Tag: Pakistan

  • Russian delegation will visit Pakistan tomorrow to discuss long-term oil and gas deal

    Russian delegation will visit Pakistan tomorrow to discuss long-term oil and gas deal

    The much-touted $3 billion Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline (PSGP) project, as well as a long-term trade agreement for oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), will be the topics of bilateral negotiations between Pakistan and a Russian delegation that will arrive tomorrow.

    The team, which consists of 80 personnel, will land in Pakistan on Tuesday for three days of bilateral discussions through the Inter-Governmental Commission forum (IGC).

    For the IGC negotiations, the Pakistani delegation will be led by Federal Minister Sardar Ayaz Sadiq. Both states must first negotiate the IGA (inter-governmental agreement), which was finalised and signed in the case of the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline Project (PSGP), formerly known as the North-South Gas pipeline project, in order to import Russian oil and LNG on a GtG basis.

    According to The News, the shareholding and facilitation agreement for PSGP was still in draught form on February 24, 2022, when former prime minister Imran Khan travelled to Moscow. Both parties wanted to sign the PSGP agreement during the Imran and Putin meeting, but it was not able to be done since the experts from both sides could not agree on several terms of the shareholding agreement.

    Currently, the G7 nations have capped the price of Russian crude oil at $60 per barrel and forbade the use of Russian ships to carry oil. In exchange, Moscow promised to stop selling oil to nations who agree to a Western price restriction on its petroleum.

    The Pakistani side will talk about the shipment costs, the premium by the shipping trader, the insurance coverage, and the payment options.

    Agribusiness, energy, customs, industry, education, research and technology, information and communication technologies, communication, roads and postal service, railroads, and finance are all included in the IGC’s agenda as areas for cooperation in trade and investments. Additionally, Pakistan’s debt to Russia will be settled and discussed.

    The potential for cooperation in the areas of electric power, hydropower, renewable energy sources, and oil and petrol production will also be discussed by the two sides.

    In their response, the Pakistani team proposed to change the model of the PSGP project. The Russian side said that the model of the project under GtG (government-to-government) arrangement had already been settled, save for some clauses of the shareholding agreement, which would soon be finalized.

  • Bollywood’s obsession with ‘adab’ Pakistanis is out of line

    Bollywood’s obsession with ‘adab’ Pakistanis is out of line

    It’s 2023 but Bollywood can’t seem to get over its obsession of portraying lame and rather bizarre stereotypes about Pakistanis in its movies.

    Netfilx released the official trailer for Mission Majnu that features Sidharth Malhotra as an Indian spy on a covert operation to expose nuclear weapons in the heart of Pakistan that India must “neutralise”. Everything was fine till Malhotra dresses up like a ‘Muslim Pakistani’. So Indian filmmakers have a starter pack for actors playing the roles of Muslims and Pakistanis. A man with kohl-rimmed eyes who spits adaab in every sentence, wearing a namaz ki topi [skullcap] and something green in the background somewhere to show that this is a Muslim person or from the Muslim community. Women would be shown wearing lehnga aur ghagra, with lots of bangles, and yes the tradition of adaab continues for them too. However, the reality is far different.

    The matter of the fact is that Bollywood has been successfully fooling the world by portraying and creating this image to represent Pakistanis. One of the leading film industries in the world has been adamantly bent on trying to portray and represent Pakistanis as a threat. Due to this portrayal, for the longest time people believed it to be true when it comes to Pakistan.

    Bollywood has been making bad anti-Pakistan propaganda for years now but a little research would tell them that no, Pakistanis do not look, wear or talk like they depict in their movies. From Veer-Zaara in 2004 to Mission Majnu in 2023, Bollywood’s depiction of Pakistan and Pakistani lifestyle has been completely wrong. No, we don’t live in 19th century Lucknow. Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and other cities of Pakistan don’t have men with kajal going adaab-adaab or roaming around in sherwanis as if it’s a norm.

    What is even more appalling is to witness that in India, most leading Bollywood actors are Muslims, some originating from Pakistan and yet they don’t wear and look like anything Bollywood so often depicts Muslims, be they in India or Pakistan.

    We hope that for once Bollywood comes out of its propagandist thinking and portrays ‘Pakistani Muslims’ as they are.

  • Pakistan to immunise 44 million children against polio in 2023

    Up to 44 million children would be immunised across Pakistan as a result of anti-polio campaigns in 2023, ARY has reported.

    The federal government has created a schedule for the campaign through to 2023.

    Six campaigns will be carried out nationwide to eradicate the polio virus in the future year 2023, with the first one scheduled to begin in January.
    The rest of the immunisation efforts will be held in March, May, July, October, and December.

    Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio has not yet been eradicated. To formally eradicate the disease, a nation must be polio-free for three consecutive years. Nigeria was declared free from wild polio in August 2020.

  • Sherry Rehman, Ayesha Malik get featured in Forbes 50 Over 50

    Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman and the first female judge of Pakistan’s Supreme Court Justice Ayesha Malik have been featured in the prestigious Forbes’ ’50 Over 50: Asia 2023′ list.

    Featuring Malik, Forbes detailed her achievement as part of Pakistan’s judiciary.

    The magazine wrote: “In 2022, at age 56, Malik became the first woman to serve as a justice of Pakistan’s Supreme Court, in the country’s 75-year history. Malik issued a seminal judgement outlawing the use of virginity tests in rape cases. She also served on the board of the Punjab Judicial Academy and as chair of the Judicial Officers Female Supervisory Committee.”

    Highlighting Rehman’s achievements Forbes stated, “At the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), Rehman made global news, suggesting a new deal to channel money from rich countries to poor ones that have suffered climate-related disasters”.

    “She was the first female to hold office as Leader of Opposition in the Senate in 2018,” added the magazine.

    The magazine includes names of 50 women over the age of 50 from Asia-Pacific, who are reaching new heights in their industries and inspiring the region’s next generation.

    Apart from Rehman and Malik, Forbes included the names of Malaysian biologist Asma Ismail, Indian novelist Geetanjali Shree and Australian businesswoman Vicki Brady and other superwomen who are making headlines globally.

  • ‘Bilawal ko wazir-e-azam banana hai toh Karachi ko sath le kar chalna parega’: MQM-P unites against PPP

    ‘Bilawal ko wazir-e-azam banana hai toh Karachi ko sath le kar chalna parega’: MQM-P unites against PPP

    A few days before scheduled Local Government (LG) elections, Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) Chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal let go of the past grievances as he announced merging his party into Muttahida Quami Movement – Pakistan (MQM-P).

    Addressing a joint press conference in Karachi, Kamal along with Dr Farooq Sattar, MQM-P Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and others took a jibe at Pakistan People’s Pakistan (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for ruining Karachi in the past. During the important presser, all the leaders reiterated that they won’t let LG elections take place on January 15.

    Kamal said that Karachi was not liberated from Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) only for PPP Chairman Asif Ali Zardari to take over and “think of it as his”.

    He also claimed that Zardari wants his son—Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari— to become the Prime Minister. He said, “Bilawal ko wazir-e-azam banana hai toh Karachi ko sath le kar chalna parega” (If you want Bilawal as PM, you have to take Karachi along with you).

    He said that there are no personal fights with Altaf Hussain.

    MQM Revival Committee Head Farooq Sattar addressed the presser and announced rejoining MQM-P.

    He said that the people of Pakistan saw hope in the MQM. “We have kept aside all our differences. This is a message for the entire country. We are presenting a united MQM.”

    He said that if MQM was given a chance, the $10bn raised by Pakistan at a climate conference in Geneva, could be generated in Karachi.

    He said that the MQM had been separated from its past reputation to transform into a part of intellectuals and educated people. He noted that the country was increasingly polarised, saying that Karachi should be “given one chance”.

    Khalid Maqbool, meanwhile, said that all those sitting here wished to see Pakistan succeed despite the difficulties of the past five years. He also alleged that the MQM was defeated in the 2018 general elections through rigging.

    Talking about the local government polls, he said that the party would contest the elections if delimitation was carried out by tonight. “But if these aren’t fixed, then we will fight for our rights.”

    A day earlier, leaders of the Karachi-based party asked Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif to tell them whether or not he was responsible for the situation of the port city and Hyderabad so that the party could accordingly decide about staying with or leaving the federal government.

  • Quratulain Baloch murder case 2021: Husband sentenced to death

    Quratulain Baloch murder case 2021: Husband sentenced to death

    Umar Memon, who murdered his wife Quratulain Baloch after torturing her, has been given the death penalty by a Sessions Court.

    “Quratulain Baloch gets justice. This mother of four was brutally murdered by her husband Umar Memon in 2021. Due to the resolve of Quratulain’s brothers and family, the husband has been convicted for murder and given the death penalty. The children are being raised by Qurat’s family,” Lawyer Jibran Nasir wrote in a tweet

    The brutal murder took place in July 2021 when Qurat-ul-Ain Baloch, a mother of four children, was murdered by her husband Umer Khalid Memon after being tortured in Barrage Colony, Hyderabad. Her murder sparked nationwide outrage and condemnation.

