Tag: Pakistan

  • Pakistan jumps to 2nd position in ICC Super League standings, India at top

    Pakistan has jumped to the second place on the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League table after beating New Zealand in the first One-Day international on Monday. Pakistan defeated the Kiwis by six wickets in the opening ODI.

    India is on top of the list with 139 points.

    What is the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League?

    The Super League is a brand new ODI competition, which takes place across two years. In its first edition, the Super League will help decide which teams feature in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.

    Thirteen teams are taking part in this competition. These are the 12 Full Member nations, along with the Netherlands.

  • Saudi Arabia mulls increasing investments in Pakistan to $10 billion

    Saudi Arabia mulls increasing investments in Pakistan to $10 billion

    Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has directed the Saudi Development Fund (SDF) to study increasing the deposit amount in the State of Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to $5 billion.

    “His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, has directed to study augmenting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s investments in the sisterly Islamic Republic of Pakistan which have previously been announced on August 25, 2022, to reach $10 billion,” it said.

    “The crown prince also directed the Saudi Development Fund to study increasing the amount of the deposit provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in favour of the Central Bank of Pakistan which have previously been extended on December 2, 2022, to hit a $5 billion ceiling,” according to Saudi Press Agency.

    The move, according to SPA, confirmed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to assist Pakistan’s economy and its sisterly people.

    The development was reached within the framework of the ongoing dialogue between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Prince Salman.

    The announcement made today comes the day after Prince Salman and Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir met in Madina to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral ties between the two nations. Munir was on a week-long official visit to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

    The SBP and SFD entered into a contract in 2021 for the SBP to receive $3 billion, which would be deposited in the central bank’s account to increase its foreign exchange reserves.

    The SFD subsequently acknowledged the rollover of a $3 billion deposit for an additional year in September of last year. The deposit was supposed to maturity on December 5 but Saudi Arabia extended its term on December 2.

    Saudi Arabia had previously committed to restart its financial assistance to Pakistan in the final week of October 2021, providing $1.2 billion in oil deliveries on a deferred payment plan and around $3 billion in safe deposit boxes.

    The accord was made the same month when former prime minister Imran Khan visited Saudi Arabia.

  • Woman gang-raped in Lahore during job interview

    A woman in Lahore was gang-raped after being lured for a job, ARY has reported. The culprits recorded videos of the immoral act to blackmail the victim.

    Details indicate that a first information report (FIR) has been filed at the Gujjar Pura Police Station under the provisions of kidnapping and sexual assault.
    The FIR has been registered on the complaint of the rape survivor.

    The woman said in the FIR that the defendant, Khalil, had invited her to travel to Kot Khawaja Saeed Hospital for a meeting and had given her a job.

    As soon as she arrived, the suspect led her to a house where he and two other accomplices forced her into a room and raped her on gun point.

    In the FIR, the woman alleged that the suspect had also videotaped the immoral behaviour and had told her not to call the police.

    The woman in the FIR said that Khalil, the prime suspect, befriended her on social media and introduced himself as the manager of a medicine company.
    Police are investigating the case.

  • Nearing default and lying about phone calls? Not good Pakistan, says IMF

    Nearing default and lying about phone calls? Not good Pakistan, says IMF

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated on Sunday that Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke on the latter’s request, a claim that suggests Islamabad has continued to engage in politics while being on the verge of default.

    “The call took place in response to a request by the Prime Minister of Pakistan to discuss the International Conference on resilient Pakistan,” Esther Perez, the resident representative of the IMF told The Express Tribune.

    On Friday, the PM’s office issued an official handout stating that “the IMF managing director phoned premier Shehbaz on the phone” following his address at the Hazara Electric Supply Company’s (HAZECO) inaugural ceremony. The PM had also stated in his address that the managing director of the Fund had called him.

    As the country makes dubious claims of strength and has just $4.5 billion in foreign exchange reserves, it appears that the administration is still not ready to change its ways.

    Only three weeks’ worth of imports may be covered using the remaining funds. Pakistan has paid back $8.5 billion in debt during the past three months (January through March). Included in this is a $2 billion loan to the UAE for which the government is attempting to obtain a rollover.

