In a photo shared by his son on Twitter, President Dr Arif Alvi has been spotted picking up trash on his hiking trip with family in Changla Gali mountain resort town of Galyat.
According to the details, the president was seen collecting garbage in a trash bag and then disposing it of in a bin by the side of a road.
“During our treks, we usually take trash bags, but accidentally forgot them, next time will do more [sic],” the president’s son, Awab Alvi, wrote and added that Pakistanis should “behave like responsible tourists when they visit such beautiful places in the country”.
Sad to see tourist take a trek & enjoy a picnic but leave plastic bottles all over the trail – we tried to pick as many as we can pic.twitter.com/QrvroNpFJh
In another attempt to turn majority-Muslim Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) into majority-Hindu, the Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi-led government has decided to re-open around 50,000 temples in the held valley, Samaa TV reported.
According to the details, Indian Minister for Home Affairs Kishan Reddy has announced opening the temples and said that a survey has been ordered to reopen or rebuild all the temples closed or destroyed over the years.
The move comes amid fears that the Hindu nationalist government in India abrogated Article 370 of its constitution to pave way for a Muslim genocide in the disputed territory.
The Supreme Court of India (SCI) had earlier ordered the government to restore normalcy in IoK “as soon as possible while keeping in mind national safety and security”.
The court had further ordered the government to submit a report mentioning the actual situation in the region that has been lockdown with communication blackout.
People of the Muslim-majority troubled valley have been held hostage by Indian occupying forces since August 5 when New Delhi abrogated the article to rob the disputed territory of its autonomy.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister (PM) on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Development Zulfi Bukhari has quoted United States (US) President Donald Trump as saying that “the entire world wants to meet him, but he wants to meet Imran Khan”.
“Trump said that Imran Khan is a world leader whom he has faith in,” Bukhari said while speaking to a private media outlet after the two leaders’ meeting in New York on Monday night.
صدرڈونلڈٹرمپ نےکہاساری دنیامجھ سےملناچاہتی ہے،میں عمران خان سےملناچاہتاہوں،زلفی بخاری
He said it was a proud moment for Pakistanis all around the globe, and that the Pakistani community was overjoyed to have PM Imran with them in the US.
صدرڈونلڈٹرمپ نےکہا کہ پاکستان کےساتھ تجارت5فیصدبڑھادی،زلفی بخاری
“Trump has also said that the US has increased trade with Pakistan by 5 per cent and working to improve Pak-US ties will help in generating employment opportunities.”
IMRAN MEETS TRUMP:
Earlier, the premier met US president on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGA) 74th session in a televised event.
The two spoke about the ongoing situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK), with PM Imran telling Trump that he felt that it was “the beginning of a crisis”.
Addressing the US president and the reporters, he said, “Trump heads the most powerful country in the world. And the most powerful country in the world has a responsibility.
“I honestly feel that this crisis could become much bigger. We look to the US to put out flames in the world,” Imran said.
Responding to PM Imran’s concerns, Trump said “he thinks he would be an extremely good arbitrator”.
“I’ve done it before, believe it or not. And I’ve never failed as an arbitrator. I’ve been asked to arbitrate disputes — pretty big ones — from… friends. And I’ve done it in a good, successful fashion. If I can be of help, you know that, if I can be of help, let me know,” he added.
The US president said his predecessors did not trust Pakistan but that he did. “I trust Pakistan, but people before me didn’t, but they didn’t know what they were doing.”
“You know what I do? I trust this gentleman right here and I do trust Pakistan,” he noted while referring to PM Imran. “I will tell you this… you have a great leader. He’s a good man… a nice man. Happens to be a great athlete.”
The marks scored in a Physics practical by ex-Punjab information minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan’s son, Fahad Hassan, were illegally increased from 14 to 30, an inquiry report has revealed.
According to the report, the head examiner, Associate Professor Saleem Ramzan, misused his authority and increased the marks of the former minister’s son against the will of every other examiner.
The report has been forwarded to the higher education secretary for further investigation against the head examiner.
Meanwhile, Rawalpindi Board Chairman Dr Ghulam Dastagheer has said that Fahad’s result will be released after seeking legal advice from the authorities concerned.
