Tag: donations

  • ‘Pakistan’s international debt should be immediately cancelled’: British MP

    ‘Pakistan’s international debt should be immediately cancelled’: British MP

    United Kingdom (UK) Member of Parliament (MP) Claudia Webbe has called on the international community to cancel Pakistan’s debt as the country’s inflation hits the highest level since 1973.

    In a statement on Twitter, Webbe said, “Inflation in Pakistan is at an all-time high at 27 per cent! Pakistan’s international debt should be immediately cancelled – they should instead be given reparations for the climate crisis caused.”

    According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Pakistan’s Consumer Price Index-based inflation (CPI) climbed by 27.3 per cent on a year-over-year basis in August 2022.

    Prior to this statement, she repeatedly urged foreign countries to stand shoulder to shoulder in full solidarity with Pakistan and termed the silence from western countries a “moral crime”.

    “We need a global climate tax so that the global rich can be made to pay for the climate damage they cause in the world,” she said.

    She also blamed rich countries for the climate crisis and said that they should bear the cost, not Pakistan, as the country is responsible for 1 per cent of global emissions.

    On her official Twitter account, she also shared videos of the devasting floods in Pakistan.

    Water levels continued to rise on Friday as the overall death toll from the devastating floods has crossed 1,200.

    On Thursday, the UK announced an additional £15 million of lifesaving support for flood victims in Pakistan.

    More than 33 million people are affected — one in every seven Pakistanis — and reconstruction work will cost more than $10 billion.

    United Nations (UN) chief Antonio Guterres called the floods a “climate catastrophe” and launched an appeal for $160 million in emergency funding. Meanwhile, western countries have also donated millions of dollars to Pakistan.

  • At least 73,000 pregnant women expected to deliver next month in flood-affected areas

    At least 73,000 pregnant women expected to deliver next month in flood-affected areas

    According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), at least 650,000 pregnant women in flood-affected areas are in desperate need of maternal healthcare. As per UNFPA, 73,000 pregnant women are expected to deliver next month.

    “Up to 73,000 women expected to deliver next month will need skilled birth attendants, newborn care, and support,” the agency said, adding that pregnancies and childbirth cannot wait for emergencies or natural disasters to be over as this is when a woman and baby are vulnerable and need the most care.
    “UNFPA is on the ground, working with partners, to ensure that pregnant women and new mothers continue re­­ceiving life-saving services even under the most challenging conditions,” ac­­ting UNFPA Pakistan Repre­sen­tative Dr Bakhtior Kadirov said.

    You can donate clean delivery kits to women in need in flood-affected areas.

  • PCB to donate earnings from match against England to flood victims

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced that gate earnings from the first T20I against England will be donated to the Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund 2022.

    The match will be played on September 20 at the National Stadium in Karachi and will begin at 7:30pm (local time).

    The PCB has urged cricket supporters and fans to buy tickets in large quantities once they go on sale online the following week in order to show solidarity with all those affected by the floods.

     “We at the PCB express our grief and sorrow for all those affected by the extreme monsoon rainfall and floods, which has ​resulted in havoc and devastation beyond imagination, killing over 1,000 and leaving around a million homeless. As cricket unites our proud nation, we stand firmly with the victims and all those involved in​ the flood relief and rescue operations,” said PCB chairman Ramiz Raja in a statement.

    According to the data issued by the National Disaster Management Authority(NDMA), at least 1,033 people have died in floods caused by heavy rains in the country.

  • PM Khan wants similar ECP scrutiny on bank accounts and funding of PPP, PMLN

    PM Khan wants similar ECP scrutiny on bank accounts and funding of PPP, PMLN

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Wednesday welcomed the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) scrutiny of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) funding, money which he said came through donations from overseas Pakistanis.

    Taking to Twitter, the premier wrote, “I welcome ECP’s scrutiny of PTI’s funding through donations from Overseas Pakistanis. The more our accounts are scrutinised the more factual clarity will emerge for [the] nation to see how PTI is the only political party with proper donor base premised on proper political fundraising.”

    In another tweet, PM Khan said he looked forward to seeing similar ECP scrutiny on funding of the other two major political parties, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

    His comments come a day after the report compiled by the scrutiny committee of the ECP noted that the ruling party had received funding from foreign nationals and companies, under-reported funds, and concealed dozens of its bank accounts.

    PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif criticising PM Khan said, “Truth has a strange way of exposing people. The facade of “Sadiq aur Ameen” has been shredded into pieces.”

    PPP Chairman took to Twitter and said, “Tax records reveal @ImranKhanPTI income increased more than 50 times since gaining power. Pakistan has become poorer but Imran is richer.”

  • ‘In times of need,’ Maulana Tariq Jamil launches free ambulance service

    ‘In times of need,’ Maulana Tariq Jamil launches free ambulance service

    Maulana Tariq Jameel (MTJ) Foundation has launched a free ambulance service “in times of need for the needy.”

    Sharing pictures of MTJ visiting the newly bought ambulances on social media, the MTJ foundation wrote: “Molana Tariq Jamil visiting the newly bought ambulances by MTJ Foundation. We are thankful to all the contributors who enabled us buy the ambulances to provide the service in times of need to the needy.”

    Maulana had earlier launched his clothing brand. He clarified in a statement that the purpose of his business is to run madressahs so that they are not dependent on Zakat.

