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  • Shehbaz Sharif – the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan

    Shehbaz Sharif – the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan

    The Joint Opposition’s candidate Shehbaz Sharif was elected as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan, after the former Prime Minister Imran Khan was voted out of office through a no-confidence motion on Saturday, April 9.

    Shehbaz bagged a total of 174 votes as opposed to PTI’s candidate Shah Mahmood Qureshi. Qureshi received no votes after his party decided to boycott the polling process.

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Ayaz Sadiq presided over the session after Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri said his conscience did not allow him to conduct the session.

    Born in Lahore in 1950, Shehbaz is the younger brother of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif. Shehbaz has served three times as Punjab’s chief minister.

    Taking the floor, the newly-elected prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said that it was for the first time in the history of Pakistan that a prime minister was ousted through the no-confidence motion.

    April 11 historic day

    Terming April 11 a “historic day”, he mentioned that the happiness of the people can be seen through the economic indicators. Shehbaz mentioned that the rupee regained its value — which was trading at Rs190 per dollar and closed at Rs182 per dollar today.

    ‘Will probe threat letter’

    The newly-elected prime minister said the Opposition was discussing the no-confidence motion days before Imran Khan’s “concocted threat letter controversy”.

    “They say that this letter came to them on March 7, but our decisions were made way before that, so, if [what the previous government claimed] is a lie, then the matter should be disclosed transparently before the public,” he said.

    PM Shehbaz Sharif announced that the parliament’s security committee would be given a briefing on the “threat letter” to the members of the committee in presence of the armed forces personnel and bureaucrats — the director-general Inter-Services Intelligence, foreign secretary, and the ambassador who wrote it, who has now been transferred to Brussels.

    “If there’s an iota of evidence that we were backed by foreign conspirators […] then with you Mr speaker and God as my witness, I will not think for another second and resign from the office of the prime minister,” PM Shehbaz Sharif said, vowing to hold an in-camera session of the security committee at the earliest.

    Economy

     Shehbaz Sharif said that hard work was required for Pakistan’s progress as if only statements could move the country forward, then during PTI’s tenure, we would have been among the leading nations.

    “We will need to wash out the effects of the previous government by working together, otherwise, we will fail […] our economy is in a bad situation right now,” the prime minister said.

    “We will need to wash out the effects of the previous government by working together, otherwise, we will fail […] our economy is in a bad situation right now,” said PM Shehbaz.

    “The minimum wage will be jacked up to Rs25,000 (from April 1). 10 per cent increase in pensions of retired civil, and military officials (from April 1). Cheap wheat to be introduced at utility stores.”

    “Laptop and technical education for youth. Reintroduction of Benazir Card. Appeal to industrialists to increase salaries of employees who earn up to Rs100,000 by 10 per cent.”

    Shehbaz’s take on foreign policy

    Shehbaz said China has been Pakistan’s partner through thick and thin. “No one can snatch Pakistan and China’s friendship from us,” he said, calling it a “long-lasting relation.”

    “But this friendship is for forever and … I assure that we will make progress on the CPEC,” he added, thanking Chinese President Xi Jinping.

    Speaking about India, the newly-elected prime minister lamented that despite them wanting peaceful ties with India, they know that until the Kashmir issue is resolved, relations between the two cannot be strengthened.

    Urging Indian premier Narendra Modi to understand the issues of the people living on both sides, he questioned there is poverty, unemployment, medical issues, etc. then “why are we harming ourselves and the generations to come?”

    “Why do we want our coming generations to suffer. Come, let’s resolve the Kashmir issue in line with United Nation resolutions and Kashmiris’ expectations, so that we are able to end poverty on both sides of the border.”

    Underlining the significance of having good ties with Saudi Arabia, Turkey, European Union nations, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, and Iran, he said that ties needed to be strengthened with the US on the basis of equality and “we need to raise our voice for Afghanistan” where the situation was dire.

    “We want peace in Afghanistan.”

    The session was subsequently adjourned till 4pm on April 16.

    Sanjrani administers the oath to Shehbaz in President Alvi’s absence

    Prior to the ceremony, President Dr Arif Alvi had complained of discomfort and was advised to rest for a few days, according to an update posted on his Twitter account.

    In the president’s absence, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani administered the oath to PM Shehbaz.

    Modi, Turkey’s Erdogan congratulate Shehbaz on becoming PM

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Monday congratulated Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on becoming the 23rd premier of Pakistan.

