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  • PTI leader installs VVIP bathroom at ministry

    PTI leader installs VVIP bathroom at ministry

    Despite slogans of austerity and claims of bringing an end to Pakistan’s VIP culture, ministers of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government have installed biometric machines outside bathrooms of the Ministry of Industries and Production for top-ranking officers. The ministry comes under Abdul Razak Dawood who is Adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan for Commerce, Textile, Industry and Production, and Investment of Pakistan.

    According to reports, only an additional secretary or an officer above the rank can use these ‘VVIP’ bathrooms. Those who are of the same rank from another ministry can also use these washrooms.

    Meanwhile, the bathrooms for the rest of the people working there allegedly don’t even have soaps or other basic toiletries.

  • From grade VI geography to ‘Gandhi and Civil Disobedience’; five books PM Imran should read

    From grade VI geography to ‘Gandhi and Civil Disobedience’; five books PM Imran should read

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s reading habits recently made headlines when The Current cited sources as saying that he is an avid reader who prefers books over television.

    Since the premier is a fan of non-fiction and is currently reading “The Silk Roads: A New History of the World” by Peter Frankopan, here are five books that we think he should give a read.

    1. Grade VI Geography:

    No, we’re not kidding. The world broke into laughter when PM Imran said, “…on the border region of Germany and Japan” while addressing a gathering in Tehran.

    https://twitter.com/ZakirKhan012/status/1120779290889469953

    While a lot of people argued that the idea of Germany and Japan sharing a border was just a slip of tongue, we don’t think taking a look back at those geography lessons from grade VI is a big deal.

    2. ‘Gandhi and Civil Disobedience: The Mahatma in Indian Politics’

    The Salt March of 1930 was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi.

    Since the PM, before coming to power, was somewhat a civil disobedience fan, we think he might enjoy this one by Judith M Brown.

    3. Grade VIII Physics:

    It is hard to forget how the premier once said that the Chinese are working on a train that travels not at light ki speed, but “speed ki light”. We’re sure it was yet another slip of tongue, but…

    Maybe PM Imran can give grade VIII’s physics book a quick look before making such a claim again.

    4.How Democracies Die

    This one is not that important since we might not be there yet. But every political leader should read “How Democracies Die” by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt.

    In the book, the Harvard University political scientists explain how elected leaders can gradually subvert the democratic process to increase their power.

    5. Trump: The Art of The Deal

    PM Imran will soon be leaving for the United States (US) on his maiden visit to the country since being handed the reins of the country.

    Since the premier will be meeting President Donald Trump, giving this book a read to know him better appears to be a good idea.

    The book, credited to Trump, talks about the US president’s childhood. It also describes his early work, building The Trump Organization as well as his actions and thoughts.

  • PM Imran, Malala on the list of 2019’s most admired people

    Prime Minister Imran Khan and Malala Yousafzai have made it to the list of the World’s Most Admired People of 2019. While PM Khan was number 17 on the list, Malala scored the sixth position. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also in the list on number six.

    More than 37,000 people from 35 countries were part of the annual study compiled by YouGov.

    Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Michelle Obama topped the list which included influential people from different fields.

    Michelle Obama replaced Angelina Jolie as the world’s most admired woman. The American actress and humanitarian went down to the third position this year.

    Meanwhile, Microsoft founder Bill Gates remains the world’s most admired man. He tops the list every time YouGov conducts a survey.

    Other people who made it to the list include Vladimir Putin, Hillary Clinton, Taylor Swift, Madonna, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Aishwariya Rai, Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan.

  • Meet Capt Qadeer, who went undercover as a beggar and assisted Jadhav’s arrest

    Meet Capt Qadeer, who went undercover as a beggar and assisted Jadhav’s arrest

    Twitter in Pakistan has burst with praise for Pakistan Army’s late Captain Qadeer Ahmed, who went undercover as a beggar for three long years to arrest Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.

    Commander Jadhav — an Indian Navy officer working for Indian covert agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) — was arrested on March 3, 2016, from Balochistan while entering Pakistan from Iran.

    A day after the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) verdict in the Jadhav case, Pakistanis took to Twitter to praise Capt Qadeer for his role in the Indian spy’s arrest.

    According to reports, working with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Captain Qadeer spent more than three years in Balochistan as a beggar, attired in dirty tattered clothes, and kept an eye on Jadhav’s activities.

    He slept on the pavement and scoured dustbins while keeping a watch. Pictures of the young captain in his beggar avatar are also doing rounds on social media.

    Despite being born to a wealthy family, Qadeer chose a military career against his family’s wishes.

    He passed away on June 2, 2018, while his car was on way to Khuzdar from Quetta. A female relative sitting on the passenger seat sustained injuries in the accident in Lakoran area, while the officer died on the spot.

    He was reportedly on his way home from an undercover duty to see his baby daughter who was ill.

  • PTI govt reluctant to get Peshawar BRT investigated

    PTI govt reluctant to get Peshawar BRT investigated

    The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has opposed the formation of a committee to investigate the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) has reported.

    As per the details, treasury members of the KP Assembly have
    opposed the opposition’s proposed suggestion to form a house committee to probe
    the long-pending project.

    The chair, however, has admitted the question for a full
    debate under Rule 48 of Assembly Procedure, reports said.

    “The government would not form a parliamentary
    committee unless it was aimed to facilitate people and provide them
    relief,” KP Law Minister Sultan Khan said on the floor of the provincial
    assembly during question hour.

    He rejected the allegations of corruption in BRT and said
    that public funds had been utilised on the project in a “judicious and
    transparent” way.

    The minister was responding to a question raised by Pakistan
    People’s Party (PPP) legislator Nighat Orakzai, who argued that public money
    had been “deliberately misused” in the project.

    According to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report released
    earlier this month, the KP government significantly deviated from the original,
    agreed design and used inferior quality material in the Rs70 billion Peshawar
    metro bus project putting lives and assets at risk in the process.

    The inferior quality construction could damage the project’s reputation at the international level, warned the lender that had approved a $335 million (Rs53 billion) loan for the project in mid-2017.

    PESHAWAR METRO:

    The Peshawar metro is rather infamous for its incompletion as
    the authorities concerned have failed to meet deadlines time and again. The government
    has now issued yet another deadline for completion of the much-delayed project,
    saying that it will be operational by the end of current year.

    The KP government and the project’s execution agency had earlier promised to open the project, launched in October 2017, within six months on April 20, 2018. However, the deadline was missed.

    The project managers kept changing the launch dates from May
    20 to June 30 to December 31 in 2018 to March 23, 2019. The project’s cost has
    also jumped to Rs68 billion from earlier Rs49 billion.