Earlier, Fahad had scored 769 marks in 12th class examinations and later submitted an application for re-checking of his papers. He had allegedly pressurised the board chairman to increase his marks from 14 to 30.
The chairman had allegedly obliged the minister by increasing his son’s marks and also changed the award-list himself.
The Rawalpindi board controller examinations, after being informed about the situation, had stopped the result and formed a two-member inquiry committee on the request of the board chairman.
The board chairman had said that anyone found guilty of alleged tampering with the result should be dealt with strictly as per law. “The Physics practical was conducted on July 17, while I assumed the charge as board chairman on July 18,” he had said while clarifying his position.
In a video message, Punjab Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan had said that he had nothing to do with the episode and had requested the board controller examinations to conduct an inquiry.
After the entire donkey meat episode, Lahore police have recovered 200 kgs of dead frogs, which reports claim were to be used in burgers and shawarmas across the provincial capital of Punjab.
According to a newspaper clipping doing rounds on social media, police caught a rickshaw loaded with 200 kgs of dead frogs being transported to an unknown location.
Patrolling in the New Ravi Bridge area, police noticed a shady rickshaw carrying a heavy sack, the report said and added that when the cops attempted to stop the vehicle, the suspects tried to flee.
Managing to stop the rickshaw, the police took two people, namely Shahid and Manzoor, into custody for allegedly delivering dead frogs to restaurants across the city.
An investigation is underway to determine what the frogs were to be used for, while suspects claim they were “only delivering the frogs to a medical college”. Medical students dissect the frogs and practice suturing on them.
Other reports claim the police only stopped the men because they thought the frogs were of some rare species. Having the frogs is not a crime and neither the police nor the Punjab Wildlife Department has any issue with the case. “The men were released and were free to go with their frogs.”
The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) has detected billions of rupees worth of irregularities in Pakistan Railways (PR), exposing gross mismanagement within the state-run transport service that continues to incur losses, The Express Tribune reported Monday.
In his report for 2018-19, the top auditor pointed out
irregularities that amount to a whopping Rs97 billion and later directed PR
authorities to take action against those responsible for the massive loss to
the national exchequer.
“Pakistan Railways generated Rs49.6 billion in the last
fiscal year against operational costs worth Rs85.5 billion. As a result, the
state-run service had to bear a loss of Rs36.6 billion,” the report said.
Of the audit objections noted in the report, 56 per cent
pertain to PR lands, 20 per cent pertain to recoveries and 12 per cent pertain
to the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). The remainder concern losses
from theft, fiscal irregularities and embezzlement.
The report also revealed that Pakistan Railways suffered a
loss of nearly Rs15 billion due to the failure of its management to recover
dues from other federal government wings, like the Port Qasim Authority,
Pakistan Post, Water and Power Development Authority and the departments of
irrigation, food and education, and provincial and district authorities.
It pointed out that maladministration in the Railways Ministry cost a PSDP project Rs10.5 billion. It also noted that the PR administration had granted a contract worth Rs3.2 billion in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPPRA) rules.
“Railways authorities also unable to recover Rs2.6 billion
from provincial governments to repair level crossings and wasted Rs2 billion
worth of scrap as well,” the report added.
Delays in the repair of damaged railway coaches also cost
the state-run service nearly Rs2 billion, the report pointed out. It also made
note of Rs380 million worth of ‘fake expenditure’ in the repair process. The
AGP also criticised PR authorities for losing Rs3.8 billion due to inaction
while auctioning off railways roads and steel.
A staggering Rs52 billion worth of irregularities in the
state-run transport service occurred at the administrative level, the AGP’s
report mentioned. Another Rs50 billion in losses were a result of embezzlement,
fraud and theft. Around Rs6.5 billion were lost due to PPRA rule violations.
With the number of dengue cases in the country reaching five-digits and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Zafar Mirza warning of a further increase within the next 10 days, Punjab government has come up with a spiritual cure.
Sharing an Arabic phrase in a “public service message” — posters of which have been pasted across Toba Tek Singh — the city’s deputy commissioner has advised people to read the dua every day and paste the pamphlet outside their houses and workplace to ward off evil dengue.