    Meanwhile, in a telephonic conversation with Shehbaz, Turkish President Erdogan told the newly-elected prime minister that he was “extremely happy” about him being elected as the premier.

    Guard of honour

    Earlier this morning, the premier was given a Guard of Honour at Prime Minister’s House.

  • International oil prices declined by 4%, crashing below $100 per barrel

    International oil prices declined by 4%, crashing below $100 per barrel

    Brent crude slid below $100 for the first time since March 16 amid plans to release huge amounts of petroleum and oil products from strategic storage, and also China’s prolonged coronavirus closure.

    Crude oil was down $4.1, or 3.99 per cent, at $98.68 per barrel. The price of US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $4.28 a barrel, or 4.28 per cent, to $94.07 per barrel.

    The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently announced that member countries will release 60 million barrels over the next six months, with the United States matching that amount as part of its 180-million-barrel release announced in March.

    The actions are meant to make up for a shortfall of Russian crude after Moscow was extensively sanctioned for what it claims was a “special military operation” in Ukraine.

    As per JP Morgan analysts, the release of Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) volumes will amount to 1.3 million barrels per day (BPD) over the next six months, enough to cover a 1 million BPD shortfall in Russian oil supplies.

    The release of strategic government oil reserves is projected to relieve some market tightness in the coming months, reducing the likelihood of oil prices rising and re-enforcing near-term supply constraints.

    While this is the largest release since the IEA stockpile was established in 1980, market participants believe it will fail to affect the principles of the oil market and will just delay further increases in production from crucial suppliers.

  • SBP governor hopeful about IMF programme to resume

    SBP governor hopeful about IMF programme to resume

    Pakistan’s economic fundamentals have continued to remain strong and the unpopular decisions of the government to hike the energy prices in future is likely to get $6 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme back on track.

    The engagement of the Ministry of Finance and the central bank with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) remains strong.

    “In the current political environment, it is no surprise that the unpopular decisions, such as increase in fuel and electricity prices, are proving difficult,” State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Reza Baqir said in an interview to Bloomberg TV on Monday.

    “We are confident that very soon, we will be able to put the delay (in resumption of IMF programme) behind us and announce the good news of attaining the next tranche from the IMF.”

    Pakistan has received half of the funding from IMF. It negotiated $6 billion loan package in June 2019 and it has received $3 billion so far. Another $3 billion is left to be received.

    “Our goal is to first complete the work which will bring in the remaining $3 billion and after that, if we need (more), we can negotiate it in future,” the SBP Governor said.

    IMF is important not just for money but also for the signal that it sends of good housekeeping on the economic policy that catalyses funding from other bilateral creditors as well as private capital markets.

    “We are hopeful that with that positive message coming out, we will be able to mobilise funding from other sources other than IMF,” he said.

    When domestic political uncertainty was taking toll on local financial markets in the recent past, the central bank considered 250 basis point hike in key policy rate “important to fix the bubble of economic uncertainty,” he said.

    It is important that economic policy making institutions act on a timely basis to ensure that the goal of financial stability remains.

    “Since the decision (of rate hike), the rupee has rallied nearly 2% and stock market rallied about 1.5% and yields on three and five-year bonds in Pakistan fell about 35 basis points.”

    Last year (fiscal year 2020-21), Pakistan’s economy grew by around 5.5%. “Our projection for growth this fiscal year is 4% even with multiple hikes in the interest rate.

    Pakistan’s central bank increased the key policy rate by a massive 250 basis points in an emergency meeting as it had “concerns related to price instability and foreign exchange market,”

    According to him, there were three main factors that forced the central bank to arrange an emergency monetary policy meeting.

    First, uptrend in oil prices has persisted since March and oil futures are about 10-12% higher for next fiscal year.

    Secondly, inflation in March for Pakistan was 50-100 basis points higher than the previous month. The headline inflation stood at around 12.7% and core inflation was 9%.

    Finally, rupee had lost significantly (over 5%) during the past few weeks owing to political uncertainty, Baqir recalled.

    “When we feel that our financial markets are threatened by political instability, we take important steps that are one of the key reasons behind the timing of our (emergency) monetary policy decision last week,” he said.

