Tag: Imran Khan

  • Everything we know about Tania Aidrus’s resignation

    Everything we know about Tania Aidrus’s resignation

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Digital Pakistan Tania Aidrus has resigned from her post amid growing criticism for holding dual citizenship.

    “Growing criticism is a distraction to my ability to execute on the long-term vision for a Digital Pakistan. It is unfortunate that a Pakistani’s desire to serve Pakistan is clouded by such issues,” said Tania, who holds Canadian and Singaporean nationality, in her resignation letter.

    Furthermore, she stated that her Canadian nationality was a consequence of her birth and “not an acquisition of choice”.

    TANIA & TAREEN:

    According to media reports, appointments of Tania and Khurram Jamali, who formerly worked under Tania at Google, was facilitated by Jahangir Khan Tareen.

    In April 2020 when the sugar scandal rose its ugly head and a subsequent probe into it led to the damning report that said Tareen prioritised his sugar mills over national interest, PM Imran Khan was disillusioned.

    This led to a rift between the premier and Tareen, who, according to reports, are no longer on talking terms.

    While Tareen has left the country for the time being and does not hold any direct or indirect power in the government, people cannot help drawing links between the rift and Tania’s resignation.

    DIGITAL PAKISTAN INITIATIVE AND DIGITAL PAKISTAN FOUNDATION CONFLICT:

    Despite the existence of Digital Pakistan Initiative, Tania formed a nonprofit organisation called Digital Pakistan Foundation to attract foreign expatriates and talent to facilitate the digitisation process in Pakistan.

    According to Tania, the government’s Digital Pakistan Initiative had no Federal Budget assigned to it, neither was it under the ambit of the Ministry of Information Technology (IT) or Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), leaving it stalled and dry.

    However, reports say, Shabahat Ali Shah, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the National IT Board (NITB), and Tania were not getting along well since day one.

    Both Shah and Tania were working for the IT Ministry and there had been an overlap of their work, leading to turf wars.

    Taking advantage of Tania’s vulnerability, Shah allegedly want her sacked as the SAPM. To that end, the Digital Pakistan Foundation scandal was reportedly intentionally hyped up and leaked to a journalist, whose thread about the scandal was later picked up by various media outlets.

    Meanwhile, Tania says she will continue serving in Pakistan through public and private initiatives and will always be available for the cause of ‘Naya Pakistan’.

  • ‘I want to live in a country where there is no banning culture’: Asim Azhar urges PM IK to unban PUBG

    ‘I want to live in a country where there is no banning culture’: Asim Azhar urges PM IK to unban PUBG

    While PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) continues to remain banned in Pakistan, Asim Azhar has voiced his protest against the ban and requested Prime Minister Imran Khan to not let his youth down. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) banned the game after parents approached it complaining that the game was addictive for their children. According to details, three children in Lahore had also recently committed suicide due to the online game.

    In a series of tweets, Asim expressed his thoughts on the matter and said that banning the game won’t make any difference until we educate the youth.

    “Only if we invest in our education system as much, that we make our children – the future of this country, into humans with stable minds, we would never have to worry about any playform or game being harmful to the society,” said Asim.

    He continued: “I want to live in a country where there is no banning culture. Where the youth has enough awareness to know what is right and wrong for them.”

    Arguing his stance further, Asim appealed to PM Imran Khan and said that “the last time we banned something (YouTube) it took us so many years back”.

    “This is not just about a game, it is about the digital future of Pakistan,” argued Asim. “Every field will be affected. I am a victim of the ridiculous ban we had to face on YouTube for five years. We are again at the same stage. Please don’t let it happen again, sir Imran Khan.”

    He also requested everyone protesting against the ban not to use any hate speech.

    Asim also extended his support to Waqar Zaka who has been actively fighting against the ban.

    Meanwhile, Waqar Zaka expressed his disappointment at PM Imran Khan for not responding to the youth’s protests. He announced that he will contest in the next election and initiate a technology movement in Pakistan.

    https://twitter.com/ZakaWaqar/status/1287798265484910594?s=20

    Read more – Fawad Chaudhry urges to unban PUBG immediately

    The hashtag #ImranKhanPUBGkolo is currently trending at number one on Pakistani Twitter.

    Other celebrities including Hania Aamir also expressed their displeasure over the ban.

    Earlier in the day, PTA announced that the ban on PUBG will remain in place as the game developer has not yet responded to the authority about its suitable framework to address key concerns.

    Three days ago, on July 24, the Islamabad High Court had ordered the government to lift the ban on PUBG, much to the delight of PUBG fans in Pakistan. However, PTA, in a statement, said: “The order has been issued in accordance with Islamabad High Court’s orders after a hearing conducted by PTA on July 9 and in accordance with the provisions of PECA 2016.”

