Tag: home-politics

  • Pakistan beats Israel in global military strength rankings

    Pakistan has beaten Israel in the Global Firepower (GFP) Military Strength Index 2019, according to data released by the group on its official website.

    The list by GFP relies on more than 50 factors to assign the 137 countries included in the survey an individual Power Index (PI) score, based upon their conventional war-making capability across land, sea and air.

    According to the 2019 GFP Index, Pakistan’s armed forces have been ranked the 15th most powerful in the world, beating Israel and other countries, including oil-rich Saudi Arabia.

    The ranking also includes factors concerning the respective states’ economic muscle and geographical characteristics. The report details Pakistan’s present military strength at 654,000 army personnel, 786 jet aircraft and 2,200 operational tanks.

    In addition, Pakistan’s naval capacity stands at a total of 197 vessels.

    Israel’s armed forces, on the other hand, have been ranked 17th, with a total of 170,000 military personnel, 506 warplanes and 2,760 tanks. Its naval strength stands at 65 assets.

    The ranking comes amid a flare in tensions between Pakistan and Israel, owing to alleged Israeli involvement in the failed February 26 airstrikes by India in Balakot.

  • Govt withdraws food-from-home facility for jailed Nawaz

    Govt withdraws food-from-home facility for jailed Nawaz

    The Punjab government has decided to withdraw food-from-home facility for former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif, who is currently serving a seven-year sentence at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail.

    According to media reports, the jail administration, anytime this week, would order the withdrawal of the facility that Nawaz has been availing since his days in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.

    After the withdrawal of the facility, the former premier would have to be content with the jail food — which according to Nawaz’s family, is “unfit to consume” considering his deteriorating health.

    A three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa had last month rejected a petition by the ex-PM for an extension in the bail granted to him on medical grounds in the Al-Azizia reference.

    It was followed by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) also rejecting his bail plea. Nawaz had been granted bail on medical grounds by the apex court on March 26 for six weeks.

    On April 25, he had submitted a review petition in the SC seeking a permanent bail. His bail expired on May 7.

  • Indian leader encourages ‘Hindu brothers to gang rape Muslim women’

    Indian leader encourages ‘Hindu brothers to gang rape Muslim women’

    A leader of the hardliner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been removed from her position in the party’s women wing after she encouraged “Hindu brothers to gang rape Muslim women openly in the streets”, Indian media reported.

    “Muslim mothers and sisters should have their honour looted as there is no other way to protect India,” said Sunita Singh Gaur in a Facebook post.

    The viral post was later deleted; however, with screenshots being posted all over Twitter, Gaur was sacked as the Mahila Morcha leader.

    “Be assured, BJP Mahila Morcha will not tolerate any hateful comments whatsoever from any karyakarta [worker],” BJP Mahila Morcha National President Vijaya Rahatkar said.

    This is not the first time a member of BJP has spewed hate online. However, many were shocked to see the leader openly encourage rape and sexual violence.

  • PML-N MPA, his sons booked for ‘raping minor maid’

    PML-N MPA, his sons booked for ‘raping minor maid’

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Tahir Jamil, his sons Afaq and Saad, as well as his wife Bano, have been booked for allegedly raping their 14-year-old maid in Faisalabad, SAMAA reported.

    According to reports, the case was registered by the victim’s father under sections 376 (rape) and 377B (unnatural offences) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Section 34 (unauthorised custody) of the Punjab Destitute and Neglected Children Act (PDNCA), 2004.

    According to the victim’s father, the girl was working at Jamil’s Faisalabad residence in Al Masoom Town for the past six months.

    The girl returned home on Tuesday and told her family that she had been raped twice by Jamil a few months ago, while Afaq and Saad also molested her. According to the victim, Jamil’s wife Bano beat her up as well.

    She also claimed being threatened by the family in case she informed anyone of her ordeal, while her father has said he was pressurised against registering a case.