    Given the long-standing animosity between the two parties, such factually erroneous claims might make it harder for Pakistan to persuade the IMF.

    Due to its propensity to make pledges while receiving a loan tranche but then break them after the tranche has been released, the country has had a rough history with the IMF. This has led to a significant gap.

    A spokesperson of the IMF in a statement to the media also said that “the Managing Director had a constructive call with Prime Minister Sharif in the context of the International Conference on Resilient Pakistan to be held in Geneva on Monday, January 9.”

    The MD once more conveyed her sympathies to those who were directly impacted by the floods, and it was also said that she backed Pakistan’s attempts to create a more robust recovery.

    Additionally, the PM asserted on Friday that an IMF delegation will visit Pakistan in a matter of two to three days.

    “I asked her to send an IMF team for the completion of the pending 9th review of the programme so that the next loan tranche is released. She assured that the mission will visit [Pakistan] in the next two to three days,” Shehbaz had said.

    However, in its statement to the media, the IMF spokesperson said that the IMF “delegation is expected to meet with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of the Geneva conference to discuss outstanding issues and the path forward”.

    The self-claimed deadline, which ends on Monday, for the 9th review mission’s arrival in Pakistan was not mentioned in the statement.

    On Saturday, it was revealed that due to significant debt repayments, Pakistan’s official foreign exchange reserves have for the first time dropped to a perilous level of $4.5 billion.

    The sources in the finance ministry also stated that no dates for the IMF review mission had been decided upon as of the PM’s address.

    Additionally, the prime minister said that Georgieva had asked if Saudi Arabia and China were aiding Pakistan.

    After thereafter, Pakistan’s interior minister Rana Sanullah said that even foreign countries won’t assist without the IMF’s protection.

    “If we back out from these [IMF] conditionalities, then our economic survival will become next to impossible and even our friendly countries cannot extend financial help to us,” Sanaullah had said in Faisalabad.

    The interior minister had said that if the current administration tried to adhere to the strict requirements of the IMF, inflation would soar, prices would soar, and the economy would suffer.

    Since the 9th review negotiations between Islamabad and the Fund have not concluded as of yet, a $1.1 billion loan tranche has been withheld.

    In order for the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to disburse their funds, Pakistan is eager to finish the ninth review.

    Disagreements about import restrictions, currency rate regulations, demands for the imposition of more taxes, and raising energy costs to pay off over Rs500 billion in circular debts have caused the discussions to be postponed.

  • WHO report reveals smoking causes 166,000 deaths every year in Pakistan

    WHO report reveals smoking causes 166,000 deaths every year in Pakistan

    In Pakistan, smoking contributes to around 166,000 deaths annually, of which 31,000 are caused by passive smoking.

    The World Health Organization predicts that this figure won’t go down considerably in the upcoming years despite health warnings, quitting initiatives, and expanded tobacco control measures. These combustible cigarettes not only endanger the environment but also the human body.

    The industry’s carbon footprint from the manufacture, processing, and transportation of tobacco is comparable to one-fifth of the CO2 produced by the commercial aircraft industry each year, according to the WHO study “Tobacco: Poisoning our world,” which furthers the effects of global warming.

    According to Brecorder, the ultimate objective to completely remove the hazards of climate change, according to experts, is to stop smoking, but doing so can be challenging and come with a risk of relapse. Scientists across the world have been researching for years to develop possibly less dangerous substitutes that smokers can switch to as their initial step to stop smoking.

    They said that countries like Japan, US, UK, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland took it upon themselves to lower these numbers and by legalizing and funding research towards HTPs and adopting Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) strategies. The results have been very promising as most of these countries saw a sharp decline in the number of smokers and the risks associated with it.

  • ‘It was military vs PTI’: Gen Bajwa was actively involved in sending PTI govt packing, says Fawad

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry has said that in the no-confidence motion against his party’s Chairman and then-Prime Minister Imran Khan, it was actually the PTI versus the military.

    Fawad claimed during a BBC HARDTalk interview yesterday that “some army generals, as well as ex-chief General [Qamar Javed] Bajwa were actively involved in sending the PTI government home”.