  • Fahad Mustafa asks PM Imran if voting for him was the right decision

    Fahad Mustafa asks PM Imran if voting for him was the right decision

    After the prices of petrol were drastically increased, actor and game show host Fahad Mustafa tweeted to Prime Minister Imran Khan, asking if he [Fahad] made the right decision about voting for PTI in the 2018 elections.

    “Sir I know running a country is not an easy job but what happened to (Yeh Koi Rocket Science Nahi) you kept telling us that when you were in the opposition. Please tell me if I made the right decision voting you?,” asked Fahad.

    Many people, including celebrities, are criticising the government for raising petrol prices.

    Veena Malik, who vehemently defends PM Khan and his government, also took to Twitter and wrote: “Khan Sahab awaam pooch rahi hai ub thora ghabra lein? (Khan Sahab, people are asking if we can panic a little now).”

  • PM Khan’s recommended book is being made into a movie

    PM Khan’s recommended book is being made into a movie

    William Dalrymple’s The Anarchy, which Prime Minister Imran Khan was spotted reading on his way back to Pakistan from the United Nations General Assembly, is being made into a movie.

    According to a report in Hollywood publication Variety Magazine, award-winning producer Siddharth Roy Kapur has acquired the rights of the book, whose complete title is The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company. Roy Kapur, unarguably one of Bollywood’s biggest producers, has a plethora of hits under his belt including Dangal, The Sky is Pink, Khoobsurat and Kai Po Che!.

    Siddharth Roy Kapur

    Set between 1599 and 1802, The Anarchy traces the rise of The East India Company against the decline and fall of the Mughal Empire. It provides an account of how a provincial trading start-up, run by thirty people from an office in a nondescript London building, became rulers of an entire sub-continent.

    While further details on the film are still under wraps, Roy Kapur Films is reportedly planning a big-budget, grand-scale series adaptation of the book with yet unnamed international co-production partners.

    Dalrymple, who is also on board as a consultant for the project, while speaking about the adaption said: “I’m very excited looking at the initial treatment note, talking about the various ways to bring this book alive and to bring the characters I’ve been living with over the last 6 years onto the screen, so that everyone else can see them in flesh and blood.”

    Apart from PM Khan The Anarchy was also recommended by former US President Barack Obama, who listed it among his top 10 recommended books of 2019.

  • Tareen got Asad Umar fired; Asad settled score by getting rid of him: Fawad Chaudhry

    Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has made some explosive revelations by claiming that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) failed to bring “tabdeeli” [change] due to the in-fighting between Asad Umar, Jahangir Tareen and Shah Mahmood Qureshi after the formation of its government, which was followed by the ouster of the political class from Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s core team.

    “This political vacuum was then filled by new and non-elected people who did not have anything to do with politics,” the minister said in an interview with VOA Urdu.

    Talking to senior journalist Suhail Warraich, Fawad revealed that Tareen was responsible for Asad Umar losing his Finance Ministry portfolio. When asked why was there so much in-fighting among PTI ranks, he said when Umar was the Finance Minister, Tareen got him fired.

    “Now when Umar got back in the government, he got rid of Tareen. Qureshi and Tareen also had meetings but things didn’t work out between the two.”

    He maintained that party groupings were a norm but PTI’s internal fighting between top leaders led to their replacement by bureaucrats, which compromised PM’s reform agenda.

    Fawad added that the PTI government was now just another government as its agenda of carrying out police and judicial among other reforms now faced an uncertain future.

    CIVILIAN SUPREMACY AND OPPOSITION:

    To another question, he said that people say there should be civilian supremacy and the military’s role in politics should be curtailed, but they should also take a look at the parliament and provincial lawmakers. “How can there be civilian supremacy under such leadership?” Ultimately, this is about human resources, he added.

    Criticising the opposition for having a limited vision due to dynastic politics, he also questioned why PM Imran had not developed any new and capable leadership.

    “We can understand why Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto put weak people in important positions because their vision was to transfer leadership to their own children. Imran doesn’t have this problem. He should have placed the best at powerful positions but somehow, he was advised by someone to place weak people in powerful positions so that they can be dictated. This only damaged Imran. He is far bigger than what he looks like right now.”

    ALL-POWERFUL TECHNOCRATS:

    When asked how bureaucrats and special advisors to the PM were all-powerful without any resistance from the political class, he said that most people worked with the status quo. “If you can’t balance politics and governance, then it is a problem. PM Imran knows this… he recently warned his cabinet that we have five and a half months to improve our performance, otherwise time will run out for us.” He added that they didn’t have a political or governance-reform team.

