Tag: Pakistan

  • Aurat March Islamabad ‘utterly dismayed’ with FIR against them

    Aurat March Islamabad ‘utterly dismayed’ with FIR against them

    Organisers of Aurat March Islamabad have responded to the petition filed against them in Peshawar, saying that they are “utterly dismayed” with it.

    “The Aurat Azadi March Islamabad is utterly dismayed at the order issued by a Peshawar Session Court judge on Friday afternoon under Section 22A of the CrPC through which a police station in Peshawar Cantonment has been instructed to file an FIR against ‘organisers and participants of ‘Aurat March’ held on March 8, 2021 in Islamabad,” read an official statement.

    The statement further said that the order was issued after a petition was filed by a group of Peshawar-based lawyers accusing the organisers and participants of ‘blasphemous slogans’.

    “The order was issued in response to a petition filed by a group of Peshawar-based lawyers that repeated the same vile lies against Aurat Azadi March Islamabad organisers which have circulated for more than two weeks. These lies, and the outrageous allegations of blasphemous slogans and banners, in particular, have been definitively debunked many times over,” added the statement.

    Read more – Endangering innocent lives

    Aurat Azadi March Islamabad also requested relevant authorities to call an inquiry and action against those who are spreading false accusations.

    “Government officials including PM Advisor on Religious Affairs Tahir Ashrafi and Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry have clearly called for inquiries and action against the elements responsible for sharing doctored content online and spreading the false allegations,” said the organisers.

    Condemning the act, the statement further said: “To accept such a vile and baseless petition is to subject women involved in any way with Aurat Azadi March Islamabad to unspeakable danger. Legal cases against AAM organisers/participants are untenable due to the complete lack of evidence to back up lies and propaganda. Yet to call for the police to lodge an FIR is to embolden elements that have, in the recent past, taken the law into their own hand and engaged in renegade violence against innocent men and women.”

    “It is common knowledge that arousing religious passions in Pakistan is akin to issuing a death warrant, and the Sessions Court order is fanning the flames of a fire that threatens to engulf women who have committed no crime other than speak for their own and the rights of women, girls and oppressed peoples throughout this country, rights that are guaranteed by the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” it said further.

    The organisers also said that they have written an open letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan asking him to take strict action against those who continue spread baseless lies.

    “This is why we now demand unequivocal action from all relevant state institutions to ensure that this already alarming situation does not spiral completely out of control. In the first instance, we urge police, administrative and elected authorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to recognize that the allegations that inform the court order under section 22A have been patently established as false and malafide. There is no basis upon which to lodge an FIR, and we demand protection from the authorities accordingly.”

  • Pakistan to start vaccine drive for citizens 50 and above from March 30

    Pakistan to start vaccine drive for citizens 50 and above from March 30

    Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar has announced that the vaccination  drive for citizens 50 and above will start from March 30.

    “Registration of those who are 50+ for COVID vaccination will be opened on March 30,” said Umar.

    “Registration of those who are 60 and older has already been open. Encourage everybody who is 50 plus to register when the registration is opened for them on the 30th,” added the minister.

    The government has also allowed walk-in vaccination for seniors aged 60 and above at different health centers.

    Read more – Here’s how you can register for COVID-19 vaccine in Pakistan

    Vaccination of people 60 and above commenced on March 10. Among those who received their shot is Prime Minister Imran Khan, President Dr Arif Alvi, Samina Peerzada, Bushra Ansari and Javed Sheikh. Citizens have also praised the government for the facility.

    Pakistan is currently battling with its third wave of COVID-19. According to the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), Pakistan has reported 4,368 cases and 63 deaths in the last 24 hours.

  • World Banks approves $600mn for Ehsaas program expansion

    World Banks approves $600mn for Ehsaas program expansion

    Executive Directors at the World Bank have approved $600 million for the Crisis-Resilient Social Protection Program (CRISP) that will help the Pakistani government expand the Ehsaas Program. The Ehsaas Program is an initiative taken by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan for poverty alleviation and to protect vulnerable households in Pakistan.

    Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, tens of thousands of families across Pakistan face economic hardship, particularly workers in the informal sector.

    World Bank Country Director Najy Behassine, speaking about the project, said: “Such workers barely have savings to use in crises and they are not covered by existing social safety net program. This investment will enable Ehsaas program to develop a more efficient and adaptive social protection system for crises and resilience to future shocks.”

    As per details, CRISP will facilitate the Ehsaas social protection programs so that aid may reach informal workers, particularly women through an innovative approach. It will provide a platform through which the government can rapidly respond to support the most affected households during an economic crisis.

    “In the event of a crisis, a more flexible and dynamic social protection system can significantly reduce the time needed to respond to peoples’ needs as well as supporting a faster recovery,” said Amjad Zafar Khan, Task Team Leader for the Crisis-Resilient Social Protection program.

