After his austere United States (US) trip from earlier this year, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan is all set for another one of the same kind as merely $162,000 (Rs25 million) from taxpayers’ money will be spent, The Express Tribune reported.
The premier will reach Washington on September 21, where he will not only hold meetings with US President Donald Trump among other top government officials, but also address the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session.
It is also believed that PM Imran will once again take a commercial flight instead of opting to charter a plane in a bid to save money as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government continues to attempt to reduce the burden on the national exchequer.
Previously, the premier’s visit to the US had cost the treasury around $67,180 (Rs11 million). Around Rs1.35 million were spent on accommodation for PM’s 27-member delegation, while the PM chose to stay at Pakistan Embassy instead of some lavish hotel.
According to the details of the expenditures, an amount of Rs92,120 were incurred on transport, Rs142,000 on gifts, Rs6,075,800 on airfare, miscellaneous expenditures stood at Rs1,287,460, tips at Rs706,001 and meals at Rs1,389,077.
Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar-led provincial government’s Metro Bus fare policy has backfired as both Lahore and Rawalpindi-Islamabad metro buses have faced a drastic decrease in the number of passengers.
According to The News, after the Punjab Metro Bus Authority increased the bus fare from Rs20 to Rs30, the number of commuters on Lahore Metro Bus has decreased by up to 20,000 per day while around 10,000 to 20,000 passengers have stopped commuting via the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus.
“We were expecting an annual increase of Rs800 million in the revenue of Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMTA) by increasing the fare. However, it is quite surprising that the number of passengers has decreased up to 20,000 in Lahore and 10,000 to 20,000 in Rawalpindi-Islamabad on a daily basis,” reports quoted an official as saying.
It is very strange for us to know that passengers are so sensitive about the fare, the official said further. “The PMTA management is preparing the report on this unexpected outcome which will be presented to the authorities concerned in a week or two.”
The Supreme Court of India (SCI) on Monday ordered the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi-led government to restore normalcy in occupied Kashmir “as soon as possible while keeping in mind national safety and security.”
“Schools, hospitals, public transport should function properly,” said the ruling of a three-member bench of India’s apex court.
According to Dunya News, the ruling came as the SCI took up multiple pleas against the Indian premier’s August 5 decision of revoking the special autonomy of Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK).
The court has ordered the government to submit a report mentioning the actual situation in the region that has been lockdown for 43 days with communication blackout.
During the hearing of petitions, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi remarked that if “requirement arises”, he would himself visit Jammu and Kashmir and expressed concerns over reports of inaccessibility of Kashmiris to the high court.
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain has said that Pakistan is committed to sending its first astronaut to space by 2022, ARY Newsreported.
According to the details, the minister said that China would collaborate with Pakistan in its space mission and the selection process for the astronaut would start in 2020.
He added that 50 people will be selected in the initial selection process and then the list would come down to 25 in 2022, out of them only one would be sent to space.
The minister also said that the debris of India’s first space mission namely ‘Shakti’, which had failed, was even posing dangers to the space missions of other countries.
Furthermore, Fawad said that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) will play an important role in the astronaut’s selection.
Earlier, on July 25, the minister had announced that Pakistan would send its first citizen to space by 2022 following a selection process.
The Punjab government has missed its tax collection target in July, costing the provincial exchequer an amount of Rs20.45billion, The Express Tribune reported.
According to reports, the provincial government collected Rs11.91billion, down by 63 per cent from its target of Rs32.33billion, and economic experts associate the reduction in tax collections with the fiscal crisis that currently grips the country.
“If the economy remains in this condition, revenue will continue to fall,” the report quoted an expert as saying.
Several factors, including lower than usual property tax, irrigation tax, income tax, and land revue, contributed to the overall shortfall. During July, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collection under stamp duty, property tax, irrigation tax, income tax, and land revenue fell by 20.41 per cent, due to which the tax authority was only able to bag Rs5.38billion instead of Rs6.76billion.
Similarly, a reduction of 22.16 per cent in property transfer, professional tax, professional excise, and other indirect taxes resulted in a shortfall of Rs0.73 billion.
The provincial exchequer received another blow in lower than expected collection of sales tax and other indirect taxes. Out of the Rs13.87billion, only Rs318.6million ended up in the provincial coffers.
Experts believe slowing economic growth will result in lower revenues for the government. And if current trends continue, the government revenue receipts will fail to match the budgeted targets.
