An inflation bomb has been dropped on the Pakistani public as the government, in its new 2024-25 budget, imposed an 18 percent General Sales Tax (GST) on baby food and formula milk – a necessity for the nourishment of children.
People have strongly criticised the new tax on its probable risk of worsening malnutrition among infants and children since parents wouldn’t be able to afford baby food.
“In other countries, governments reduce taxes on such products,” said Akmal, a resident of Lahore, to DAWN.
In his budget speech Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb ironically underscored the importance of children’s nutrition in the country.
When asked about the new tax, he replied that it “was not a big deal” as formula milk is purchased by the middle and upper middle classes who can afford it.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and son of former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Zain Qureshi, said on Monday that he hopes his father will be released from jail after Eid ul Azha, Geo News has reported.
A close aide to former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi has been in jail since last year.
“This is my second Eid without my father. He has given the ultimate sacrifice. I’m hoping that he’ll be out of jail after Eid,” Zain Qureshi told journalists after offering Eid prayers in Multan.
Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi are facing multiple cases. They were initially arrested in the cypher case and cases related to vandalism on May 9.
Zain Qureshi also that his party is always ready for dialogue.
Earlier this week, an audio conversation of Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan and Supreme Court judges was leaked on social media. Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa clarified that it wasn’t leaked from the Supreme Court.
Justice Isa stated that he asked the IT staff who told him that there were some voices in the audio which did not belong to the top court.
The conversation was regarding the NAB amendment case’s court hearing in which Imran Khan appeared through video conference from Adiala Jail where he is currently imprisoned.
Interestingly, Justice Athar Minallah suggested that there was no issue even if the audio was leaked because the dialogues were made during an open court.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Anny Marri has confirmed that the wounded camel subjected to cruelty is being taken care of by a non-profit organisation Comprehensive Disaster Response Services (CDRS).
She posted on X (formerly Twitter): “So grateful to @CDRSWORLD for stepping up to the help the injured camel who is now in khi. Sarah Jehangir and her team of volunteers remind us of the good in the world. 24/7 doctors at present & a prosthetic once the camel heals, is the plan of action.”
CDRS describes itself as the “Top non-profit organization and charitable, registered in the United States and Pakistan for disaster relief and projects on human and social development. CDRS responds to human suffering in emergencies and disasters, as well as serves in the development of communities in need, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, class, location, or background.”
For animal rescue and shelter, the organisation has the “Benji Project for Animal Welfare and Rescue” dedicated to this task.
Previously
A heartbreaking incident took place in Mandh Jamrao area of Sanghar, Sindh when a camel wandered onto the agricultural land of an influential feudal lord. The angered man then told his employees to torture the animal, ending with cutting off its leg.
Social media is seething with rage at the inhumane act of cruelty. A widely shared video on social media shows the animal screaming in pain while a photo shows a man holding the leg in a room.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Anny Marri wrote on X that the injured camel is being treated in an animal welfare sanctuary.
The owner of the camel, Somer Bhan, reached Press Club Sanghar with a severed leg in a protest against the cruel act. He stated, “The tyrant cut off the leg of a speechless animal just because it passed through his fields.”
Sanghar police registered a case against “unknown persons” instead of filing the case against the person responsible.
Law enforcement agencies have foiled a Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attempt to establish a foothold in Balochistan by arresting a most wanted commander and several other members of the banned outfit in different areas of the province.
The security situation in Pakistan has been deteriorating since the past few months, especially in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
“With the arrest of the TTP commander and other terrorists, their efforts to establish centres in the province have been foiled,” stated a spokesman for the Counter Terrorism Department on Thursday.
The CTD, along with other law enforcement agencies, conducted operations and arrested several militants, including the wanted TTP commander.
He also said, “The arrested commander was involved in various terrorist activities in different areas of the country.”
Founder Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan on Monday strongly criticised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman and the federal interior minister Mohsin Naqvi saying, “Naqvi is the biggest beneficiary of favouritism.”
Khan was responding to Naqvi’s remarks about the need for “surgery” in the national cricket team after its poor performance in the Pakistan vs India T-20 match.
Khan also condemned the government over the deteriorating security situation in the country saying, “Our soldiers are being martyred, and robberies are occurring in Islamabad, yet they do not care.”
The former Prime Minister also alleged that efforts are being made to silence him and cover up election rigging, chastising the authorities for action against PTI leaders across Punjab for holding conventions.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has decided to extend the federal cabinet after the budget and invited Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) once again to join the cabinet, The News reported on Wednesday.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior political leaders and members of allied parties will be included in the extended cabinet.
Shehbaz Sharif has started working on enlisting new cabinet members, inviting PPP to join the government to work together for the betterment of the country.
PML-N has given the task to its senior leader, Ahsan Iqbal. He as already talked to Chief Minister Balochistan, Sarfraz Bugti and PPP’s trusted leader Qamar Zaman Kaira.
After the elections, PPP decided against becoming part of the cabinet.
However, the party does hold constitutional and parliamentary posts.
At least 11 terrorists involved in the martyrdom of seven army officials in Lakki Marwat on Sunday, have been killed during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the same district on June 12.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) released a statement that the IBO was carried out in response to the recent Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion that claimed the lives of seven brave soldiers to bring the perpetrators of the heinous act to justice.
The military’s media wing stated, “During the conduct of the operation, own troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location, as a result of which eleven terrorists were successfully neutralised while multiple terrorist hideouts were also busted.”
In recent years, Pakistan has seen a deterioration in the security situation in the country as the Taliban interim government came into power in 2022 in Afghanistan.
According to research by Lago Collective, the United Kingdom and Schengen countries earned millions of pounds and euros by collecting fees from rejected visa applications from Global South countries including Pakistan.
The report revealed that Pakistanis spent £5.3 million on rejected UK visa applications with almost 40 percent of rejected applications in 2023 alone.
In the same year, around 50 percent of Schengen visas from Pakistan were also rejected, with €3.344m spent on applications.
Marta Foresti, co-researcher of the Lago Collective research paper, highlighted, “Visa inequality has very tangible consequences and the world’s poorest pay the price. You can think of the costs of rejected visas as ‘reverse remittances’, money flowing from poor to rich countries.”
According to Foresti, “Visa regimes are not equal or reciprocal,” emphasizing that while European citizens can easily obtain a visa to a third-world country; the situation isn’t similar when any poor country’s citizen tries to obtain a visa to Europe.
Meanwhile, visa application fees are increasing which means an extra burden on those trying to move towards better opportunities abroad.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Central Punjab General Secretary Syed Hassan Murtaza said on Monday that his party will play its role in the “withdrawal” of the controversial Defamation Bill, 2024.
Murtaza told journalists in Lahore, “PPP was neither taken on board regarding the Punjab defamation law nor budget preparations, adding that the party’s legal team will work on the controversial legislation and will try to convince the provincial government to withdraw the bill.
Murtaza expressed concerns about the controversial legislation: “PPP was never willing to be part of that legislation.”
The provincial government planned the foreign visit of Governor Punjab before presenting the controversial bill in the assembly, he clarified, telling journalists about this.