    CRISP will also improve the capacity of the social registry to maintain up-to-date accurate household data and exchange data among social programs while providing greater beneficiary choice in the biometric payment systems.

  • Punjab education minister urges students to ‘ignore’ misinformation and ‘be patient’

    Punjab education minister urges students to ‘ignore’ misinformation and ‘be patient’

    Punjab Minister for Education Dr Murad Raas has urged students in the province not to believe any any information coming from unofficial sources.

    “Ignore all tweets wherever they are coming from,” wrote the minister in a tweet. “Anything to do with Punjab will be tweeted by me. Please be patient, dates will be announced in a day or two.”

    “These amount of calls and messages is insanity,” he added.

    Earlier, Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood announced that schools located in COVID-19 hotspot areas will remain closed till April 11.

    Mahmood also informed that after several rounds of talks, Cambridge has agreed to reschedule this year’s O’ Level exams to after May 15.

    “A’ and AS’ Level exams will take place as per the original timetable following all the SOP,” stated the minister.

    Prior to the announcement, Mahmood had told students that all “decisions are made keeping their best interest in view not what is popular”.

    “Educational institutions are closed on the advice of health authorities,” said Mahmood. “Decisions about exams are being made considering what is best for them. Have faith.”

    Pakistan is currently battling with its third wave of COVID-19. According to the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), Pakistan has reported 4,368 cases and 63 deaths in the last 24 hours.

    Number of cases recorded in different provinces in the last 24 hours are as follows:

  • Airlink establishes smartphone production facility in Pakistan

    Airlink establishes smartphone production facility in Pakistan

    Airlink has established a state-of-the-art smartphone production facility in Lahore which was inaugurated by Federal Minister for Industries and Production Muhammad Hammad Azhar on March 20.

    The event was attended by many renowned faces of the sector, including EDB Chairman Almas Hyder and other government officials.

    The organization has been primarily in the distribution business for the past 10 years working with top smartphone brands like Samsung, iPhone, Huawei, Xiaomi, Alcatel, TCL, Tecno & iTel.

    The company has been a strong proponent of investment in Pakistan and has established a factory with 100% owned equity and a production capacity of six million units per annum. The facility has eight production lines, two quality lines and four packaging lines.

    It is expected to bring an enormous opportunity to provide employment to 1000+ skilled and non-skilled workers.

    Airlink’s new venture is a state-of-the-art smartphone production facility in Lahore. It is the most advanced mobile phone production facility with a vision of contract manufacturing in the country by meeting all international standards of quality and production.

    The company has already secured contracts with TECNO, itel and TCL with all regulatory approvals.

    Addressing to this historic occasion, Airlink Communication Ltd CEO Muzzaffar Hayat Piracha expressed his gratitude over the inauguration of the production plant.

    “I feel honored that Airlink was able to establish this state-of-the-art facility in these unprecedented times which also resonates with the Prime Minister’s vision to promote ‘Made in Pakistan’ products that will not only create employment opportunities for people of Pakistan but also reduce the import bill, thus lessening the burden on foreign exchange reserves.”

    This initiative of the government and its governing authorities will help to focus on employment generation, import substitution and technology transfer. It will also connect Pakistan to the international supply chain and will create export potential.

    Hammad Azhar, while speaking on the occasion, congratulated the Airlink team for their efforts and said that in consonance with the vision of the PM, Ministry of Industries and Production was committed to bring in investment-friendly policies while ensuring ease of doing business in the country.

    Airlink is a pioneer in the distribution business with a 25%  share in the handset market. It is one of the fastest-growing smartphone distributors in Pakistan and has been leading a dominant number of global brands on board. It has also been declared among the top taxpayers of the country and has been awarded ‘Top tax Payer Award’ three times in a row for it in the last four years.

  • Bride in Jehlum runs away after robbing husband on wedding night

    Bride in Jehlum runs away after robbing husband on wedding night

    A woman allegedly ran away after robbing her husband on their wedding night in Jhelum.

    As per reports, the man’s family said that she gave them sleeping pills and got away with Rs 1 million cash and five tolas of gold.

    The reception of the couple was organised for Thursday and the groom’s family had invited 500 people to the event.

    “My son suffers from hearing and speaking disabilities,” said the groom’s mother, adding that she wanted someone to be with him and take care of him.

    His sister said that the woman was from Swabi and that they had paid her family Rs400,000 for the wedding.

    The family has approached the police to file a case against the woman.

  • Pakistan likely to resume trade with India

    The ban on trade with India is likely to be lifted soon after the recent correspondence between Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.

    PM Modi conveyed well wishes in a message to PM Imran after he tested positive for COVID-19. Later on Pakistan Resolution Day too Modi wrote a letter saying that India desired cordial relations with the people of Pakistan.

    Pakistan suspended trade with India in 2019 but recently imported life-saving drugs.

