Tag: home-politics

  • Bail granted to ailing ex-PM Nawaz

    Bail granted to ailing ex-PM Nawaz

    The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday granted bail on medical grounds to former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif, who has been admitted to the hospital ever since a precarious decrease in his platelet count.

    According to reports, ailing Nawaz’s bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case came after the prosecution and defence concluded their arguments and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) did not challenge the plea.

    A two-member bench, headed by Justice Baqar Najafi, had heard the petition. The anti-corruption watchdog’s prosecutor told the court that “every life, including that of Nawaz Sharif, is precious”, adding that the former premier’s condition was treatable.

    After a struggle of three days, a six-member medical board, headed by Services Hospital Principal Ayaz Mahmood, had on Thursday diagnosed the reason for Nawaz’s declining health.

    “It is acute immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), a bleeding disorder, in which the immune system destroys platelets,” a board member had told Dawn. “We are hopeful that his condition will improve in a few days.”

    Doctors have said that the disease is treatable.

    On Friday, Dr Ayaz submitted a detailed medical report of the former premier. He told the court that a medical board, which also includes Nawaz’s personal physician, meets twice every day to discuss the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo’s condition.

    Earlier in the day, Nawaz’s lawyer Ashtar Ausaf told the court that the former premier’s condition was “extremely serious”.

    Dr Ayaz told the court that Nawaz’s platelet count was constantly reducing, adding that the hospital had conducted tests to see if Nawaz was suffering from dengue.

    “We inject platelets every day but they destruct every day,” Dr Ayaz said and added that something or the other was destroying the ex-PM’s platelets.

    He said that steroids will have to be injected in order to treat Nawaz.

    “We have to conduct a bone marrow test but we cannot inject a needle in Nawaz Sharif’s bone.”

    Dr Ayaz informed the court that Nawaz is a diabetes patient and is suffering from several other ailments as well.

    The bench told the doctor to apprise the court about Nawaz’s recent condition by 12 pm and adjourned the hearing until later in the day.

    An accountability court had earlier this month granted NAB a 14-day physical remand of Nawaz in connection with the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case. The remand expired today.

  • Murad Saeed’s Pakistan Post to serve over Rs100 million blow to exchequer: report

    Murad Saeed’s Pakistan Post to serve over Rs100 million blow to exchequer: report

    The state-owned postal service, Pakistan Post, has awarded the contract for running its Centralised Software System at a high cost of Rs130 million per annum — almost double than the actual cost — to a single bidder, The Express Tribune reported.

    According to reports, the postal service has rejected offers of several other IT firms, including that of an old service provider that ran a similar project at a cost of Rs70 million per annum for seven years till 2018.

    The move, reports said, will result in a loss of around Rs100-120 million to the national exchequer over the next two years.

    IT experts, familiar with the services provided by Pakistan Post, have said that the competitive bid should not exceed Rs80 million in any case and it was higher by Rs50 million per year.

    According to reports, the rest of the technical bids were deliberately rejected to avoid price comparison and allow the remaining one technically qualified bidder to demand the amount as it liked.

    Furthermore, established IT players with more experience of running similar projects have complained that the contract was awarded to a new and unknown entrant called AIMS without any proper comparison of experience.

    The rest of the IT firms were of the view that if the tender was floated again and was fairly evaluated, a maximum cost of close to Rs80 million would have to be borne, and it would have saved the national exchequer around Rs100 million over the two-year validity period of the contract.

  • Gen Bajwa met businessmen with my permission: Imran

    Gen Bajwa met businessmen with my permission: Imran

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa met business tycoons “with his permission”.

    Speaking to senior journalists and analysts in Islamabad on Wednesday, the premier acknowledged that inflation and unemployment remain a big problem that his government is trying to resolve.

    “Where there is no rule of law people gravitate towards power. The army chief asked for my permission to meet the businessmen and I saw no harm in it,” journalist Amber Rahim Shamsi quoted him as saying.

    Earlier this month, a delegation of at least 20 businessmen, comprising heads of Pakistan’s leading business houses, had met the army chief to convey their serious concerns about the country’s stagnating economy.

    Complaining to him of the government’s tepid response to the debilitating situation facing the drivers of the economy, they had said the government did not go beyond verbal assurances and that its words did not match its actions.

    As Wednesday’s meeting continued, PM Imran also categorically said that he will not resign under pressure. He made the statement in response to Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s forthcoming ‘Azadi March’.

    Fazl, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief, has threatened to block Islamabad with his anti-government protest starting October 31. The march, which is expected to have hundreds of thousands of participants — mainly religious hardliners from the JUI-F — are expected to enter Islamabad on October 31.

