Tag: politics latest

  • I didn’t ask PM Imran for Iran mediation, he offered: Trump

    The United States (US) President Donald Trump has said that he did not speak to Prime Minister Imran Khan for mediation with Iran, it was Imran who thought it would be a good idea, Voice of America reported.

    According to the details and from the tweet of Voice of America Deewa (VoA Deewa), contrary to what PM Imran claims that Trump had asked him to mediate between the US and Iran, Trump has said it was Imran Khan who approached him for mediation.

    “Well, he’d like to do that, and we have a very good relationship. And there’s a chance that that could happen. But, no, I haven’t spoken. He actually asked me. He thought it would be a good idea to meet, VoA quoted President Trump as saying.

    Imran Khan had earlier said that US President Trump had asked him to help defuse tensions with Iran. He also said that prior to arriving in New York he had visited Saudi Arabia and spoken to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who also asked him to talk to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

    PM added, “I immediately spoke to Rouhani after the meeting with Trump, but I can’t say anything right now more than this except that we’re trying and mediating”.

    Tensions run high between Tehran and Washington since May last year when Trump abandoned a 2015 nuclear deal and began reimposing sanctions on Iran in a stated campaign of “maximum pressure”.

  • Buzdar govt ‘softly declines’ to implement PM Imran-approved police reforms

    Buzdar govt ‘softly declines’ to implement PM Imran-approved police reforms

    Chief Minister (CM) Sardar Usman Buzdar-led Punjab government has softly declined to implement the police reforms package that was approved by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan ahead of his departure for Saudi Arabia and the United States (US), The News reported.

    According to reports, the Punjab government through the Interior Ministry was recently asked to implement the reforms package, however, the provincial administration has expressed reservations over certain measures approved by the premier “without proper consultation with the stakeholders”.

    The premier has reportedly given a go-ahead to the home departments to “take over control of the police” in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Islamabad. Under the new system, the major functions of the police would be performed by the deputy commissioners (DCs) who have been given judicial powers of 22A and 22B besides the authority to inspect police stations.

    While the federal government wanted the implementation of these reforms in Punjab through an ordinance by September 30, the provincial government has assigned a high-level committee to review the reforms package for police and return to centre with its recommended changes.

    The report further said that the committee will be headed by the Punjab law minister and include three provincial ministers, chief secretary, inspector general of police (IGP), an ex-chief secretary and a retired IGP.

    It has been tasked with completing its deliberations within a week.

    “Following a presentation from the interior secretary, the reforms package was given a go-ahead by the PM. While the Punjab law minister was present during the presentation, neither the CM nor the IGP was there,” the report quoted sources as saying.

    COPS UNHAPPY WITH REFORMS:

    Meanwhile, officers of the Police Service of Pakistan as well as Punjab Police are “very upset with the way the reforms package was approved by the premier”.

    Reacting to the reforms, senior officers of Punjab Police held a meeting at the Central Police Office on Wednesday night and threatened that they would resign, Dawn reported.

    The police officers stated categorically that they “would prefer to leave their services rather than allowing the bureaucracy to take over the police department”. They unanimously rejected the new scheme which, they said, was an attempt of the Pakistan Administrative Services (PAS) to bring police under its control.

    Reports quoted an official as saying that the participants of the meeting decided to take up the matter with CM Buzdar and parliamentarians to highlight their reservations.

    Senior policemen authorised the IGP to meet the CM and bring to his knowledge their concerns. They also decided to present “factual situation” regarding the “failure” of the DCs on many fronts.

    Meanwhile, Law Minister Raja Basharat held a meeting with the IGP and other senior police officers who apprised him of their concerns. The law minister assured the IGP and other senior police officers that he would play his role in addressing their legitimate demands by taking these up with the chief minister.

  • Imran mocked for saying ‘Jinnah had cancer’

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that Quaide Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah “had cancer and he kept it a secret from everybody”, in a blunder that has left Twitterati wondering if the premier is oblivious to what Jinnah really had — tuberculosis.

    Speaking at Asia Society in New York on Thursday, PM Imran said that Jinnah was his role model who had a mission and joined politics for it alone. “He was in it for the mission, not the fame or power. Dreamers change the world, but career politicians never do.”

