Tag: politics latest

  • Saudi Arabia to ‘expedite’ $5 billion investment in Pakistan

    Saudi Arabia to ‘expedite’ $5 billion investment in Pakistan

    The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has pledged to accelerate the first wave of a $5 billion investment package in Pakistan, stated in the joint statement of the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) released by the office of the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday.

    PM Shehbaz and Crown Prince MBS held an official meeting on April 7 at Al-Safa Palace in Makkah Al-Mukarramah.

    At the outset, MBS congratulated the premier on assuming the office and expressed warm wishes for his tenure.

    Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz expressed his gratitude and re-affirmed Pakistan’s commitment to bolstering bilateral ties and economic cooperation.

    Both parties agreed to expedite the first phase of the investment package worth billions.

    Analyst Mosharraf Zaidi pointed out that Saudi investments have not materialized in the past few years and even the pledges have gotten smaller.

  • Army releases 20 PTI workers arrested in May 9 riots

    Army releases 20 PTI workers arrested in May 9 riots

    Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir has approved the release of 20 convicts involved in the May 9 riots by granting them a special relaxation.

    The Chief allowed the convicts to go free before Eid-ul-Fitr, leading to their release on April 6 and 7.

    The list released by the Army showed that among those freed, are eight residents of Rawalpindi, three from Lahore, five from Gujranwala, three from Dir, and one from Mardan.

    None of the convicts had completed their sentences and were released only on the orders of COAS.

    Violent clashes and riots had erupted across the country after the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan.

    On December 23, a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan had allowed the resumption of military trials.

    The released convicts had stayed in custody for various periods up to 10.5 months.

  • PPP’s Yousaf Raza Gillani elected Senate chairman ‘unopposed’

    PPP’s Yousaf Raza Gillani elected Senate chairman ‘unopposed’

    Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Saidal Nasir Khan were elected as Senate chairman and deputy chairman respectively on Tuesday.

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senators continuously protested throughout the oath taking session.

    No other senator submitted his nomination papers against Gillani and Saidal Nasir Khan for the important posts.

    Earlier today, 41 newly-elected senators took oath as PTI members protested on the floor of the house, terming the process of election of chairman and deputy chairman as “unconstitutional” due to an “incomplete house”.

    President Asif Ali Zardari had called a session of the upper house for the oath-taking ceremony and the election of the Senate chairman and deputy chairman.

  • ’Four salary bonus’, PM Shehbaz is reportedly rewarding his staff

    ’Four salary bonus’, PM Shehbaz is reportedly rewarding his staff

    A few days before leaving for Washington to ask the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a new bailout package to avoid a default, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved a proposal to give up to four salaries in bonuses to his staff. He also asked his finance minister to concur with it.

    The PM is being faced with criticism that the policy to hand out such big awards to bureaucrats amidst such deeply serious economic conditions is against an austerity drive.

    Also, analysts are asking whether this move would bode well for the new IMF bailout package as the IMF discourages bloated government expenditures.

    The rewards were approved for staff officers because of ‘their extraordinary efforts in the completion of tasks’, according to the Express Tribune.

    More importantly, the cost for these bonuses will be paid to these government servants by taking loans from banks at a 23 per cent interest rate.

  • PTI requests postponement of Senate chairman, deputy chairman polls

    PTI requests postponement of Senate chairman, deputy chairman polls

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has asked on Monday for the postponement of the election for Senate chairman and deputy Senate chairman until polls for the upper house are conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

    Senator Saifullah Niazi from PTI submitted an application to the Senate secretary, stating that the true count of Senate members is 96.

    Last week, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) postponed the KP Senate elections because the MPAs elected to reserved seats hadn’t taken their oath. As a result, the upper house is now lacking 11 members.

  • CTD makes ‘progress’ in threatening letters case

    CTD makes ‘progress’ in threatening letters case

    The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) is getting closer to uncovering the person behind the threatening letters sent to judges of the Supreme Court and various high courts, Geo News reported on Monday.

    Geo sources say that CTD has been actively following key developments in the investigation since they received the forensic report on the handwriting in the letters.

    The investigation department matched the letters written to judges in the Supreme Court, Islamabad, and Lahore High Courts. According to forensic reports, the same person wrote the letters to judges in all three courts under the names Resham, Reshaman, and Gulshad Khatun. The letters were also sent through the same post office.