  • 7,000 cases closed after PECA repelled by court: Federal Investigation Agency

    7,000 cases closed after PECA repelled by court: Federal Investigation Agency

    The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has closed almost 7,000 inquiries and actions initiated under section 20 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act (Peca) Ordinance 2022, a couple of days after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared the amended law as “unconstitutional”.

    Majority of these complaints were registered on charges of defamation and serious threats received by citizens via Twitter and Facebook profiles.

    The IHC further directed the federal government to probe abuse of the law and sought a report in this regard within 30 days.

    According to Dawn News, quoting sources, “the action was initiated on 70 percent of the total complaints filed by the women who were harassed on social media by “known and unknown persons.”

    FIA officials stated that over 60 percent of the total complaints of women were registered on charges of sexually harassment through Facebook accounts.

    Furthermore, following the IHC verdict, the FIA’s cyber crime division has stopped receiving complaints under Peca section 20.

    Read more- Civil society, political collectives condemn PECA Ordinance

    Why was the law so controversial?

    PECA received criticism from all quarters of society. According to critics, the law would make it illegal to send text messages without the recipient’s authorisation, be tried and jailed for sending fake whatsapp forwards or to use social media to criticise the government.

    Digital Rights activist Usama Khilji, while talking exclusively to The Current said that “the section of PECA related to sexual harassment is sections 21 and 24 which are very much still a part of the law. Only the harm to reputation part of section 20 has been struck down by the Islamabad High court because it had become a tool in the hands of the powerful to shut down any criticism against them through a criminal defamation case. Defamation is decriminalised in most democracies today. “

    He continued by adding, “the short-lived amendment ordinance only worsened section 20 by criminalising harm to the reputation of public officials as well as organisations and institutions, and making it non-bailable, non-compoundable and cognizable which means that the FIA could arrest accused without warrant, file a case on their own, and not give them bail. it was necessary to preserve basic rights and democracy the unconstitutional and authoritarian ordinance was struck down.”

  • ‘Adalat se zamanat par sarkari naukari nahi milti but Prime Minister ban saktay’: Hina Bayat grills Shahbaz with sarcasm

    ‘Adalat se zamanat par sarkari naukari nahi milti but Prime Minister ban saktay’: Hina Bayat grills Shahbaz with sarcasm

    Senior actor Hina Khawaja Bayat has shared a sarcastic take on Shahbaz Sharif’s political victory after Imran Khan’s ouster.

    She slammed the judicial system of the country in her post.

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is WhatsApp-Image-2022-04-12-at-7.42.50-AM.jpeg

    Last month the Sanam star trended on social media platforms for making a video on PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz after the latter went viral for claiming the country is about to land back in ‘Purana Pakistan’.

    'Muin me khaak': Hina Bayat grills Maryam Nawaz for her recent statement about 'Purana Pakistan'
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfriGUhx3-Q

    “Main ne aj tak kabhi nahi chaha ke main kisi ke baray men, ya kisi ke liye, koi sakht alfaz istemal karun. Lekin Maryam Nawaz sahiba, apne mujhe majboor kardiya hai ye kehne pe ke apke mun men khaak (I have never wished to use harsh words against or about anyone but madam Maryam Nawaz, you have left me with no choice but to say, may your wishes never come to pass!” she stated in the video.

  • ‘You are not my Prime Minister, Dil toot’: Armeena Rana Khan slams Shahbaz Sharif

    ‘You are not my Prime Minister, Dil toot’: Armeena Rana Khan slams Shahbaz Sharif

    Actor Armeena Rana Khan has announced on her Instagram handle that she refuses to accept Shahbaz Sharif as the new Prime Minister after Imran Khan’s ouster.

    The Janaan star is currently based in Canada.

    She also tweeted a prayer after Imran Khan’s vote-out, “May God protect Pakistan and it’s loyal citizens from darkness and the forces of evil that are about to consume it once more. Ameen.”

    https://twitter.com/ArmeenaRK/status/1512892850744217602?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1512892850744217602%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftribune.com.pk%2Fstory%2F2351843%2Fhe-will-rise-again-celebs-lament-fall-of-imran-khan-return-to-purana-pakistan

    Unable to fall asleep, she took to her Insta Stories to add, “Dil thora toot sa raha hai. Aesa lagta hai jese kuch qeemti si cheez kho di (My heart is breaking a little, it feels like we’ve lost something very precious).”

    Earlier she replied to netizens who criticized her tweets in which she highlighted the social hypocrisy towards the choice of dressing of local female celebrities at the Hum Style Awards.