  • Gang allegedly forced nurses, other staff into prostitution at Sheikh Zayed Hospital, investigation ongoing: report

    Gang allegedly forced nurses, other staff into prostitution at Sheikh Zayed Hospital, investigation ongoing: report

    An inquiry committee has gathered testimony from at least 10 victims during its investigation into the alleged existence of an organised gang that reportedly forced nurses and other staff members at the Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Quetta into prostitution, SAMAA has reported.

    Atiq Ullah Khan, the additional secretary for health in Balochistan, stated that some women had offered to testify over the phone in order to safeguard their identities and to share their experiences with the vicious cycle that was being controlled by a strong group.

    Atiq said that he was taking the situation very seriously and that he had visited the hospital to reassure the employees that action would be taken against the offenders.

    He claimed that girls who complied with the gang’s demands while retaining their control were believed to receive unusual privileges from the group which is accused of running the hospital’s prostitution network. Those who disobeyed were subject to the gang’s wrath in one way or another.

    “We have submitted the initial report to the secretary health with several recommendations,” he stated.

  • ‘Atomic bomb halki aanch per paktay huwai’: Twitter reacts to Sidharth Malhotra movie about Pakistan’s nuclear bomb

    ‘Atomic bomb halki aanch per paktay huwai’: Twitter reacts to Sidharth Malhotra movie about Pakistan’s nuclear bomb

    The trailer of Sidharth Malhotra starrer Bollywood movie ‘Mission Majnu’ is out and it has Pakistanis in stitches.

    “Jo khud se pehle desh ke baare mein soche, wahi hain,” wrote Sidharth while sharing the trailer. “Aisa hi ek Majnu hai Amandeep Singh jisne India ke sabse khatarnak mission ke liye apni jaan ki baazi laga di,” he added.

    Mission Majnu is a spy thriller that features Sidharth Malhotra alongside Rashmika. Mission Majnu is set in the 1970s and is a thriller that revolves around an undercover RAW agent, essayed by Sidharth.

    “Watch Mission Majnu, a spy thriller inspired by true events.”

    The trailer shows the spy coming to Pakistan to complete his mission. Pakistanis are reacting to the trailer in humorous way. Some are making fun of the stereotypical image of Pakistani’s shown in the movie, while others are making memes on the the twisted historical facts. Have a look at the some of the best reactions.

    https://twitter.com/taimoorze/status/1612838550222815232
    https://twitter.com/rantspakistani/status/1612923679293247488

    https://twitter.com/thenameisrafay/status/1612727138674679808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1612727138674679808%7Ctwgr%5E52f3941a412c4c6898aefba75a9e33f77ed270bb%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.dawn.com%2Fnews%2F1191378

    https://twitter.com/mustafa_wynne/status/1612819865756176384

  • CM should always have the support of majority in house: Court

    A five-member bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday (today) heard Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s plea challenging Governor Balighur Rehman’s orders to de-notify him as CM.

    During the hearing, Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh remarked that the governor can ask a chief minister to take a vote of confidence from the assembly.

    While Elahi’s lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar responded that his client became the chief minister by taking votes in the assembly, Justice Hafeez said that the chief minister should always have the support of the majority of the lawmakers (186 members) in the house.

    At one point, Justice Sheikh said that if a consensus could not be reached between the governor and the chief minister, then the case would be heard on “merit”.

    “The matter has now prolonged beyond a reasonable time,” he remarked, adding that the court would have to look at assembly dissolution, violation of the governor’s orders, and the way forward.

    In the late hours of December 22, Rehman denotified Elahi as CM. At the time, the governor had said that since the chief minister had refrained from taking a vote of confidence at the appo­i­nted day and time, he ceased to hold office.

    Subsequently, Elahi approached the court, saying the move was “unconstitutional, unlawful and of no legal effect”.

    LHC later reinstated Elahi as the chief minister after he assured the court that he would not dissolve the Punjab Assembly until the next hearing, which was held today.

    This a developing story.

  • Diamond Industries suspends manufacturing operations due to unavailability of raw materials

    Diamond Industries suspends manufacturing operations due to unavailability of raw materials

    A major manufacturer of foam products in Pakistan, Diamond Industries Limited has announced to suspend its manufacturing operations from today owing to a shortage of imported raw material.

    The company informed the Pakistan Stock Exchange about the closure in a notice.

    “Due to adverse economic conditions in the country and non-availability of imported raw material, the company has suspended its manufacturing operations for a short term with effect from Tuesday, January 10, 2023, till further notice subject to the availability of imported raw material in the country,” read the notice.

    The announcement follows several companies announcing reductions in production or shutdowns of operations due to slow sales and low inventory.

    It is worth noting that Diamond Industries has been known for selling foam products in the country for more than three decades.

    Experts believe that the situation of industrial sector does not seem to improve soon.