Tag: politics latest

  • Govt collects total revenue of Rs4.9 trillion in FY2018-19

    Govt collects total revenue of Rs4.9 trillion in FY2018-19

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has collected a revenue of Rs4.9 trillion in the fiscal year 2018-19, out of which Rs4.5 trillion were collected as tax by the federal and provincial governments, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.

    According to the details, the total expenditure, however, exceeded the revenue by Rs3.44 trillion as it was recorded at Rs8.35 trillion. Out of this sum, the current expenditure accounts for Rs7.1 trillion, while development expenditure was recorded at Rs1.2 trillion.

    The highest-in-almost-three-decades budget deficit — the financial loss for a period when expenses exceed revenues — worth Rs3.44 trillion was mainly financed by local banks who lent around Rs2.3 trillion to the government. Other local institutions lent around Rs765 billion.

    External financing for the year has been recorded at Rs4.17 billion.

  • ‘Hussain Nawaz planning to come to Pakistan to strike deal with govt’

    ‘Hussain Nawaz planning to come to Pakistan to strike deal with govt’

    One of the jailed former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s sons, Hussain Nawaz, is planning to come to Pakistan to strike a deal with the government for his family members’ release, senior journalist Dr Shahid Masood has claimed.

    Speaking to a private media outlet, he said that Hussain was seeking a guarantee from the authorities that he would not be arrested upon arrival and was taking matters into his own hands because he “did not trust his uncle and incumbent party chief Shehbaz Sharif”.

    While Nawaz’s daughter and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President (VP) Maryam Nawaz is already in National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) custody, his sons Hassan and Hussain Nawaz are wanted for their involvement in the Avenfield and other corruption references against members of the Sharif family.

    “Nawaz’s son is looking for a retired judge, bureaucrat or an ex-army official as a guarantor who can make sure that he doesn’t get arrested after reaching Pakistan,” the journalist claimed.

    “Only time will tell when the deal will be struck and how far will it go,” Dr Shahid added.

    He also criticised PM Imran Khan for “backtracking” on his stance against corrupt individuals. “He [the premier] had vowed to not strike a deal with anyone, but now he is offering to release them if they can return the looted money.”

  • I have seen good old days… Pakistan wasn’t like this: Gen Bajwa

    I have seen good old days… Pakistan wasn’t like this: Gen Bajwa

    Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa has said that the country is going through tough times, but it wasn’t always the case as he himself has seen the good old days.

    “Pakistan wasn’t like this. I was born in 1959 and I have seen the heydays of Pakistan,” the army chief said while addressing a gathering, a video of which has gone viral over the internet.

    “In 1962, PIA [Pakistan International Airlines] was one of the best airlines in the world. PIA and Japan Airlines were the only two Asian airlines flying jet aircraft 707. India, Taiwan [and] Singapore, they were all flying Dakota [aircraft],” he said while sharing memories from the good old times.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    https://twitter.com/ShamaJunejo/status/1166670723710107648

    Gen Bajwa said that Pakistanis had televisions in the year 1964, while Indians didn’t get any until 14 years later in 1978. “In 1964, we also had an electric train running from Lahore to Sahiwal.”

    “I have seen the heydays. Cinema halls used to be full, but so were mosques. The best movies were shown in the cinemas. You know… The Beatles… they visited Karachi,” he said and added that former United States (US) first lady Jacqueline Kennedy also travelled with the PIA.

    “[36th US] President Lyndon B. Johnson travelled to Karachi on PIA. Those were the standards of this country,” he concluded.

  • ‘Pakistan’s Shaheen-III can destroy Israel’s Tel Aviv in 12 minutes,’ ex-general says

    ‘Pakistan’s Shaheen-III can destroy Israel’s Tel Aviv in 12 minutes,’ ex-general says

    Defence analyst and former three-star general, Lieutenant General (r) Ghulam Mustafa, has said that “Pakistan, with its Shaheen-III missile, is capable to destroy Israel’s Tel Aviv in only 12 minutes”.

    “It [Shaheen-III] is 18 times faster than the speed of sound,” he said, adding that even on the night of February 27 — when two intruding jets of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were shot down by Pakistan — Indian media claimed that Islamabad was ready to launch an attack against its enemies.

    Mustafa claimed that the United States (US), while fearing that Pakistan would attack Tel Aviv as well, handed over its Air-3 missile to Israel on the night of February 28.

    He said that February 14’s Pulwama attack affected Pakistan in many ways but the attack was “actually planned by India’s premier intelligence agency and Israel”.

    “The US was also involved,” he added.

    According to a notification issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in April, Mustafa is among the 26 retired officers of the armed forces who are allowed to appear on media as defence analysts.

    “Their views/comments/opinions on media shall remain personal/independent expression and not attributable to the institution,” read the notification issued four months ago.