    The Sherdil diva wrote, “Truth is a bitter medicine. My recent statement hit the bullseye, I know this because it brought all the cockroaches out, waving their fake flags of religion and nationalism. Fake faith by day, a farrago of filth by night.”

    Several female celebrities have been criticized by netizens over their choice of dressing at the 5th Hum Style Awards. Actress Armeena Rana took to Twitter to express her opinion on the on-going backlash for the female celebrities.

    After receiving backlash on her tweet the Daldal actress deleted it.

  • Elon Musk is no longer joining Twitter board as the microblogging network is “dying”

    Elon Musk is no longer joining Twitter board as the microblogging network is “dying”

    The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk will not be joining the Twitter board of directors, according to Twitter’s CEO Parag Agrawal. Musk’s appointment on the board was supposed to start on April 9, however, he announced that he would no longer be joining.

    Agrawal posted a statement on April 10, saying Musk’s appointment to the board would be subject to a background investigation and that once nominated, he would have to operate in the company’s best interests. “Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input,” he added.

    What Happened Earlier?

    Earlier, the tech mogul tweeted the list of the top ten most followed personalities, which included celebrities and politicians such as former US President Barack Obama, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, and Lady Gaga.

    The world’s wealthiest man had a complaint: many of the top Twitter accounts do not upload anything.

    Former US President Barack Obama (131.4 million followers), singer Justin Bieber (114.3 million), Katy Perry (108.8 million), and other top accounts belonging to popular artists Rihanna and Taylor Swift were among the names on the list from the Twitter account of World of Statistics, which Musk posted.

    Interestingly, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is ranked ninth on the list, with a popularity of 77.1 million followers, one notch below Musk, who has 81 million followers on the social network.

    Whereas Modi is an avid Twitter user who publishes everything from his daily schedule to welcoming foreign leaders, Musk laments that celebrities like Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber rarely post. Taylor hasn’t posted anything in three months, and the ‘yummy’ singer Justin Bieber only tweeted once in 2022.

    Musk, who just purchased a 9.2 per cent interest in Twitter for roughly $3 billion in his controversial style, asked his followers another question: Is Twitter dying? 

    In an ‘April fool’ message, Twitter said that it is testing some new features, one of which is a long-awaited ‘edit’ button. The platform later explained that the change to the edit button was not an April Fool’s prank and that it was truly being tested by the company.

    It is worth noting that Musk also proposed a number of improvements to Twitter’s Blue premium subscription service, including lowering the price, limiting adverts, and allowing users to pay in the crypto. Many internet users were surprised by the recent announcement, as they had been expecting Tesla’s CEO to join the board of microblogging site and witness what changes he would make.

  • PTI supporters win hearts during peaceful demonstrations

    A massive peaceful protest was launched in favour of Former Prime Minister Imran Khan after he was dismissed in the no-confidence motion on Sunday. The demonstrations were held across the country and overseas as well. Elderly people also joined in the peaceful protest.

    In Swat, people made a way for an ambulance to move forward which has won the hearts of social media users.

    A protest was held by overseas Pakistanis in London Hyde Park to show their support for Imran Khan.

    Emotional scenes were seen abroad at the PTI protest where elderly women were crying about the injustice meted out to Imran Khan.

    Actor, Haroon Shahid also shared his proud moment on Twitter, when his mother went to protest around midnight to show solidarity with Imran Khan.

    Another user shared a clip in which an elderly woman was crying and she revealed herself in a video that she came from the United States (US).

    https://twitter.com/pEEruBalOcH/status/1513284770670821394

    Former Prime Minister, Imran Khan thanked his supporters in a tweet prior to midnight.

    “Thank you to all Pakistanis for their amazing outpouring of support and emotions to protest against US-backed regime change abetted by local Mir Jafars to bring into power a coterie of pliable crooks all out on bail,” he tweeted.

    “[It] shows Pakistanis at home and abroad have emphatically rejected this,” he further added.

  • Bollywood star Simi Grewal comes in support of Imran Khan, ‘He may have failings but isn’t corrupt’

    Bollywood star Simi Grewal comes in support of Imran Khan, ‘He may have failings but isn’t corrupt’

    Actor and celebrity talk show host Simi Garewal tweeted her view on Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ouster as the head of the government after he received a no-confidence vote in the Parliament.