    Establishment played a very active role in the ouster of Imran Khan

    “And in that conspiracy, some army generals were involved, there is no doubt about that and the establishment actually played a very active role in the ouster of Imran Khan. In fact, the last army chief was [also] actively involved in sending our government home,” he alleged.

    Host Stephen Sackur asked Fawad about DG ISI Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum’s press conference, in which he, alongside then ISPR chief Lt Gen Babar Iftikhar, said Imran Khan asked the military to perform an unconstitutional act during the no-confidence vote.

    Chaudhry responded: “The current [army] leadership has just assumed the office and we are hoping there will be a change in the policy, but the last chief was not speaking truth when he said we asked [for their] help. We only asked for their neutrality.”

    Unelected institutions like the judiciary and the military exercised their powers beyond Constitution

    Dismissing the notion that the PTI was against the military, Fawad said his party was not against anyone. “In Pakistan, unelected institutions like the judiciary and the military exercised their powers beyond Constitution [in the past], which is known to everyone.”

    Bygones are bygones: PTI looks forward to having good relations with US

    Talking about how Khan blamed United States for his ouster and then later changing his narrative that he wants to have good relations with US, Fawad said that the PTI never said it seeks a war with the superpower. “Instead, it wants good bilateral ties. No party wants confrontation with the US,” Fawad noted. However, at the same time the PTI doesn’t want any country including the US to dictate Pakistan, he opined.

    Saying bygones are bygones, Fawad said his party looks forward to having good relations with the US, and hopes the superpower too would like to collaborate with Pakistan’s most popular political party.

    Calling Osama bin Laden a “martyr” was a slip of a tongue

    To a question, he clarified that Imran never called Osama bin Laden a “martyr”, saying he had a slip of a tongue in one speech which was clarified later.

    Shehbaz govt ruined all efforts due to their ignorance of Afghanistan’s history and problems

    Chaudhry said the then-PTI government was holding “continuous negotiations” with the Afghan government “and we were close to actually resolve the issue”.

    He, however, blamed the incumbent government for “ruining” all efforts due to their “ignorance of Afghanistan’s history and problems”.

    PTI could wait for elections but….

    The PTI leader said his party could wait for elections “but this government is not ready to hold polls as they know people will oust them through vote”.

    He insisted that elections were needed for Pakistan and not for the PTI. “We are asking that elections should be held at the earliest so that a new responsible government can take care of economic affairs.”

    Zardari and Sharifs had put Pakistan into a vicious debt cycle

    Stephen Sackur said Pakistan’s debt stood at $116 billion when the PTI took over in 2018, but it rose to $230 billion when the party left government.

    Fawad responded saying his party’s government had to borrow funds to return the loans taken by the previous government. He maintained that his party’s government worked to restructure the loans and did as far as economy is concerned.

    He said, ” Zardari and Sharifs had put Pakistan into a vicious debt cycle.

    Imran gave the country one of the cleanest governments in 75 years of history

    Sackur said figures did not bear out his claim, referring to promises made by the PTI before elections, especially those about corruption, He said that Pakistan fell by 20 points on the corruption perception index (CPI).

    Fawad disagreed, arguing that these were the departments related to rule of law, for example judiciary, not the political side, that had contributed to that index. He said Imran gave the country one of the cleanest governments in its 75 years of existence.

    The PTI leader said it is not possible to create economic stability without political stability as [political uncertainty in the country is such that] no one knows who will rule the country three or five months from now.

  • Twitter explores how the Pakistani rishta culture can be toxic for women

    Twitter explores how the Pakistani rishta culture can be toxic for women

    If anything exemplifies how deeply Pakistani culture vilifies and moral polices women, it is the pervasive rishta culture. Which is a process of the parents of a boy and rishta aunties going to houses where unmarried women are present, and evaluating them on how good of a chance they have for getting married.
    The process is designed in a manner that closely resembles walking through a cattle market, where women line up obediently to be able to prove themselves as the perfect bride and housewife to the mother of the boy. She is endlessly interrogated about her looks, her posture, whether she is well educated or not, or if she plans on having a career after getting married, and so on. Nothing is spoken of whether the man is good enough for her, or will be able to provide and care for her for the rest of their lives. In the process, women are forced to internalize the message that their sole existence and expectations surrounding life should accommodate her future in-laws, rather than her own self. The rishta procedure involves being repeatedly humiliated and berated over minor things, and often leaves the woman feeling more over-burdened and mentally tortured over the expectations that she is suppose to completely serve her independence to cater to her family’s needs.

