Tag: politics latest

  • Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor reacts to Cyril Almeida’s ‘RIP ISPR’ tweet

    Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor reacts to Cyril Almeida’s ‘RIP ISPR’ tweet

    Reacting to journalist and former Dawn assistant editor Cyril Almeida’s tweet, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) chief Major General Asif Ghafoor has called him out over his “unwarranted assertion”.

    “RIP ISPR, PTI [Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf], etc…” Almeida tweeted Thursday while quoting a statement by Twitter Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jack Dorsey, who had announced the microblogging website’s decision to block political advertisements all across the globe.

    https://twitter.com/cyalm/status/1189640211493478403

    Retweeting the journalist with a comment, the ISPR director general (DG) challenged him to prove his claims pertaining to alleged adverts by the military’s media wing.

    https://twitter.com/peaceforchange/status/1189771746251071488

    “Dear @cyalm [Almeida], quote one such instance by ISPR [so as] to validate your unwarranted assertion. In case you fail, I wishfully expect a moral obligation from you. Should you succeed, I will take your advice,” Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor tweeted.

    It wasn’t later that the journalist responded to the ISPR chief.

    https://twitter.com/cyalm/status/1189784213194715136

    “Was a joke, Gen sb… a bit of (apparently failed) humour in this space where we are all prisoners of Twitter and its policies… maybe @jack [Dorsey] will turn his attention to the trend wars next… [sic],” Almeida said.

    TWITTER BANS POLITICAL ADS:

    Earlier, CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted that the social networking site will be banning all political advertisements — albeit with “a few exceptions” like voter registration.

    “We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought,” Dorsey said.

    While it’s not totally clear how broad those exceptions will be, it sounds like the ban will apply to both ads endorsing candidates and ads advocating a position on political issues.

    Dorsey said the company will share the final policy by November 15, and that it will start enforcing the same on November 22.

    “Internet political ads present entirely new challenges to civic discourse: machine learning-based optimization of messaging and micro-targeting, unchecked misleading information, and deep fakes,” he wrote. “All at increasing velocity, sophistication, and overwhelming scale.”

    This came after Facebook faced heavy criticism around its refusal to fact-check political advertising (even as it took steps to fight election-related misinformation elsewhere), with employees of the social media giant writing an open letter objecting to the company’s stance.

    Dorsey didn’t mention Facebook by name in his tweets, but he seemed to allude to the company’s position when he wrote, “For instance, it‘s not credible for us to say: ‘We’re working hard to stop people from gaming our systems to spread misleading info, buuut if someone pays us to target and force people to see their political ad…well…they can say whatever they want! ????‘ [sic].”

  • Cracks emerge among PML-N ranks as ‘leadership disobeys Nawaz’

    Cracks emerge among PML-N ranks as ‘leadership disobeys Nawaz’

    Amid reports of a rift between opposition parties as the
    Azadi March of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) to Islamabad continues, cracks
    are also emerging among ranks of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), The Current has learnt.

    According to sources, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s orders were disobeyed by the Punjab leadership of his party on Wednesday as 70,000 people were not mobilised to welcome Fazl’s caravan in Lahore.

    The Current reached
    out to several PML-N leaders to confirm or deny what rumour had and on the condition
    of anonymity, one of them rejected the same.

    “Both MNAs and MPAs of the PML-N were in Lahore to receive
    Maulana’s caravan and they did. We even distributed food among his buses, which
    were over a thousand in number,” the PML-N leader added.

    “There were six different points in Lahore where our party
    members gathered to welcome and facilitate Maulana Fazl. Our workers gathered to
    welcome the caravan hours before its arrival.”

    When asked why the PML-N leadership was nowhere to be seen at the Lahore stage of the Azadi March as JUI-F leaders addressed a mammoth gathering, the PML-N leader said they were asked to come on stage at the last minute and that too by a junior party worker.

    “Not Maulana or any other JUI-F leader invited us on stage and we told them that we will come in an hour. However, later we were told that the caravan will not stop for us.”

    The PML-N leader also said that they are on their way from Lahore to Islamabad with a huge crowd and plan on holding a small rally in the federal capital even though their leadership has been told by the JUI-F that the Azadi March will commence tomorrow.

    When The Current reached out to other PML-N leaders for confirmation of the postponement, former National Assembly (NA) speaker Ayaz Sadiq said, “Akram Durrani Sahib called me today and said that Maulana will address Azadi March at 2 pm tomorrow after Friday prayers in Islamabad.”

  • ‘With more vehicles, comes more pollution,’ Zartaj Gul blames Azadi March for smog

    Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul has said that the pollution in Lahore is increasing due to the extra number of vehicles entering Lahore for Azadi March.

    In a video posted on Twitter from Gul’s official account, the minister has termed all reports fake which are claiming that Lahore has entered into the list of most polluted cities of the world.

    She said that the company which has released this data wants the government to install their equipment for monitoring air pollution and is spreading misleading reports for the past two years.