    However, according to a video message shared on his social media pages, he said that he established Madrasa tul Hasnain in the year 2000 where students can seek whole education in the Arabic language. It has now been expanded to 10 branches, it was not easy to manage financially.

    Read more – Iqrar ul Hassan defends Maulana Tariq Jamil’s upcoming fashion brand

    Maulana further mentioned that some prosperous people took the accountability to run religious schools. In the year 2020, the coronavirus pandemic caused huge losses to the business and later turned worse for Madrasa tul Hasnain branches as the government had to shut down the operations due to lack of finances.

    Meanwhile, clarifying rumours, he said that he never wanted to make profit from of this business, adding that the whole idea was to provision the seminaries in the financial crisis. 

    He seemed to oppose the dilemma in the subcontinent as people criticise religious personalities for going for business although it is Sunnah. He termed doing business as Sunnah referring to Imam Abu Hanifa who was one of the notable cloth merchants of his time.

  • New documents reveal PTI employees were authorised to receive donations

    New documents reveal PTI employees were authorised to receive donations

    In a watershed development in the foreign funding case, a documented list has revealed that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) employees were authorised to receive donations from within and outside Pakistan.

    The document, available with Dawn, revealed the names of employees that included PTI’s telephone operator Tahir Iqbal, computer operator Muhammad Nauman Afzal, accountant Mohammad Arshad and office helper Mohammad Rafiq.

    The decision to allow the PTI employees to collect the funds was taken at a meeting held on July 1, 2011. It was attended by Saifullah Niazi, the incumbent chief organiser and an aspirant of a PTI Senate ticket; Aamer Mahmud Kiani, present secretary-general and former health minister who was removed from the federal cabinet; Dr Humayun Mohmand, who was recently appointed chairman of the board of directors of PIMS; Sardar Azhar Tariq Khan, the party’s former finance secretary and now Pakistan’s Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Colonel Yunus Ali Raza among others.

    The foreign funding case pertains to Akbar S Babar’s allegations that foreign donations were illegally received in the front accounts of PTI employees through Hundi, particularly from the Middle East, and siphoned off by the senior party leadership through cheques with no trace or record.

    Babar was a founding member of PTI. He has repeatedly asked the scrutiny committee of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to investigate the private bank accounts of PTI employees which were illegally used as a front to collect donations.

    The committee continues to keep the PTI records and bank statements secret despite ECP orders. The records include 23 PTI bank accounts provided to the ECP by scheduled banks on the instructions of the State Bank of Pakistan. The scrutiny committee is due to meet today (on Tuesday) to decide whether to keep the PTI documents secret or not.

    The election watchdog has passed more than one order against the secrecy of the PTI record.

  • People choosing not to donate? PM’s coronavirus relief fund gets only Rs225m in 11 days

    People choosing not to donate? PM’s coronavirus relief fund gets only Rs225m in 11 days

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran’s Khan coronavirus relief fund, which was set up in March to assist the government in mitigating the impact of the global pandemic, seems to not have attracted generous donations as it has received only Rs225 million within the first 11 days — since March 30.

    According to data shared by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) with officials of the Ministry of Finance, Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and Ehsaas Programme, as of April 10 — the date of the last update — the total amount in the fund stood at Rs225 million.

    Analysts say that a possible explanation for this low figure lies in the fact that a number of private organisations and individuals are actively participating in relief activities themselves, having fewer reasons to donate to the PM’s fund.

    It, however, isn’t the first time when such a programme has received disappointing responses. The dams fund created by PM Imran and the Supreme Court (SC) to collect $12 billion for the construction of Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams was excessively promoted on multiple media forums, but could only gather Rs12 billion, including over Rs1.7 billion from overseas Pakistanis.

    Meanwhile, the premier has appealed to overseas Pakistanis to donate generously to help the government cope with the ongoing health crisis in the country.

    In a video message released Monday, he noted that the entire world was struggling against the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The lockdown has adversely affected the world economy, resulting in growing poverty across the globe, especially in developing countries like Pakistan, he said. 

  • Man attempts to sell India’s ‘Statue of Unity’ on OLX to raise funds to fight coronavirus

    Man attempts to sell India’s ‘Statue of Unity’ on OLX to raise funds to fight coronavirus

    A case was filed against an unidentified person in Gujarat, India for putting up an online advertisement to sell the Statue of Unity for ₹30,000 crores to meet the government’s expenses for hospitals and medical infrastructure to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

    According to details, the world’s largest statue, which is located in Kevadia Colony of Gujarat, was put up for sale in an OLX ad.

    “Emergency! Selling Statue of Unity because of urgent money required for the hospitals and healthcare equipment,” read the ad.

    The Statue of Unity authorities took an action after a local newspaper published a report about the ad, filing a complaint against the unknown individual.

    “An unknown person, with a malafide intention to defame the government had put up the Statue of Unity for sale on OLX, despite not being authorized to do so,” a release signed by Nilesh Dubey, Assistant Commissioner, Statue of Unity stated.

    The release also criticized OLX for not verifying the ad before posting it on the website. Police said they were trying to locate the source of the listing on OLX to determine who was behind the ad and bring him/her to book.

    The memorial to Sardar Patel, at 182 metres, is the world’s tallest such structure, ever since it was inaugurated in October 2018. It has been a major tourist attraction in India until it was closed for the public on March 17 as a precautionary measure to control the spread of coronavirus.