    The advisor to PM on commerce and investment, Abdul Razak Dawood, while speaking to media said, “Since the recent thawing began, the prime minister is in isolation being COVID positive. I haven’t talked to him as I don’t want to disturb him. I sincerely hope that trade with India will start again. Trade should be separated from politics.”

    Last week, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, while speaking at Islamabad Security Dialogue, also said, “It is time to bury the past and move forward.”

    On August 10, 2019, Pakistan imposed a trade ban on India after the escalation of violations on the Line of Control (LOC). In response, New Delhi withdrew the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status from Pakistan, also after the Pulwama incident.

    However, even before the suspension, the bilateral trade between Pakistan and India had been below $2 billion.

    Now, with improvement on the horizon between the two nuclear neighbours, Dawood also said that a decision on the import of cotton from India through land route is expected soon.

  • New pro-IMF State Bank law would leave country bankrupt, lead to Pakistan’s collapse: prominent economist

    Renowned economist Dr Kaiser Bengali has warned that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Ordinance, which is likely to be introduced soon, is anti-national and could lead to no accountability of central bank officials besides ultimately resulting “in the collapse of the country”.

    Speaking to a private media outlet, he said that the law would leave the federal government and subsequently the state paralysed.

    “There would be no money to pay salaries because the top priority would be paying back loans for which new loans will be sought,” Dr Bengali said.

    To a query by host Asma Shirazi, he said the law had no parallel in the modern world, however, a similar one dating back to the Ottoman Era played a key role in the downfall of the House of Osman.

    “They didn’t have any money to fight wars or deal with the rebellion after handing control of all the money to the central bank.”

    “This would dissolve Pakistan because there won’t even be enough money to pay the police,” Dr Bengali maintained, adding that it was a bleak picture.

    “The opposition alliance should put its other demands on hold and work towards stopping this legislation,” he concluded. The same was stated by him in a tweet as well.

    Earlier, Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal also claimed the government was enacting such a law which would hand over the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) control to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international financial institutions.

    Addressing a press conference, he said that with the new legislation, the SBP would not be accountable to the parliament, the prime minister or any institution of the country and it would only be answerable to the international institutions.

    He said National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) or any other institution would not be able to ask the SBP governor and other officials for any corruption.

    “If the prime minister of Pakistan can appear before NAB, then why can’t the SBP governor?” Ahsan said adding it was only to mortgage Pakistan’s economy with the international institutions.

  • Pakistani who attacked French magazine’s office says PM Imran, Khadim Rizvi influenced him

    Pakistani who attacked French magazine’s office says PM Imran, Khadim Rizvi influenced him

    The Pakistani man who attacked the former offices of French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, last September was radicalised by videos of preachers in his home country and anti-France demonstrations at the time, AFP reported, citing a local newspaper.

    According to Le Parisien, police investigation has revealed the 26-year-old had spent the days leading up to his knife attack watching extremist preachers on YouTube and TikTok denouncing France and Charlie Hebdo.

    “I couldn’t eat. I was crying watching the videos,” Zaheer Hassan Mahmood told investigators.

    Weeks before, the magazine had republished sketches of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), which were considered blasphemous by Muslims, to mark the start of a trial of men linked to a 2015 attack on its offices.

    Mahmood said he did not realise the magazine had moved offices after the 2015 attack and presumed the two people he slashed with a meat cleaver were employees of the publication, the report said.

    Both victims, who worked for a TV production company with no links to Charlie Hebdo, sustained serious injuries.

    Mahmood, from the village of Kothli Qazi in Punjab province, had entered France with false papers showing him as an unaccompanied minor, enabling him to claim asylum.

    Islamist groups organised demonstrations in Pakistan in September against Charlie Hebdo and French President Emmanuel Macron, who defended freedom of expression and blasphemy, which is legal in France.

    Mahmood watched videos by Khadim Hussain Rizvi, the late founder of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party, and other radical preachers.

    He was also influenced by Prime Minister Imran Khan, who accused Macron of “attacking Islam”, the newspaper said.

    Blasphemy is a criminal act in Pakistan, where laws allow death penalty for anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or Islamic personalities.

    Mahmood said he initially intended to damage the office building, rather than attack people, and has offered to apologise to his victims.

    Investigators have found a video he sent to a friend the day before his attack which called for the decapitation of blasphemers, and he received a call from Greece the same day which appeared to refer to a pre-meditated assault.

    He has been charged with “attempted murder with relation to a terrorist enterprise”.

  • Police file case against four-month-old boy

    Police file case against four-month-old boy

    Police in Chiniot have registered a case against a four-month-old boy for violating the sound system act.

    According to reports, a few religious scholars had delivered their speeches at an event in Chiniot on loudspeakers.

    After the event, the police had registered a case against dozens of people, including a four-month-old boy named Hasnain Shehzada, under Section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

    The police refused to remove the child’s name from the FIR when they were told about the child’s age.

    On Wednesday, his father submitted the papers in the court for interim bail.