    “They take their equipment out for recording data when the traffic is dense and use these reports to spread panic”, the minister added.

     

    Yesterday, the air quality monitoring station installed in US Consulate Lahore indicated that the Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city is near 469, while the threshold for hazardous levels of air quality is 300.

    Moreover, the London-based non-governmental organisation, Amnesty International in a statement released to the media on Wednesday stated that the levels of air quality in the province has been rated “near unhealthy” to “very unhealthy” for most of the year.

    The report also said that the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Lahore has reached 484 in the early morning. Meanwhile, EPA is still unable to show the actual picture of the scenario and is showing the unrealistic data in this regard.

    The South Asia Campaigner at Amnesty International, Rimmel Mohydin has also urged the government to do more to adequately address such a severe public health crisis — one that endangers people’s health and even their lives”.

  • Nation accuses govt of killing 74 as minister blames passengers for train fire

    Nation accuses govt of killing 74 as minister blames passengers for train fire

    With Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed blaming passengers for the train fire that killed at least 74 near Rahim Yar Khan, people across the country have stepped up to condemn the minister’s remarks and accuse Pakistan Railways (PR) of criminal negligence.

    The train, Tezgam, was on its way from Karachi to Rawalpindi when a gas cylinder carried by a passenger exploded, resulting in hundreds of casualties on Thursday morning. The fire destroyed three of the train’s carriages, including two economy class and one business class carriage.

    “It isn’t PR’s fault and passengers are to be blamed for it,” the minister said while speaking to journalists after the tragedy left the nation shaken.

    “It is unfortunate that passengers take cylinders with them. They don’t fear the law,” he said, adding that several people jumped to their deaths from the burning train.

    While Rasheed promised an inquiry to ascertain how the passengers had managed to carry cylinders with them, his statements were not very well received by the people.

    “Be the change you talk about,” journalist Adeel Raja tweeted while urging Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan to sack the minister. There has been a significant increase in the number of train mishaps ever since Rasheed was handed the reins of PR. Hundreds of casualties have been reported in derailings and collisions.

    Senior journalist and analyst Moeed Pirzada pointed out that the train didn’t have any fire-fighting equipment and the staff appeared to have no training to deal with such untoward situations.

    Retweeting his colleague Rauf Klasra’s statement, Moeed also accused PR of incompetence and criminal negligence over its failure to bar passengers from carrying gas stoves with them as per the rules.

    Meanwhile, an eyewitness has claimed that the fire was caused by a short circuit in one of the bogies’ fans.

    “The train kept moving even when it was on fire and there were no emergency facilities available inside the train,” the witness said as he blamed PR authorities for not taking complaints of the passengers seriously.

  • VIDEO: Another old statement comes back to bite Imran as 65 killed in train fire

    With 65 people losing their lives and hundreds reportedly sustaining injuries in Thursday’s tragic train fire incident, an old statement has come back to haunt Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

    The train, Tezgam, was on its way from Karachi to Rawalpindi, when a gas cylinder carried by a passenger exploded, leaving several dead and injured. The fire destroyed three of the train’s carriages, including two economy class carriages and one business class carriage.

    As the incident shook the entire nation, people on social media started sharing old videos of then member of opposition Imran, who had said that a South Korean PM resigned from office after a ferry sunk.

    “He wasn’t helming the ferry, but he resigned because he couldn’t bear that someone died under his rule,” the now premier can be heard as saying in the video.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief was referring to former South Korean PM Chung Hong-won, who resigned after a ferry sank leaving around 300 people dead or missing and resulted in widespread shame, finger-pointing and blame.

    Chung had stepped down after claims by the victims’ relatives that the government did not do enough to protect or rescue their loved ones.

    Demanding resignation from both the premier and Federal Minister for Railways Shiekh Rasheed over negligence and poor performance, here’s what Twitterati have to say about the episode:

    https://twitter.com/WajidShahPAK/status/1189786784131092480

    https://twitter.com/KhuwajaMax/status/1189785023219740674

    https://twitter.com/AlarmaDita/status/1189791729534287872

    Meanwhile, the minister has blamed passengers for the tragedy.

     

  • PEMRA’s notice to anchors was ‘a senseless blunder’, says Imran Khan

    PEMRA’s notice to anchors was ‘a senseless blunder’, says Imran Khan

    A Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) order recently barred television anchors from “giving their opinions” during talk shows and ordered them to limit their role to moderating the programme.

    The order faced severe backlash from media and also from PTI’s own ministers.

    Firdous Ashiq Awan complained about her fellow ministers to the Prime Minister

    Special Assistant to the PM on Media Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan complained to the PM that PTI’s ministers were talking about her as if they were in the opposition and reports said that PM Khan told them off.

    But according to a source, who was present at the meeting and told The Current, PM Khan didn’t tell them off but instead said that the PEMRA order was a “mistake” and was “beywakoofana” (senseless) but it’s better not to talk against it publicly.