  • ‘No one can remove a constitutional PM,’ COAS reportedly tells Fazl in ‘important’ meeting

    ‘No one can remove a constitutional PM,’ COAS reportedly tells Fazl in ‘important’ meeting

    Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa has been quoted as telling Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman that “there is no possibility of a minus-Imran concept”.

    In an “important” meeting held between the army chief and Fazl ahead of the latter’s Azadi March, a journalist affiliated with a private media outlet quoted the COAS as saying that he stood by the constitution and democracy.

    “We have been doing what the constitution asks for,” the army chief reportedly said.

    Gen Bajwa reminded Fazl that he was a responsible political leader and must be aware that the regional situation is critical. “The situation on the border with India is volatile due to the Kashmir crisis and Afghanistan’s situation is also a source of trouble.”

    The army chief reportedly also referred to Iran-Saudi Arabia affairs and told the JUI-F chief that it was not an appropriate time for staging the protest since the economy had been brought on the right track after herculean efforts within the country and abroad.

    The COAS made it clear that they wouldn’t permit destabilisation at this moment, the anchor claimed. “He [Imran Khan] is a constitutional prime minister (PM) and neither I nor you can minus him,” he quoted Gen Bajwa as saying.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    The anchor, who further claimed that Fazl’s meeting with the COAS was “common knowledge” and was held a few days ago, was also among the media persons who called on the premier in Islamabad on Wednesday.

    Speaking to senior journalists during the meeting, PM Imran had said that he wouldn’t resign under pressure from Fazl.

    The JUI-F chief has threatened to block the federal capital with his protest against the “illegitimate” government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). His Azadi March, which is expected to have hundreds of thousands of participants — mainly religious hardliners from the JUI-F — is expected to enter Islamabad on October 31.

  • NAB officials step up to donate blood to ailing Nawaz

    NAB officials step up to donate blood to ailing Nawaz

    At least five officials of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) have stepped up to donate blood to ailing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, ARY News reported.

    According to reports, the blood group of the former prime minister (PM) is O+ve and Lahore’s Services Hospital — where Nawaz is admitted — has already cross-matched it with that of the five NAB officials.

    The jailed ex-PM was shifted to the hospital after a precarious drop in his platelet count on Monday night, requiring an emergency response.

    Punjab Health Minister Yasmin Rashid has said that a six-member medical board comprising senior doctors is examining Nawaz and trying to figure out the cause behind his deteriorating health.

    A VVIP room of Services Hospital has been declared as sub-jail for the former premier, while PM Imran has wished him good health and ordered the provincial government to ensure best treatment facilities.

  • PTI govt denotifies prosecution team in Gen (r) Musharraf’s high treason case

    PTI govt denotifies prosecution team in Gen (r) Musharraf’s high treason case

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government on Thursday denotified the prosecution team in the high treason case against former military ruler Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf.

    According to The Express Tribune, the prosecution team was hired in November 2013, during the tenure of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif.

    The special court — hearing the treason case against Musharraf for violating Article 6 of the constitution — adjourned the hearing without any proceedings on Thursday and was informed that the government had dismissed the prosecution team, reports said.

    The court was told that Reza Bashir — the government lawyer provided to the former dictator — was ill and was unable to attend the previous hearing.

    The three-judge special tribunal also summoned secretary interior on November 19.

    Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth asked the prosecutor if any notification was received, to which prosecutor Tariq Hassan said that he had not been notified.

    “Can the prosecution team be dismissed in this manner?” asked Justice Waqar Ahmed. “I sat all night preparing for this case,” responded the prosecutor.

    The court also asked to be informed under which law the prosecution team was denotified by the government.

    Approving the lawyers’ request, the court gave Reza Bashir one more chance to attend the next hearing on November 19.

    The former army chief, who took power in 1999, is facing a treason trial under Article 6 of the constitution as well as Section 2 of the High Treason Act on a complaint moved by the federal government.

    Article 6 of the constitution deals with matters of “high treason” and states that “any person who abrogates or subverts or suspends or holds in abeyance, or attempts or conspires to abrogate or subvert or suspend or hold in abeyance the constitution by use of force or show of force or by any other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason.”

  • ‘Am I the doctor?’ asks Imran Khan after hearing about Nawaz Sharif’s failing health

    Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s conditioned worsened as his platelet count fluctuated and his daughter Maryam Nawaz, who was earlier denied permission to meet him, was allowed to do so. After her meeting with her father, she was admitted in the same hospital but family sources are now saying that the government wants to take Maryam back to the hospital “at any cost”.

    Earlier, on Wednesday, a judge had denied Maryam’s request to meet her father but the government gave her permission last night.

    VIDEO: Maryam Nawaz reaches the hospital last night

    Senior leadership, including Nawaz’s brother, Shehbaz Sharif, also went to visit Nawaz at Services Hospital in Lahore.