    “He [Jinnah] didn’t tell anyone that he was battling cancer because he had a dream he wanted to fulfill,” the premier added, landing himself in crosshairs of netizens, who criticised the premier for “not knowing that Jinnah did not have cancer”.

    Here’s what they had to say:

    Another “thanked god for Imran not saying that Jinnah got treated at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital”.

    https://twitter.com/MoxtOpinionated/status/1177380137014308865

    This is not the first time PM Imran has said that Jinnah had cancer. A few months ago, he had said that the founder of Pakistan “didn’t disclose that he was suffering from cancer so that the enemy couldn’t create hurdles and delay the process of creation of Pakistan”.

    JINNAH’S DEATH:

    From the 1930s, Jinnah suffered from tuberculosis; only his sister and a few others close to him were aware of his condition. Jinnah believed public knowledge of his lung ailments would hurt him politically.

    Tuberculosis is a disease caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but they can also damage other parts of the body.

    As his health deteriorated over time, Jinnah passed away in Karachi on September 11, 1948, at the age of 71, just over a year after Pakistan’s creation.

  • VIDEO: Jahangir Tareen rescues sick British tourist in Gilgit on private helicopter

    VIDEO: Jahangir Tareen rescues sick British tourist in Gilgit on private helicopter

    Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) secretary-general, disqualified Jahangir Khan Tareen, has flown a sick British tourist out of Fairy Meadows National Park in his private helicopter.

    Fairy Meadows, named by German climbers and locally known as Joot, is a grassland near one of the basecamp sites of Nanga Parbat, located in Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan.

    According to the details of the incident, a British tourist on Wednesday fell unconscious after her health deteriorated during a camping trip in Fairy Meadows. Tareen, who was also present in the area as part of his trip to Gilgit-Baltistan, brought the sick tourist back to the airport in his helicopter.

    The woman was later shifted to a nearby hospital while a video of the rescue has gone viral over the internet.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    FUEL FOR TAREEN’S CHARTERED FLIGHT:

    Meanwhile, Tareen’s trip to the country’s northernmost territory has been marred by controversy regarding the fuel for his chartered flight from Gilgit City to Skardu.

    In a letter addressed to the Skardu deputy commissioner (DC) by the general manager operations of Princely Jets — Pakistan’s first private charter jet operator — three barrels (600 litres) of JP-1 fuel have been requested for Tareen’s helicopter.

    https://twitter.com/Psfkami/status/1176870816199446528

    Even though the letter does not appear to be in violation of any rules, netizens argue the need for a private company’s general manager “to request acquisition of government fuel from an official for Tareen’s chartered flight”.

  • Firdous bashes Sharmeen, Malala for ‘double standards’

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan has criticised Nobel laureate and education activist Malala Yousafzai as well as Oscar-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy for their “silence over the Kashmir crisis”.

    “Our sister Chinoy, who used to speak-up for acid victims in Pakistan and received an Oscar for her documentary, is now lost somewhere. Kashmiri sisters and mothers are calling out Sharmeen Chinoy to speak up for their rights,” PM’s aide said while addressing a press conference Thursday.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tax8eV-qnuA&feature=youtu.be

    “She [Sharmeen] and NGOs [Non-Governmental Organisations] were always ready to project a negative image of Pakistan to the world whenever an incident related to minorities occurred. But now when Kashmiri women are facing tough situations in the occupied valley, these organisations are sleeping.”

    Firdous alleged that they “used to receive foreign funds for promoting the negative image and now the rights of Kashmiris were not a part of their financers’ agenda”.

    She even criticised Malala for not speaking up for Kashmiris. “Malala used to speak for the rights and education of children in [erstwhile] FATA [Federally Administrated Tribal Areas] and received many awards and appreciation from the United Nations (UN) and the world… I want to hear her voice for Kashmiri children as well”.

    SHARMEEN & MALALA:

    This is not the first time that Chinoy is being received criticised for her works as her Oscar-winning documentary “Saving Face” on acid attack survivors and their tough battle for justice received much hatred for “projecting Pakistan’s negative image”.

    Malala has also been facing severe criticism for not speaking up for Kashmiris, even though she has expressed her concern for the people of the held valley.