    Fawad Chaudhry and another minister said that such orders shouldn’t be passed which have to be taken back.

    Anchor Shahzeb Khanzada also discussed the issue in his programme.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Firdous Ashiq Awan and PTI ministers have been at odds before and there were rumours that she was going to be replaced.

  • VIDEO: ‘Usman Buzdar just got married again,’ claims journalist

    VIDEO: ‘Usman Buzdar just got married again,’ claims journalist

    Senior journalist and analyst Irshad Bhatti has claimed that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s blue-eyed subordinate, Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Sardar Usman Buzdar, has gotten married for the second time.

    As per the details, journalists on Geo News programme “Report Card” on Tuesday discussed the blunders being made by PM Imran’s team that the premier had constituted himself.

    “If you want to leave PM Imran out of all the criticism, do it. But it wasn’t us who formed his team,” Babar Sattar said.

    “You cannot absolve the premier. The person who made him [Usman Buzdar] Wasim Akram plus, must be held responsible,” he added while citing the example of the Punjab CM, who has retained his position despite severe criticism over poor performance.

    The remarks were followed by Bhatti’s revelation as he congratulated his colleagues over the alleged second marriage of the provincial chief executive. “I congratulate all of you as Buzdar Sahab has gotten married for the second time… and on top of that, stories surrounding his new in-laws are amazing,” he said.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Bhatti also hinted at the development having something to do with the new house that the Punjab CM just purchased and his back-to-back trips to Khushab. “It’s his right to get married so it doesn’t matter, but the stories that follow, are astonishing.”

    He also alleged corruption on Buzdar’s part and later criticised him for his “inability” to bring out any reforms.

  • JUI-F protesters in Ronaldo’s Juventus jersey go viral

    JUI-F protesters in Ronaldo’s Juventus jersey go viral

    As the long-awaited Azadi March of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government continues, an image, showing protesters wearing Juventus jersey, has gone viral over the internet.

    Juventus Football Club, colloquially known as Juve, is an Italian professional football club. Among its star players are Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentinian professional footballer Paulo Dybala.

    While the reason behind the move remains a mystery, netizens wonder if it has something to do with the similarity that colours of the football club’s jersey — black and white — bear with those of the JUI-F’s party flag.

    AZADI MARCH:

    Meanwhile, the religio-political party’s long march on Tuesday reached Lahore via Multan.

    After the caravan arrived in Lahore from where it will head to Rawalpindi, a large crowd of supporters of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman joined their leader and chanted slogans against the government.

    Addressing his supporters, Fazl said JUI-F was going to Islamabad to announce that the incumbent rulers were fake. “Government should resign before we reach Islamabad,” he said.

  • PM’s aide served show-cause notice over anti-judiciary media talk

    PM’s aide served show-cause notice over anti-judiciary media talk

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday served a show-cause notice to Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (PM) for Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan for her anti-judiciary press conference.

    Awan, while criticising the judiciary for granting former premier Nawaz Sharif bail on medical grounds, had on Tuesday said that the court had been “brought to order during the evening only to provide justice to jailed Nawaz”.

    “This will open a floodgate of similar requests by prisoners suffering from various diseases,” she had said.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “While maligning the honourable courts [she] went to say that the case of the accused was heard during the evening ‘as a special dispensation’,” read Wednesday’s show-cause notice highlighting Awan’s remarks.

    The IHC observed that Awan “made an attempt to scandalise the court in the eyes of the public, thereby, tried to lower the esteem of the judiciary.” Seeking reason as to why the court should not proceed with contempt of court against the premier’s aide, IHC also summoned her on November 1.

  • ‘PM resigns amid opposition’s protests’, TV channel stuns Pakistanis

    ‘PM resigns amid opposition’s protests’, TV channel stuns Pakistanis

    The report by a private media outlet regarding some prime minister’s (PM) resignation due to pressure from opposition parties on Tuesday left Pakistan stunned as tensions soar among the country’s political quarters.

    Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has launched its anti-government campaign with plans to enter the federal capital on October 31. With party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman demanding PM Imran Khan’s resignation, other opposition parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), have lent their support to the JUI-F.

    While opposition leaders and workers march to Islamabad against the “illegitimate” Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, a news channel on Tuesday evening aired breaking news claiming that “the opposition’s protests had borne fruit as the premier had resigned”.

    With the news leaving audiences stunned across the country as it suggested that PM Imran had stepped down, the media outlet clarified its report.

    It actually pertained to the resignation of Lebanese PM Saad Hariri, who announced his resignation on Tuesday after 13 days of mass protests demanding the departure of the country’s entire political elite.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Hariri’s sombre televised address was met by cheers from crowds of protesters who have remained mobilised since October 17, crippling the country to press their demands.

    “It has become necessary for us to make a great shock to fix the crisis. I am going to the Baabda Palace to submit the government’s resignation,” said Hariri, who had already stepped down twice from the same post.

    He said his decision comes “in response to the will of many Lebanese who took to the streets to demand change”.