    Twitter recently had a conversation when a user shared how the rishta culture can demoralize women by demanding them to serve their best selves, and then be out right rejected for it. Also how, the rishta culture breeds the patriarchal imbalance in prevalent in our society, turning women into submissive beings to cater to the men in their lives.

    “This rishta culture in our society is so sick. A random khandan come to see a girl, make her feel uncomfortable with judgmental looks n questions. And then reject her for no valid reason, without even thinking that their munda has no aukaaat !!!!!”

    Thus began a conversation with women sharing their own instances of being hounded and subjected to personal, invasive questions that demoralized their independence and mental health. How this woman on Twitter shared the way she was aggressively hounded by rishta aunties and made to feel inferior throughout the conversation

    “Some aunties did the same to me. They liked me, talked to my family. They thought I am so dumb. When they talked to me, they were so rude and they were uncomfortable because I was opinionated. I was like I will cut you off. Hate such women and men too.

    They just want a showpiece and they are not sure about what they want. It’s ok their loss. That girl should focus on her goals and herself. Live life to the fullest. Zindagi aik baar milti he. Women should not be ghulaam of other women or anyone.”

    Other Twitter users have shared how the Pakistani rishta culture invades a woman’s personal space, and evaluate her over the most minor and irrelevant things, like how this user says an acquaintance was berated over having short hair.

    “My hate for rishta culture increased tenfold today after I learnt that one of the rishta ladies asked a girl, “Baal khud chotay rakhay hein ya barhtay nahi hein?” How could someone be so small minded?”

    Other women shared how women are subjected to consistent scrutiny and humiliation, even being berated over small things like glasses.

    https://twitter.com/Rraafia/status/1401847554908766210?s=20&t=ho4Xkv0ex7HFSFFTSTeFYw

    Women are not one dimensional objects on whom men and toxic aunties can project all of their insecurities and expectations on. It is no woman’s responsibility to cater to the men in her life, and it should never be drilled into her mind to revolve her life around them.

  • ‘Imran se mil ke dosti ka ailaan kareinge’: Gen Faiz convinced Modi to visit Pakistan in 2021, claims Javed Chaudhry

    Journalist Javed Chaudhry continues with bringing inside details of the working of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led government in his column. In the fourth part of the series published today, Chaudhry alleges that in 2020 the establishment had convinced Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi to visit Pakistan, and former Bahawalpur corps commander Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed played a significant role in arranging the proposed trip.

    The journalist writes that in this regard Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed, who was then the head of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) met Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and both agreed upon Modi visiting Pakistan on April 9, 2021.

    All the details of the trip had been planned out. Modi would have first visited the Hinglaj Mata Mandir in Balochistan and on his way back home he would have met Imran Khan who was Prime Minister. Chaudhry said that it was planned that “Modi would shake hands with Khan and declare peace between the two countries and opening of trade”.

    Continuing with the sensational claims, the journalist writes that both leaders would announce that there will be no interference or terrorist activities from both countries. At the time, Modi was of the view that both countries would sit together after 20 years to decide about the future of India-occupied Kashmir.

    However, this tour was cancelled because Khan—on the advice of his foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi—backed out. Chaudhry writes that Qureshi scared Khan by telling him it would give a perception to the masses that he [Khan] has compromised on Kashmir.

    Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed helped Khan in confidence motion

    According to the journalist, the establishment helped Khan throughout the confidence motion that Imran voluntarily announced he will take, right after Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Yousaf Raza Gillani defeated PTI’s Hafeez Sheikh in the senate elections. Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed ensured full numbers for PTI so Khan could win the motion. Calls and visits were made to ensure that disgruntled MNAs voted in favour of Khan.