The dengue virus is spreading in different parts of the country due to the negligence of provincial governments. Despite many warnings issued by health experts before the season, no adequate arrangements were made by the departments concerned to tackle the issue.
In Pakistan, there is no specific vaccine available to treat dengue and with scanty arrangments made by the government, it is likely that in the days to come, the situation will only get worse.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is currently in the United States for the 74th session United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), flew from Saudi Arabia to New York in Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MBS) private jet.
According to reports, when MBS inquired from PM Khan how he will be travelling to the US, the premier told him that he will be taking a commercial flight. MBS is reported to have responded, “How can you take a commercial flight, you are our special guest,” adding that he cannot let his guest travel via a commercial flight.
The Crown Prince then arranged for his private jet to fly PM Khan from Madinah to New York. Meanwhile, some media outlets reported that PM Khan flew in a Saudi Airlines chartered plane.
سعودی ولی عہد نے پاکستان سے دوستی اور مہمان داری کی نئی مثال قائم کردی وزیر اعظم عمران خان کو امریکا جانے کے لیے اپنا ذاتی طیارہ فراہم کردیا سعودی ولی عہد نے کہا آپ ہمارے مہمان ہیں کمرشل فلائٹ سے امریکہ نہیں جا سکتے#PMImranKhanpic.twitter.com/AkXrcUiQWq
The PM was accompanied by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Adviser on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfikar Abbas Bokhari.
PM Khan arrives in New York
PM Khan reached New York on September 21. He is scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump on September 23 and will address the UNGA on September 27, where he will raise the matter of Kashmir.
Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul has drawn ire of hundreds of activists for “taking credit for Friday’s Climate March” in various cities of Pakistan and around the world.
The minister, from her Twitter account, posted pictures of the march and wrote, “Held an engaged public awareness in Islamabad to trigger a more committed behaviour from civil society, and to affirm focus on sustainability initiatives.”
But since the march was actually a citizens-led global event organised by Climate Action Now to help stop global warming in a call answered by Pakistanis as well, Twitterati didn’t let go of Gul’s claim easy.
The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) minister faced severe criticism for her claims from participants of the march, including environmentalists, journalists and lawyers, as she didn’t really have much to do with the demonstrations.
Encouraging that Hon Minister @zartajgulwazir participated in #ClimateMarch, engaged with citizens & hopefully listened to their concerns but do not claim tireless efforts of civil society orgs/citizens as yours. If it was an error from your office please issue a clarification pic.twitter.com/LtHYPYGdTW
This lady didn’t hold anything. The only things she done is get her sister a job at NACTA. This piece of trash deserves to go home. https://t.co/L2CMPmGWVl
Delays in construction of Lahore’s Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) has escalated its premium cost by 50 per cent as suspension of development work on the mega project has served a Rs11 billion blow to the national exchequer, The News reported.
The estimated premium cost of the project was Rs22 billion, but it has increased to Rs30 billion, reports quoted a Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMTA) official as saying and added that an additional Rs3 billion has been allocated for the construction of footpaths for the project, escalating the total premium cost to Rs33 billion.
The OLMT has two components. The first component of the project is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) whereas the second one is to be funded by the Punjab government.
The estimated cost of the first component, which includes the civil as well as electrical and mechanical (E&M) works, is unchanged and stands at $1.458 billion. All funding for the CPEC component has been done by the Chinese government; however, the estimated premium cost of the local component, which is to be funded by the Punjab government, has escalated from Rs22 billion to Rs33 billion.
In order to cut the project’s expenditures, the government has slashed some components of the project, such as the 0.4 kilometers long moving walkway from Lahore Railway Station to Metro Bus Station and the Anarkali-MAO passenger transfer section, reports said.
PMTA officials were quoted as claiming that the local component price escalation was not because of any delays in civil or E&M works, but because of court cases, some issues on part of the provincial Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA), Special Protection Unit (SPU) and some other reasons.
They added that 96.5 per cent work on OLMT had been completed and it was on the punch list stage, but they couldn’t give an exact deadline for the inauguration as it “depends on the present government when it decides to complete the remaining part”.