    PRESIDENTIAL FORM OF GOVT?

    Fawad said that in a parliamentary form of government, experts are brought in to consult in the decision-making process but decision-making has to be done by elected politicians. “This is the basic difference between parliamentary democracy and a presidential system.”

    When asked if the country was now moving towards a presidential form of government, he said that the appointment of so many advisors or special assistants, and elected people not being invited to participate in key decision-making, put a question mark on parliamentary form of government. “Imran Khan’s failure is not the failure of an individual; the entire nation’s hopes are pinned on his success. If the military and other state institutions are supporting the PM, it is because there are no other political options.”

    He also said that while parliamentary form of government was not the most competent, it was still the most powerful. “Ideas cannot be implemented without a good team and human resource.”

    It is not the first time Fawad Chaudhry has criticised the PTI government for favouring non-elected or weak people in key positions. Last year following a major cabinet reshuffle that led to Asad Umar losing his ministry while Fawad Chaudhry and several others were given new portfolios, Chaudhry lamented in an interview that at times, important decisions were taken “and we don’t even know”.

    WATCH VIDEO:

  • PM Imran urges TV writers’ to promote family values, national identity through dramas

    PM Imran urges TV writers’ to promote family values, national identity through dramas

    Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a video meeting with renowned writers across the country, urged them to promote family values and national identity through their writings and dramas. Writers who were part of the meeting included Hasina Moin, Amjad Islam Amjad, Bee Gul, Fasih Bari Khan, Zafar Meraj, Zanzbeel Asim Shah, Amna Mufti, Saima Ikram Chaudhry and Jahanzeb Qamar.

    According to APP, the prime minister assured the government’s support for the promotion of national culture and identity. In the meeting, PM Khan discussed the importance of highlighting national culture and identity and said that the education and training of the youth had been jeopardized by modern communication tools, internet, easy access to objectionable content and onslaught of alien culture and traditions.

    The PM asserted that foreign content – such a Bollywood – is putting our history, culture and social values in danger and reducing the youth’s knowledge about Islamic personalities, sagas and national history.

    PM Imran also said that the government was aiming to revamp and digitalise Pakistan Television (PTV) and revive its previous glory.

    Fasih Bari Khan, and other writers present on the occasion, speaking to a private media outlet, said that PM Khan had highlighted that the whole society was in a state of moral decay and that the country was leading in child pornography. PM Khan attributed rising divorce rates to the moral degradation of society and the influence of Western cultures. He expressed his distress at the rising divorce cases in society and spoke at length on the topic. He urged playwrights to help the new generation in moral training and character building.

    Read more – PM Khan calls out Bollywood for spreading vulgarity

    PM Khan also expressed his desire for an Ertuğrul -type drama to be produced in Pakistan.

    Meanwhile, when Bee Gul disagreed with PM Khan’s point of view and said that while divorce should be discouraged, it should not be stigmatised as it puts stress on the woman, her mic was switched off and PM Khan said that divorce has a negative effect on children and the family structure.

    The writers hoped that this meeting would bear fruit and would bring positive changes, because more often than not, they are pressurised into writing a certain type of story by private channels.

    Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Lt Gen (Retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa were also part of the meeting.

  • Pakistan mourns as Tariq Aziz passes away

    Pakistan mourns as Tariq Aziz passes away

    The passing of Pakistan’s renowned TV/radio host, film actor and politician Tariq Aziz has left an irreplaceable void in the country and Pakistanis, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, mourned his death and remembered him and his work.

    According to Radio Pakistan, Aziz passed away due to cardiac arrest in Lahore on Wednesday. He was 84. ARY reported that the veteran host did not have any underlying ailments or conditions. He had been isolating at home ever since the coronavirus outbreak. Quoting his wife, the reporter said that a while before his death Aziz said he felt cold and put his head on his wife’s shoulder for some relief. He passed away soon after.

    Read more – Legendary Pakistani actress Sabiha Khanum passes away at 85

    In a condolence message, the Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Aziz was “an icon in his time and a pioneer of our TV game shows”.

    President Arif Alvi said that “a chapter closes with the sad demise of Tariq Aziz”.

    Meanwhile, from celebrities and politicians to sportsmen and journalists, everyone fondly remembered the legend and his iconic presence on the screen.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CBh4hApDDZr/

    Born in 1936 in Jalandhar, Aziz began his professional career from Radio Pakistan Lahore and was one of the most recognisable voices on the radio. Later, he joined PTV, where he not only became the state-owned television’s first announcer, he also became popular for his work on PTV’s Quiz Show Neelam Ghar, first aired in 1974. The show was later renamed the Tariq Aziz Show and also known as Bazm-e-Tariq Aziz.