    Moreover, the journalist writes that as per his sources, Khan advised showing leniency towards former President and co-chairman of PPP, Asif Ali Zardari, from National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the court.

    LNG deal was ruined by Khan

    In the column, another detailed passage says that former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa admits that former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz signed the best LNG deal with Qatar to ensure supplies for Pakistan during winters but it was ruined by Imran Khan.

    Chaudhry said that then-Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum, Nadeem Babar, asked for just three gas shipments from Qatar despite a one-time generous offer to take ‘as much as required’ amidst a looming gas crisis at home, so he could sell his own furnace oil.

    In another episode, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) caught a ship loaded with cheaply bought Iranian petrol. It was for none other than Babar. According to him, Khan was informed about it but chose to stay quiet.

    Also, prior to Nadeem’s appointment, Khan was warned by the establishment but he didnt listen.

    Babar isn’t in the country anymore but Pakistan is still paying the price of his decisions to serve his own interests, all because Imran wanted to retain him as his aide, writes Chaudhry in his column.

  • Zaheer Ahmed child marriage case: Court give temporary custody of girl to parents

    Zaheer Ahmed child marriage case: Court give temporary custody of girl to parents

    The Sindh High Court (SHC) has given temporary custody of the Karachi girl who was allegedly abducted last year to her parents. The case was heard on the request of the girl’s mother and father.

    However, SHC reminded the mother of the girl that she and her husband have a huge responsibility.

    “Alhumdulillah after a 7 month long battle today the victim child is finally going home. She unequivocally informed Honourable High Court that she wants to reside with her parents. There are many lessons to be learnt from this case & reforms are needed to curb child marriages,” Lawyer Jibran Nasir wrote in a tweet.

    “I would like to thank respectable Advocates Nabeel Kolachi, Ahmed Ali Hussain, Amna Usman, Ahmed Sher Jutt, Fahad Ahmed Siddiqi, Zaheer Hussain and Rafique Ahmed who all provided their services pro bono to ensure safe recovery and return of the child for sake of justice, the tweet added.

    The 15-year-old minor was allegedly kidnapped from Karachi. She later married 21-year-old Zaheer Ahmed in Lahore. A case was registered against Zaheer and his brother Shabbir for orchestrating the marriage of a minor.

  • Sindh high Court directs PTA, FIA to remove offensive content regarding Kubra Khan

    Sindh high Court directs PTA, FIA to remove offensive content regarding Kubra Khan

    Actor Kubra Khan announced on her social media page on Thursday that she was officially filing a case against Adil Farooq Raja, who runs the twitter and Youtube account @soliderspeaks. In her post, Khan revealed that these past four days were incredibly difficult for her and her family, after she suffered from ferocious bullying and watched her pictures being used inappropriately.

    The actress further elaborated that she was exercising her constitutional rights as a Pakistani and relying on the law to protect her own dignity, as well as other hard working, independent women who were facing the same slander. Here is her full statement:

    “The past four days.. have been so difficult for me and my family that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to explain in words. I couldn’t wrap my head around as to why anyone would do this to me.. even after it was clarified that my name or initials were misinterpreted why was I still getting bullied so ferociously. Even before I reacted.. why were my pictures being used in such a inappropriate manner.. and then I realized.. because no one’s ever put a stop to it. Because we’re so used to being quiet. Until this story die, another arises to do the same damage just because we didn’t speak up. But enough is enough
    So This is me, exercising my constitutional rights as a Pakistani and relying on our law to protect my dignity and this is me saying what I want to say for all the hard working independent woman out there who are insulted daily. I’m not gonna stand here and say I stood up for every woman out there but I will say that I stood up so that from now on if a situation like this arises, every woman and man out there knows that standing up for yourself is your RIGHT!

    So now.. I leave it in your hands, Our law Implementors and God’s Hands. I rest my case.”

    The actress had also posted a picture of the order of Sindh High Court to PTA and FIA to remove the offensive content and pictures related to Khan.

    On her Instagram account, other Lollywood actors like Usman Mukhtar, who had previously worked with Khan in Hum Kahan Kay Sachay Thay, and celebrities like Osman Khalid Butt, Yumna Ziadi and Aima Baig sent their love and support to the actress.