    “There is a single mastermind behind sending threatening letters to judges,” sources within CTD told Geo News, adding that arsenic found in the letters to the judges was also bought by the same person.

  • Defence Minister wants us to stop eating pakoras

    Defence Minister wants us to stop eating pakoras

    Defence Minister of Pakistan Khawaja Asif took to X, formerly Twitter, to post an interesting thing about Pakistan’s economy or rather ‘pakora economy’. It described how the country could save $9.5 million a month if people avoid pakoras in Ramadan.

    The Minister’s post got some very passionate responses from the people, to say the least.

    A user on X quoted his post and said, “RAW has assassinated 20 high-profile targets in Pakistan. Meanwhile our defense minister.”

    Another user wrote, “Defence Minister Khawaja Asif issuing important messages to the nation while performing Umrah.”

    The Minister’s post said, “Pakora Economy: A standard 13 gram Pakora absorbs 3 grams of oil during frying. Let’s say 50million people at home have at least 1 pakora for Iftar. This translates to 150 tons of oil/day. Oil is Rs600/ltr. So its Rs 90 Million or $316 K/day of oil, $9.5 million a month. Avoid Pakora and save $9.5 million a month.”

    It also said at the end, “O believers, fasting is compulsory not pakoras.”

    We think Khwaja Asif was joking, but who knows, he may actually be serious.

  • Pakistani journalist Murtaza Ali Shah is on Indian hit list for covering Khalistan movement

    Pakistani journalist Murtaza Ali Shah is on Indian hit list for covering Khalistan movement

    A pro-Khalistan British Sikh organisation’s leader revealed that a well-known reporter of Geo and The News from London, Murtaza Ali Shah, received life threats from the Indian state for covering the Khalistan movement in Britain and other western countries.

    In an interview on the Sikh Channel Akaal TV, Sikh Federation UK’s leader, Dabinderjit Singh, revealed that London police are aware that Shah is facing life threats. The Sikh organisation also tweeted about the issue on X (formerly Twitter).

    Dabinderjit Singh, who is a retired civil servant, also said that senior reporter Murtaza Ali Shah is on the hit list in India due to his coverage of Sikh issues in London.

    “Murtaza Ali Shah covers Sikh issues for Geo TV but is not a Sikh. In particular, Murtaza Shah has been covering the Khalistan Referendum organised by Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) in the UK, Canada, Switzerland, and Italy. He has been reaching to these places from London for coverage,” he said, linking his journalistic work to the threat.

  • Is Imran Khan going to be released this month?

    Is Imran Khan going to be released this month?

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Latif Khosa has affirmed the claim of fellow party members that Imran Khan will be released from Adiala jail soon, confidently claiming that the former prime minister will likely be free from jail this month.

    “I am saying this for sure that the PTI founder will be released in [this] April,” he said while speaking on Geo News programme Naya Pakistan on Sunday.

    Earlier, several party members, including chairman PTI Gohar Ali Khan, made similar claims that the jailed PTI founder will be released very soon.

    Khosa stated that labeling the release of the PTI founder as a result of any deal would be unfair.

    He also said that Imran Khan doesn’t believe in the politics of revenge, as he is only in favour of the supremacy of the constitution.

    Speaking about the cases against the PTI founder, Khosa downplayed Khan’s conviction in cipher and un-Islamic nikkah case, stating: “In the cipher case, the court has already observed ‘where is the cipher’, while Iddat case is shameful.”

  • Sheharyar Afridi says there are ‘snakes’ inside PTI

    Sheharyar Afridi says there are ‘snakes’ inside PTI

    Amidst rumors of internal rifts within the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), party leader Shehryar Afridi recently said that there were some “hypocrites” inside the party.

    Recently, all the portfolios were taken back from the popular leader Sher Afzal Marwat –who emerged as a famous leader after the incarceration of PTI founder Imran Khan.

    Addressing a public gathering in Kohat on Friday, Afridi said: “We are sending a message to the party members that the workers and loyalists of the party should be supported, those who are the foundation of the party.”

    Afridi criticised the party leadership even saying there were “snakes” who had become a part of the PTI.

    The rifts between the party leadership have been increasing with many members divided on different matters related to party.