Official sources, on the other hand, confirmed the English daily that the targets were not being met due to the current economic crisis. However, they were hopeful that the coming year would yield better results and bring in greater revenue through taxation.
In yet another incident of miscalculation, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that Pakistan enjoys the support of 58 member countries of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) against Indian actions in held Kashmir, while the global rights body only has 47 members.
“I commend the 58 countries that joined Pakistan in Human Rights Council on 10 Sept reinforcing demands of int community for India to stop use of force, lift siege, remove other restrictions, respect & protect Kashmiris’ rights & resolve Kashmir dispute through UNSC resolutions [sic],” the premier tweeted Thursday.
I commend the 58 countries that joined Pakistan in Human Rights Council on 10 Sept reinforcing demands of int community for India to stop use of force, lift siege, remove other restrictions, respect & protect Kashmiris’ rights & resolve Kashmir dispute through UNSC resolutions.
He also welcomed “the EU’s call in the Human Rights Council for a peaceful solution of the Kashmir dispute in line with UNSC resolutions, int law and bilateral agreements”.
I welcome the EU’s call in the Human Rights Council for a peaceful solution of the Kashmir dispute in line with UNSC resolutions, int law and bilateral agreements.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar also made the same mistake and said that Pakistan has the support of 58 member countries.
Twitterati, however, didn’t spare the premier. Expectedly, within a short time, several people started pointing out the error and poking fun at him. Here’s what they tweeted:
Isn’t the UN Human Rights Council made of 47 countries? However, there are 58 countries that PM wants to thank. I think he is counting the djinns too.. https://t.co/uD8OSAF2sm
Previously, PM Imran had found himself in a similar soup when, at a conference, he said that Germany and Japan are immediate neighbours who share a border.
“Germany and Japan killed millions of their civilians until after the Second World War when they decided that they would have, on the border region of Germany and Japan, joint industries,” he had said.
Acclaimed writer and son of Indian journalist Tavleen Singh and former governor Salmaan Taseer, Aatish Taseer has written a controversial piece for Vanity Fair. From interviewing PM Khan’s former wife Reham Khan to singer Ali Zafar, Taseer is being severely criticised for writing a puff piece with quotes from an ex-wife and a singer accused of sexual harassment.
Aatish Taseer
The Current decided to sum up the major points from his article.
1. Pakistan’s first lady Bushra Bibi has two jinns
According to a journalist who has not been named, Bushra Bibi, known as “Pinky Peerni” has two jinns and when people seek her guidance, she asks them for “great vats of cooked meat,” that she “fed to the jinns she has kept at her disposal”.
Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi’s Nikkah – Feb ’18
2. Khan married Bushra Bibi because of a dream
When PM Khan sought guidance from Bushra Bibi, according to Taseer, she told him that she had had a dream and according to the dream, “it was imperative he be married to the right woman—i.e., a member of Maneka’s own family.”
Taseer then relates that Bushra “offered her sister to Khan,” as well as her daughter. PM Khan refused and “then Maneka went away to dream again…and the voice in her head told her that she, Bushra Maneka, a married woman and a mother of five, was the wife Imran Khan needed.”
According to the article, Bushra Bibi’s husband Khawar Maneka, “agreed to give her a divorce,” so she could marry Khan.
Imran Khan pictured in Bani Gala in 2012
3. “I have seen women from the age of just 6 to 60 going crazy over him”
Long-time friend Yousaf Salahuddin tells Taseer that Khan was a very wanted man in his younger days and girls as young as six years were crazy about him. This quote was inserted in a paragraph that describes Khan as a sex symbol.
4. Zulfi Bokhari refused to give Taseer an interview with Khan
Taseer said that he approached close aide and Special Assistant to the PM on Overseas Pakistanis, Zulfi Bokhari to set up an interview with PM Khan. But “when I spoke to Zulfi Bokhari, a frequenter of nightclubs from the London days… he sought assurances that my piece would be positive; otherwise, he told me, it would be his a** on the line. A few days later, Bokhari WhatsApped me: “Unfortunately the PM has said he can’t do it right now. Perhaps in the near future.”
5. Khan was envious of Benazir’s death
Taseer writes that when Benazir Bhutto died in 2007, Khan came to Pakistan a few days later “with a French girlfriend” and had been “photographed poolside in swimming trunks as his country was engulfed in trauma”.