    The medico-legal officer has been unable to confirm the rape owing to the passage of time. No arrests have so far been made.

    PUNISHMENT:

    Section 376 is punishable by death or a 10 to 25-year jail sentence besides a fine. Section 377B is punishable by up to life imprisonment.

    PDNCA’s Section 34, on the other hand, is punishable by a jail term between three months and five years and a fine between Rs10,000 and Rs100,000.

  • Army removes ‘Christians-only’ condition for sanitary workers

    Army removes ‘Christians-only’ condition for sanitary workers

    After being criticised for discrimination towards Christians, Pakistan Army has removed the “Christian-only” clause in its call for applications for sanitary workers.

    The move was pointed out by activist and former Punjab Chief Minister’s Strategic Reforms Unit director general (DG) Salman Sufi. Taking to Twitter, he thanked Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) DG Major General Asif Ghafoor.

    “Great news. Thanks to @OfficialDGISPR [Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor] for removing the ‘Christian-only clause in the call for application for sanitary workers, paving the way to ensure Pakistani Christians aren’t labeled as just for sanitary jobs,” he wrote.

    “We are grateful that this clerical error was addressed as usually Christians are [stereotyped] as sanitary workers so it is considered a norm and we wanted that changed,” Sufi told a private media outlet.

    Earlier, activists had taken to social media to urge the ISPR chief that the discriminatory clause is removed from the call. It specified that only Christians could apply for the posts of sanitation workers in the army’s Mujahid Force.

    Vacancies for the posts of drivers, sepoys and tradesmen were also mentioned, but had no such religious criteria.

    According to SAMAA, a report by the World Watch Monitor says that minority representation in sanitation work in Pakistan is above 80%. According to the report, 824 of 935 sanitation workers in the Peshawar Municipal Corporation (PMC) are Christian.

    About 6,000 out of 7,894 sanitation workers in the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) are Christians and so are 768 of 978 workers in the Quetta Municipal Corporation (QMC).

  • ‘PTI govt repays record $9.5 billion foreign loans’

    ‘PTI govt repays record $9.5 billion foreign loans’

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has retired record foreign loans worth $9.5 billion during the current fiscal year, which according to Minister of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar, had never been done by any government in a single year.

    On point of personal explanation in the National Assembly, Azhar said that during the first year of PTI government, external debts increased by $2.7 billion whereas, in the last year of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government, foreign loans surged by over $7 billion.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Responding to the opposition’s claim of obtaining domestic loans worth Rs7,000 billion or Rs 10,000 billion during PTI’s first year in power, he further said the figures were highly exaggerated.

    The minister added that previous governments were responsible for the current economic situation of the country, while the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan-led government was taking the economy towards stability.

  • Bankruptcy? ‘Ishaq Dar’s son shuts down school in Dubai over financial issues’

    Bankruptcy? ‘Ishaq Dar’s son shuts down school in Dubai over financial issues’

    Days after it was reported that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is tightening the noose around former finance minister Ishaq Dar, reports claiming his family is going through a financial crunch, have surfaced.

    According to reports, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader’s son, Hasnain Dar, has decided to shut down his Ontario International Canadian School (OICS) in Dubai citing “financial issues” as the family “starts to wind up their ventures abroad”.

    Mirdiff based OICS was opened in 2014 and follows the Canadian curriculum for kindergarten to grade 10, with fees ranging from Dh28,000-56,000 a year.

    Last week, the school administration issued to parents a circular signed by Dar, which has reportedly left over 200 parents in an awkward position while around 50 teaching and non-teaching staffers will also be affected.

    “I have continuously been engaged in discussions with KHDA regarding the future of OICS. However, it is only fair for me to share with you that —the school does not have the financial support to continue beyond June 30, 2019,” the circular read.

