    Home appliances

    Major appliances, also known as white goods, comprise major household appliances and may include: air conditioners, dishwashers, clothes dryers, drying cabinets, freezers, refrigerators, kitchen stoves, water heaters, washing machines, trash compactors, and microwave ovens

    Haier, is one of Pakistan’s most well-known brands, it also exports air conditioner. Dawlance, PEL, and Orient are three other important corporations that participate in Pakistani exports.

    Shoes

    You can find some of the best shoes in Pakistani markets. Everyone loves khussas and apart from local bazars like liberty, zainab market and others, there are many local brands you can shop from.

    Mochari, is a good local brand for shoes and bags.

    Sauces

    Sauces are essential for good food. The government has banned imported sauces but you can try Pakistani brand Dipitt.

    Sanitary ware

     Sanitary ware is an umbrella term that refers to sanitary appliances found in bathrooms and kitchens. There are local alternatives although they don’t last as long as the imported ones. But then apparently the ban is also temporary so perhaps wait before you remodel that bathroom or kitchen.

    Tissue paper

    I think it goes without saying that Rose Petal is the household name in Pakistan when it comes to tissue paper.

    Shampoos

    We have personally heard some good reviews about Conatural’s shampoo. In addition, you can easily find local Sunsilk, Lifebuoy among others in local shops

    Confectionary

    Thee are many local brands that can fullfil your sweet tooth, Candyland, Mayfair and Hilal.

    Chocolates

    You can get some really good chocolates from Lal’s.

    Cigarettes

    Cigarettes are bad for your health but if you still going to smoke there are local alternatives of foreign brands.

    Icecream

    In the summer, one can’t live without icecream and Hico Pakistan makes some really good flavours.. Their cookie and cream is the best! Walls is another local alternative.

    Pasta

    Bake Parlor Pasta is a good alternative to international brands.

    Juices

    Imported juices have also been banned but have we don’t have to worry as we our own local brand for juices. Who does not love to drink Shezan mango juice in this weather? And Nestle fruit juices are also locally produced.

    Toiletries

    Personal care items are necessary but a ban on imported items should not stop you from taking care of yourself. You can try many local brands.

  • ‘Pakistan is likely to receive $1 billion from Saudi Arabia’: PM Shehbaz

    ‘Pakistan is likely to receive $1 billion from Saudi Arabia’: PM Shehbaz

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said that Pakistan is likely to receive an investment worth $1 billion from Saudi Arabia.

    During his speech, the PM asked businessmen to speak about their problems and said: “We need to analyse the economic situation with patience.”

    The premier then requested the business community to provide solutions as the local currency has lately been fluctuating significantly against the United States (US) dollar. “I am not here for political point-scoring,” PM Shehbaz clarified.

    “When I took the oath on April 11, the rate of United States (US) dollar against the Pakistani currently was 189,” said Shehbaz.

    “The Rs. 60-65 increase in the rupee value against the greenback wasn’t the coalition government’s fault,” Shehbaz said, adding that when the former government speculated that they would be ousted, they reduced the petroleum prices despite a price hike in the international market, thus going against the conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

    “During the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) tenure loans worth Rs22,000 billion were taken which shows an 80 per cent increase from 2018,” he said, adding that “powerful echelons” in the country supported their “favourite” person.

    Shedding light on his decision regarding the ban imposed on the import of luxury and non-essential items, PM Shehbaz said that while he banned the import of certain items for some time, he did not increase the duties because the “elite class would have still purchased imported items after paying duties.”

    The premier said: “Pakistan cannot afford to purchase gas worth $20 billion; we have to slowly and gradually move towards solar and wind energy.”

    “If green energy comes to Pakistan, we will save Pakistan’s funds,” said PM Shehbaz.

    The premier arrived in Karachi earlier today on a day-long visit.