    The Mera Naam Joker diva had interviewed Imran for her famous talk show A Rendezvous with Simi Garewal in 2006 and had known former Indian cricketer for 40 years. The veteran actress termed him an ‘idealist’ and stated that politics is no place for honest people.

    “#ImranKhanPrimeMinister exit teaches: 1. A joint opposition can dismiss a popular Prime Minister. 2 Politics is no place for idealists. (I’ve known Imran for 40 yrs & idealism is at his core). He may have other failings –  but corruption is not one of them,” her tweet read.

    This is not the first time that Simi has tweeted on Imran. In 2018, when Imran Khan was elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Simi tweeted a secret he shared with her many years ago.

    Her tweet read, “#ImranKhan I am deeply ambivalent about the victory. It’s a poisoned chalice! Many years ago @ImranKhanPTI told me that a pir had predicted he will become PM of Pakistan one day – and will be assassinated. Seems Imran wanted it.. despite the cost.. Its sad”.

  • Mughal-era instrument Sarangi fading out from music scene

    Mughal-era instrument Sarangi fading out from music scene

    In the shadow of Lahore’s centuries-old Badshahi Mosque, Zohaib Hassan plucks at the strings of a sarangi, filling the streets with a distinctive melody.

    According to AFP report, remarkable for its resemblance to a plaintive human voice, the classical instrument is fading from Pakistan’s music scene – except for a few players dedicated to preserving its place.

    Difficult to master, expensive to repair, and with little financial reward for professionals, the sarangi’s decline has been difficult to halt, Hassan told the AFP news agency.

    “We are trying to keep the instrument alive, not even taking into account our miserable financial condition,” he said.

    For seven generations, his family has mastered the bowed, short-necked instrument and Hassan is well-respected across Pakistan for his abilities, regularly appearing on television, radio and at private parties. He also teaches the instrument at an academy he set up in Lahore.

    “My family’s craze for the instrument forced me to pursue a career as a sarangi player, leaving my education incomplete,” he said.

    “I live hand-to-mouth as the majority of directors arrange musical programmes with the latest orchestras and pop bands.”

    Traditional instruments are competing with a booming R&B and pop scene in a country where more than 60 percent of the population is aged under 30.

    Sara Zaman, a classical music teacher at the National Council of Arts in Lahore, says that it’s not just the sarangi, other traditional instruments such as the sitar, santoor, and tanpura are also dying out.

    “Platforms have been given to other disciplines like pop music, but it has been missing in the case of classical music,” she said.

    “The sarangi, being a very difficult instrument, has not been given due importance and attention in Pakistan, leading to its gradual demise.”

    ‘The strings of my heart’

    The sarangi gained prominence in Indian classical music in the 17th century, during the reign of the Mughals in the subcontinent.

    Ustad Allah Rakha, one of Pakistan’s most globally acclaimed sarangi players, died in 2015 after a career that saw him perform with orchestras around the world.

    Now players say they struggle to survive on performance fees alone, often much smaller than those paid to modern guitarists, pianists or violinists.

    Carved by hand from a single block of cedar native to parts of Pakistan, the sarangi’s primary strings are made of goat gut while the seventeen sympathetic strings – a common feature on subcontinent folk instruments – are steel.

    The instrument costs approximately 120,000 rupees ($625) and most of its parts are imported from neighbouring India, where it remains a principal part of the canon.

    “The price has gone up as there is a ban on imports from India,” said Muhammad Tahir, the owner of one of only two repair shops in Lahore.

    Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties and stopped bilateral trade with India over New Delhi’s decision in 2019 to strip Indian-administered Kashmir of its semi-autonomous status.

    Tahir, who can spend some two months carefully restoring a single worn-out sarangi, said no one in Pakistan manufactures the special steel strings because of the lack of demand.

    “There is no admiration for sarangi players and the few people who are repairing this wonderful instrument,” said Ustad Zia-ud-Din, the owner of the other Lahore repair shop, which has existed in some form for 200 years.

    Efforts to adapt to the modern music scene have shown pockets of promise.

    “We have invented new ways of playing, including making the sarangi semi-electric to enhance the sound during performances with modern musical instruments,” said Hassan.

    He has now performed several times with the adapted instrument and says the reception has been positive.

    One of Hassan’s few students is 14-year-old musician Mohsin Muddasir, who has shunned instruments such as the guitar to take on the sarangi.

    “I am learning this instrument because it plays with the strings of my heart,” he said.