    “I understand that this is an incredibly difficult time for families and we at OICS are committed to ensuring a smooth transition of your children to other schools. As a part of our effort for this smooth transition, we have asked Kings’ Education to honour the OICS fee structure for the next two academic years for any students who wish to transfer to Kings’ Schools,” it said further.

  • UK events featuring Saqib Nisar, Faisal Vawda cancelled due to ‘lack of public interest’

    UK events featuring Saqib Nisar, Faisal Vawda cancelled due to ‘lack of public interest’

    At least three fundraisers in the United Kingdom (UK), planned with former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar and Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda, have been cancelled owing to “lack of public interest”.

    According to The News, I am Pakistan Worldwide Movement (IAPWM) had announced the “awareness dinner galas” in Birmingham, London and Manchester to raise funds for Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams with Nisar and Vawda.

    However, the three events to be held on June 24 at Piccadilly Banquetting Suite, Birmingham; June 21 at Royal Nawab Restaurant, London; and Royal Nawab in Manchester on June 23 were cancelled due to “lack of public interest”.

    Nisar has been in London for over two weeks now and dates of the events were announced in consultations with him as well as Vawda, however, the response from the local chapter as well as the community groups led to the events being cancelled, the report said.

    “Ex-CJP Saqib Nisar made London travel plans with his family to attend the fundraising events and to watch the ICC World Cup, but upon arrival, the organisers told him that the events had been cancelled due to lack of interest from the members of the public,” The News quoted sources as saying.

    The report further said that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s close aide Aneel Musarrat “didn’t show any interest in the event unlike previously when he took lead in arranging a fundraiser when Saqib Nisar was the chief justice”.

    Vawda, on the other hand, said he failed to attend the events because “he was busy with the budget session and other commitments”.

  • Making us proud: Meet Major Fozia Parveen, serving UN Peacekeeping Force

    Making us proud: Meet Major Fozia Parveen, serving UN Peacekeeping Force

    Among many other Pakistani female military and staff officers is Major Fozia Parveen, who is making the country proud by serving the United Nations’ (UN) Peacekeeping Force.

    Taking to social media, Pakistan’s Representative to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi, lauded Major Fozia’s services as a UN peacekeeper in Cyprus.

    “We are proud of our female (and male) peacekeepers who serve in UN missions. Major Fozia Perveen is serving in the UN Mission in Cyprus (UNFICYP), seen here on a patrol in the Buffer Zone. Picture thanks to the UN, [sic]” she said in an Instagram post.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BzMeC8_h_mI/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    Pakistan earlier crossed the target set by the UN from zero to 15 per cent deployment of female military and staff officers in the peacekeeping mission within just 18 months.

    “We believe, increased participation of female peacekeepers, and encouraging more women to take up mediation roles helps in the stabilisation and reconstruction phases of conflicts,” Lodhi had said earlier in April while participating in a debate on ‘Women in Peacekeeping.’

    Maleeh Lodhi herself is the first woman to hold the position of Pakistan’s representative to the UN. Previously, she has served as the country’s envoy to the Court of St James and twice as its ambassador to the United States (US).

  • Army builds girls’ school in place of TTP militant Hakimullah Mehsud’s headquarters

    Army builds girls’ school in place of TTP militant Hakimullah Mehsud’s headquarters

    Pakistan Army has rebuilt a girls school for higher secondary education where once existed the headquarters of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant Hakimullah Mehsud, a private media outlet reported.

    The school, located in the Orakzai Agency of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Kohat division, was completely destroyed during the war on terror and later converted into the headquarters of Mehsud, who was the deputy to TTP commander Baitullah Mehsud.

    With the war abated after years of unrest, Pakistan Army has rebuilt the school at the same spot.

    The TTP has been a strong adversary of the idea of sending girls to schools. The militant group claims “educating women goes against Islam”.

    In 2012, Nobel Peace Prize winner and activist Malala Yousafzai was also shot by the Taliban after advocating for girls’ education using a pen name, bringing global attention to the group’s violent threat on the nation’s young women.