    Sources say that Nawaz says that he wants to die in jail and that people have died in jail before. According to journalist Zahid Gishkori, doctors have said that Nawaz should get treatment abroad but the former PM is refusing to go out of the country. Reporters are also stating that a doctor has been flown in from Karachi to conduct further tests.

    Journalist and senior anchor, Meher Bokhari tweeted about PM Khan’s reaction to the news, saying that the Prime Minister asked how he could be blamed for Nawaz’s health. She said that when she asked him about it, he “threw his arms up with a bewildered look on his face,” and said, “Am I the doctor? Am I the court? How am I being blamed for this?” and then called “Buzdar to arrange for Maryam to see NS”.

    As #NawazneedsUNhelp starts trending on Twitter last night, people have also started Whatsapp groups to pray for Nawaz’s health and others are asking for international help, claiming that Nawaz has been poisoned.

  • After Sindh, Buzdar’s Punjab ‘starts running out of rabies vaccine’

    After Sindh, Buzdar’s Punjab ‘starts running out of rabies vaccine’

    Following the shortfall of anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) at public hospitals across Sindh, Chief Minister (CM) Sardar Usman Buzdar-led administration in Punjab has reportedly started running out of the same.

    According to a private media outlet, a minor girl in Sialkot was bitten by a dog earlier this week. Hadiya later passed away because there was no vaccine available at the Civil Hospital she was rushed to in the Kotli Loharan town of the district.

    Last month, a ten-year-old, who was bitten by a stray dog, died of rabies in Larkana.

    According to details, the minor, who was identified as Mir Hasan was first taken to a hospital in Shikarpur, however, he was not given the treatment because there was no vaccine available at the hospital.

    Hasan’s parents later rushed him to Larkana’s Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Hospital, but it had also run out of the required vaccine, resulting in the boy succumbing to the disease.

    The tragic development in Punjab comes amid the government’s inaction despite a rise in the number of dog-bite in Sialkot. Earlier this year, over 200 people were attacked by stray dogs in the district within a short span of two months.

    RABIES & VACCINE SHORTAGE:

    Rabies encephalitis is a dog-borne viral illness caused mostly by the biting of stray dogs, and if ARV is not administered to the affected person along with immunoglobulin, the patient suffers a miserable death due to hydrophobia and other complications of the disease.

    According to SAMAA, most anti-rabies vaccinations in Pakistan were imported from India, but they don’t want to export the vaccine to Pakistan anymore.

    The vaccine imported from India cost Rs1,000 whereas the one imported from Europe costs Rs70,000. At public hospitals, cases of dog bites are treated for free. Public hospitals use the Indian vaccine because it’s cheaper. Some private hospitals in the city use the expensive European vaccines.

    “The time has come to start producing this vaccine in Pakistan. If the government can’t find a cheap alternative to the European vaccine, the number of deaths due to rabies will increase,” SAMAA quoted Pakistan Medical Association member Dr Qaiser Sajjad as saying.

  • PM Imran prays for Nawaz’s health, seeks update, orders best medical facilities

    PM Imran prays for Nawaz’s health, seeks update, orders best medical facilities

    Expressing good wishes for his recovery, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has sought from the Punjab government a report on the health of jailed ex-PM Nawaz Sharif, who was admitted to Lahore’s Services Hospital on Monday night.

    In a tweet, Special Assistant to PM on Broadcasting and Information Firdous Ashiq Awan said that the premier has directed the officials concerned to provide treatment to Nawaz as per his family’s wishes.

    The health of convicted former PM started improving after initial medical treatment at the Services Hospital.

    He was admitted to the hospital on Monday night after his platelet count dropped to a precariously low level, requiring an emergency response.

    “The physicians have injected three mega units of platelets to Nawaz Sharif, which gradually hiked the cell count to 18,000,” reports quoted a member of the special medical board — constituted for the ex-PM’s treatment — as saying.

  • PM takes notice of Hareem Shah’s viral TikTok video

    The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has taken notice of the video by famous TikTok girl Hareem Shah, who was spotted allegedly at a PM Secretariat conference room earlier in the day.

    Hareem became an internet sensation after her viral videos with influential political leaders started taking the country by storm.

    Earlier in the day, a video doing rounds over the internet showed the girl walking around a conference room as a song plays in the background. She then pulls out a chair and gets seated.

    The controversy began after journalist Adeel Raja claimed that the video was recorded shot at the PM’s Office.

    However, The Current learnt that it was actually recorded at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) — a claim that was later verified by PM’s focal person on digital media, Dr Arslan Khalid, as well.

    With eyebrows being raised over the access provided to Hareem and the internet celebrity’s subsequent actions, the PM office has now taken notice of the episode.

    According to reports, a probe has been launched to figure out how exactly did the girl manage to enter the MoFA building.