  • War with India in October, says Shaikh Rasheed

    War with India in October, says Shaikh Rasheed

    Railways Minister Shaikh Rasheed Ahmed has always been fond of announcing predictions and his latest one is predicting war between India and Pakistan.

    Addressing a ceremony in Rawalpindi, he predicted that there would be a “full-blown war” between Pakistan and India in October or November.

    He also said that this was a final freedom struggle for Indian Occupied Kashmir and the war with India would be the, “last this time”.

    “Jinnah had assessed the anti-Muslim mindset in India long ago. Those who still think about the possibility of dialogue with India are fools,” he added.

  • ANF judge stops Rana Sanaullah’s case hearing midway, repatriated to LHC

    Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) court judge Masood Arshad stopped the hearing of Rana Sanaullah’s case midway after learning that he had been repatriated back to the Lahore High Court (LHC), Dawn has reported.

    According to the details, ANF judge during today’s hearing said, “I have just received a Whatsapp message, the Lahore High Court (LHC) has repatriated me. I cannot lend my expertise to this case anymore”.

    “If this hadn’t happened then I would have announced the verdict today”, the judge added. 

    Apart from Masood Arshad, two other accountability judges have been recalled, including judge Mushtaq Ilahi, and Muhammad Naeem Arshad.

    Judge Naeem was hearing cases of Shehbaz Sharif, Hamza Shehbaz and Maryam Nawaz, while judge Ilahi was not hearing any high-profile cases.

    ANF had earlier arrested Rana Sanaullah in July, from the Islamabad-Lahore motorway near Sukheki, on charges of having ties to drug traffickers.

  • Dutch oil company to invest $2.8 billion in Pakistan

    Dutch oil company to invest $2.8 billion in Pakistan

    The famous Dutch oil company, Royal Vopak is going to invest $2.8 billion in Pakistan after improvement in investment regime under Pakistan Tehreeke Insaf (PTI) government, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) has reported.

    According to the details, a delegation of Royal Vopak called on Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile, Industries and Production, and Investment, Razak Dawood and discussed new opportunities for investment related to Terminal and Storage Facilities of Liquefied Natural Gas ( LNG) in Pakistan.

    Royal Vopak is a Dutch company that stores and handles various oil, chemicals, edible oils and natural gas-related products all over the world.

    The Adviser to the PM urged the delegation to invest in Pakistan owing to its improved global ranking in Ease of Doing Business Index by 11 points.

    In this regard, Pakistan has launched a program titled Regulatory Guillotine to ease the business regulations to facilities investors.

  • PML-N MPA caught stealing electricity

    Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz MPA Rahila Khadim Hussain has been caught stealing electricity in Larex Colony, Mughal Pura, Lahore.

    According to a newspaper clipping shared by journalist Mansoor Ali Khan on Twitter, MPA Rahila is involved in stealing electricity over Rs500,000 with a fake meter that is installed at her house.

    The clipping further reveals that the authorities from eastern circle area under direction’s from Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) Chief Mujahid Parvez conducted the raid in Angoori bagh’s sub-division with superintendent Engineer Muhammad Rasheed and caught MPA stealing electricity.

  • Imran Khan says ‘became PM by taking U-Turns’

    Imran Khan says ‘became PM by taking U-Turns’

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that he became the prime minister of Pakistan by taking “U-turns”.

    He was speaking at the inauguration of a new academic block at the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute (GIKI) of Engineering Science and Technology in Topi, where he said his opponents often accused him of taking U-turns from a particular stance.

    PM said “I make compromises for achieving my goals, rather than compromising on my goals”, adding that “The opponents are raising hue and cry so that I give them NRO. This is simply out of question”.

    This is not the first time Imran Khan has said something like that. Last year in November 2018, PM Imran on Twitter wrote that “Doing a U-turn (sic) to reach one’s objective is the hallmark of great leadership just as lying to save ill-gotten wealth is the hallmark of crooks”.

  • Video: Police torture cell run by SHO, constables unearthed in Lahore

    Video: Police torture cell run by SHO, constables unearthed in Lahore

    A secret torture cell run by station house officer (SHO) and constables has been unearthed in Lahore’s Gujjarpura area, exposing the mistreatment of Punjab police, Dawn has reported.

    According to the details, Gojjar Pura police has set up a private torture cell in a forest near Karol village which was unearthed by officials of the anti-corruption department, who were in the field for investigation of a case.

    During their investigation, the anti-corruption officials heard cries, traced them to a building located right in the middle of a jungle and filmed whatever they saw. 

    They found six locked men, including a bedridden man in serious condition due to apparently third-degree torture by the suspected policemen.

    The bedridden man, identified as Amjad claimed that the suspected police officials entered his house by scaling the boundary walls, dragged his wife and children and then bundled him in a police van without informing him of the reason of his arrest.

    Other captives said the police officials would come over in the night to torture them only.

    The Lahore Operations DIG has taken notice of the report and summoned Gujjarpura SHO Raza Jaffery and three other police personnel.