    “I am deeply concerned about reports of 4,000 people, including children, arbitrarily arrested & jailed, about students who haven’t been able to attend school for more than 40 days, about girls who are afraid to leave their homes [sic],” she tweeted earlier this month.

  • PM Imran’s Kashmir campaign reaches Times Square

    PM Imran’s Kashmir campaign reaches Times Square

    With the situation in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) worsening as the valley remains under lockdown for 53 days, the ordeal of Kashmiris has been highlighted at Times Square in New York City.

    All eyes are on New York where dozens of global leaders have gathered for the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

    With Pakistan, especially Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, continuing to voice concerns over Indian occupying forces’ brutalities against innocent Kashmiris and Narendra Modi-led government’s move to rob the held valley of its autonomy, a movement to express solidarity with Kashmiris has taken the world by storm.

    “With the extraordinary efforts of PM Imran Khan, Kashmir issue has now become a Global concern. The voice of people of IOJ&K is once again being heard in the highest diplomatic forums. ‘Stand With Kashmir’ has been highlighted in Times Square New York, today [sic],” government of Pakistan tweeted Thursday.

    Earlier, protests marred Modi and United States (US) President Donald Trump’s rally in Houston, Texas, where members of Pakistani and Indian minority communities gathered to raise their voice for the Kashmir cause.

    The “anti-Modi demonstration” outside the “Howdy, Modi” event venue, called attention to the “racist Modi regime” and its ongoing human rights violations in India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

  • Irregularities worth Rs118 million detected in Lahore metro bus project

    Irregularities worth Rs118 million detected in Lahore metro bus project

    The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) has detected irregularities worth around Rs120 million in the decoration of the Lahore metro bus’s track, Dunya News has reported.

    According to reports, the Parks & Horticulture Authority (PHA) and contractors allegedly colluded, resulting in losses worth millions of rupees to the national exchequer.

    Discovering irregularities of Rs118.49 million in the report, the top auditor stated that there was no plantation on the track and funds simply “vanished”.

    The AGP has issued orders for departmental proceedings against the PHA officials concerned and said that the administrative control of the officers was also found to be extremely poor.

    The Lahore metro bus project was completed in 11 months by former Punjab chief minister (CM) Shehbaz Sharif and began its services on February 11, 2013. The total expenditure of the project stood at Rs29.896 billion.

  • PM Imran second most searched leader at UN General Assembly

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has become the second most searched personality among the leaders currently in the United States (US) for the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

    According to Google Trends, PM Imran has secured the second slot in the list of most searched UNGA leaders on Google, while Indian PM Narendra Modi stands fifth and United States (US) President Donald Trump has topped the list.

    Among other most searched UNGA leaders are British PM Boris Johnson at the third place and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on the fourth. The Brazilian president had recently made headlines after severe criticism over his lack of efforts to protect the Amazon rainforest.

  • Modi expresses grief over Pakistan earthquake

    Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has expressed grief over the loss of lives and damage to property after an earthquake in Pakistan killed at least 40 and left more than 500 people injured.

    The Twitter handle “PMO India” wrote, “PM has expressed grief on the loss of lives and damage to property due to an earthquake in parts of India and Pakistan”.

    “PM expresses condolences to the families of the deceased and prays for the speedy recovery of those injured”, said the Tweet.

    A powerful 5.8-magnitude earthquake jolted several parts of Pakistan on Tuesday, particularly areas of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

    According to the geological wing of the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), the epicenter of the quake was stated to be one kilometer (km) southeast of Mirpur, 10 km beneath the earth’s surface.

  • ISB: Sixth grader accidentally shot dead by school guard

    ISB: Sixth grader accidentally shot dead by school guard

    A sixth grade boy was killed outside his school in Islamabad after a security guard accidentally shot him.

    The incident took place on Wednesday outside a private school in Nilore, Islamabad.

    The guard was cleaning his gun and accidentally fired it. He has been taken into custody and it is unclear why he was cleaning his gun during school time.

    According to reports, there was an eyewitness who said that after the boy was shot, he cried in pain for 10-15 minutes. The school did not provide a vehicle to take the child to the hospital and closed its gates instead.

    The boy was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead on arrival.

    Police are investigating the incident and the parents are protesting against the school.