    Aziz’s unique hosting skills on Neelam Ghar made him a household name in Pakistan over the past four decades in the country.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CBh5kIDhdoV/

    Other than that, Aziz was also a poet and a film actor – he was part of several films over the course of his career. He also featured in the super hit musical Salgira (1969), which went on to win two Nigar Awards that year.

    Aziz was also a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan between 1997 and 1999.

    He was awarded Pride of Performance Award by the President of Pakistan in 1992 for his services to the nation.

    May his soul rest in peace.

  • Mehwish Hayat reveals her favourite cricket captain

    Mehwish Hayat reveals her favourite cricket captain

    Not Prime Minister Imran Khan, neither Wasim Akram, nor Shahid Afridi – Mehwish Hayat’s favourite cricket captain is Inzamam-ul-Haq.

    Sharing a picture of herself standing in front of the Wall of Fame at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Mehwish said that she felt a” great sense of pride” seeing the cricketing legends through the ages. The actor added that her personal favourite cricket captain was Inzamam-ul-Haq.

    A prolific batsman, Inzamam ul Haq was the captain of the Pakistan national cricket team from 2003–2007.

    Read more – Mehwish Hayat’s crush has been updated after watching ‘Diriliş: Ertuğrul’

    In a follow-up tweet, Mehwish remarked that Zaheer Abbas kind of looks like the professor from the hit Netflix series Money Heist.

    Responding to Mehwish’s tweet, several Twitter users shared their favourite captains as well.

    Imran Khan is a hot fave.

  • Afridi promises ending unemployment if he becomes PM

    Afridi promises ending unemployment if he becomes PM

    Former cricket team captain Shahid Khan Afridi has said that he would address the issues of unemployment and education if he became the prime minister of Pakistan.

    During an interaction with journalists, undated footage and pictures of which are doing rounds on social media, Afridi was asked about his plans if handed reins of the country for 10 days.

    The video being recorded during a ceremony held as part of Afridi’s nationwide campaign titled “Taleem Ho Gi Aam, Her Beti Key Naam”, suggests it is from later last year.

    Addressing the ceremony, Afridi said that women were giving birth to children on streets in Sindh, adding that it was 21st century Pakistan where humans and animals were being forced to drink water from the same place.

    Seeking support from the youth, the former captain went on to say that Pakistan was stuck in a swamp of problems and we have to unite and make it an ideal country.

    “More than 20 million children are missing out on education and the goal is to bring them to school,” Afridi said.

    “Our culture and religion are very beautiful,” he said and added that loving humanity was the need of the hour.

    The former cricketer also reportedly highlighted the plight of Muslims in occupied Kashmir.

  • ‘Kitna khoobsurat lagta hai’: Irrfan Khan about PM Imran Khan

    ‘Kitna khoobsurat lagta hai’: Irrfan Khan about PM Imran Khan

    Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan, who passed away last week, was not only a cricket buff but was also a big fan of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

    In an interview with Telegraph India, Irrfan had expressed his fondness for two legendary Pakistani cricketers Imran Khan and Zaheer Abbas and recalled his meeting with them.

    “There was an India-Pakistan match. I was very young. Zaheer Abbas was there. I went to take his autograph. That was the first time as I never took autographs from anybody in my life. He just looked at me… and I felt so humiliated. I felt really bad,” said the late actor. “I was a Zaheer Abbas and Imran Khan fan.”

    Speaking about PM Imran, Irrfan had said, “Imran kitna khubsoorat lagta hai! What a persona… open-chested, aisi uchhal ke bowling karta tha. Even now, he looks great.”

    Read more – Sherry Rehman calls Irrfan Khan ‘one of Pakistan’s best’

    Irrfan had also expressed his appreciation about other sportsmen including Kapil Dev and David Beckham.

    “David Beckham is also very good-looking. Beckham ka ajeeb sa hai… anything suits him. Very stylish,” he said about Beckham.

    He added, “At one point in time, I used to like Sachin (Tendulkar). Kapil (Dev) was also a favourite. (M.S.) Dhoni has shown some character. He is a great captain.”

    It is a well-known fact that Irrfan was a huge cricket fan. In fact back in 2018, while he was in London for his treatment, Irrfan was spotted in the stands during Pakistan versus England Test match.

    Irrfan had also expressed his desire to be a cricketer but due to financial issues, he decided to give up that dream and pursue acting instead.

    “I played cricket. I wanted to become a cricketer. I was an all-rounder and the youngest one in my team in Jaipur. I wanted to make a career out of it. I was selected for the CK Nayudu tournament I think and then I needed money and didn’t know who to ask. That day I decided I cannot pursue it,” Khan had said in the same interview.