Imran Khan sunbathing at Godrej bungalow at Juhu in Mumbai on 28 Dec. 2007
Taseer also mentions the time when he met Khan alone after BB’s death, Khan said that God had saved Benazir. Khan said that BB, in making a deal with General Musharraf had done, “the most immoral thing you could have done. So this thing has come as a blessing for her.” Taseer asked Khan what he meant by “this thing” and Khan replied, “Death,” as a matter-of-fact. Then, with what sounded almost like envy, he added, “Benazir has become a martyr. She has become immortal.”
6. Khan identified himself as a “liberal”
In a discussion with singer Ali Zafar, Khan said that he was “a liberal” and said about his “right-wing” tilt that, “you just can’t talk about those issues so openly, because you’re going to be penalized for it.”
Khan told Ali that “You know me…I’m a liberal; I’ve got friends in India; I’ve got friends who are atheists. But you’ve got to be careful here,” meaning Pakistan.
Social media had mixed reactions to Taseer’s account.
That Vanity Fair article was less about Imran Khan and more an excuse for Aatish Taseer to name-drop how many of the rich and privileged he knew.
Ppl outraging over this need to: a) read Vanity Fair to understand their brand of interviews/profiles — its not an academic journal, folks; and b) need to finally come out as ‘Insafians’ of the youth variety
I’m not sure why there is so much backlash against this piece @AatishTaseer piece from both pro and anti-PTI people. I think it is well written and has some important insights: https://t.co/fDQ6tiJUzx
Beautifully written but really, after being in the politics for over two decades, should we be concerned about Imran Khan’s past or worry about the future he has planned for this country? https://t.co/YgkMlX0JX3
Amid reports claiming that Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar will soon be sacked by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, his spokesperson, Dr Shahbaz Gill, has resigned from office.
“I hereby resign from the post of official spokesperson to Punjab CM,” Gill stated in a handwritten note submitted to the office of the provincial chief executive.
Initially, Gill did not cite any reason behind his abrupt decision, however, reports quoted the former spokesperson as saying that “it was difficult for him to defend the poor performance of the Punjab government”.
In a tweet posted earlier in the day, Gill had said that he would be sharing an “important decision” very soon.
This morning took an important decision. Inshallah will share with you soon.
The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased 2.2 per cent on a weekly basis, data released by the central bank has revealed.
According to The Express Tribune, the reserves had earlier spiralled downwards, falling below the $7 billion mark, which raised concern over Pakistan’s ability to meet its financing requirements. However, financial assistance from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and other friendly nations helped shore up the foreign exchange reserves.
On September 6, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $8,462.3 million, up by $181.8 million compared with $8,280.5 million in the previous week. The central bank cited official inflows as the reason for the increase in reserves.
Overall, liquid foreign currency reserves, held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $15,751.7 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $7,289.4 million.
Pakistan received the first loan tranche of $991.4 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on July 9, which helped bolster the reserves. Previously, the reserves had jumped on account of $2.5 billion in inflows from China.
Over time, the declining reserves have forced the central bank to let the rupee depreciate massively, sparking concern about the country’s ability to finance a hefty import bill as well as meet debt obligations in coming months.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is facing massive criticism from prominent South Asian lawyers, human rights activists and philanthropists in the United States (US) after it announced to honour Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi with an award, The Guardian reported.
According to the details, the foundation is said to give Modi “The Global Goalkeeper” award for his “Clean India Programme” under which millions of toilets were set up and benefits of sanitation and hygiene were publicised.
Reacting to the news about the award, a group of South Asian Americans working in philanthropy on Tuesday wrote an open letter to the Gates Foundation, alleging that Modi had effectively confined millions to their communities.
The letter also urged the organisation to rescind the award.
“For over a month now, PM Modi has placed 8 million people in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) under house arrest, blocked communications and media coverage to the outside world, detained thousands of people, including children, and denied basic benefits,” said the letter.
The award comes amid growing criticism of detention and deportation of Muslims in Assam and Kashmir and human rights violations in IoK since August 5 under Modi’s rule have made front pages around the world.
While Modi’s government claims that the programme has given 90% of Indians access to clean toilets, press reports suggest otherwise. Reports claim that many of the newly-built toilets remain unused because of poor access to water and caste rules that restrict people from cleaning them.
