Tag: politics-stories

  • Italy to invest Rs3.6 billion in Gilgit-Baltistan

    Italy to invest Rs3.6 billion in Gilgit-Baltistan

    The government has signed with Italy an agreement under which the latter would invest 20.5 million euros (Rs3.63 billion) for economic development in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of the country, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) has reported.

    According to reports, the investment will be used for infrastructural support, capacity building and technical assistance to benefit rural areas of Gilgit-Baltistan.

    The objective of the Economic Transformation Initiatives (ETI) is the growth of irrigated crop areas, production and improved connectivity with markets through investments in economic infrastructure.

    It will improve incomes and reduce poverty, malnutrition in rural areas of the region while benefitting around 100,000 rural households.

    The Italian government has also joined hands with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) under the initiative, which is providing $76 million over a period of seven years.

  • Maryam was arrested to save her from assassination, Zaid Hamid claims

    Maryam was arrested to save her from assassination, Zaid Hamid claims

    Self-proclaimed defence and security analyst Zaid Hamid has claimed that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President (VP) Maryam Nawaz was arrested to save her life.

    The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday had arrested the PML-N leader in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case as she arrived at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail to see her father, former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif.

    Sharing “inside news” regarding the arrest, Hamid claimed that Maryam was taken into custody “to save her life from an Indian assassination attempt”.

    “Indians had planned to assassinate her [Maryam] in a political rally, just like Benazir,” he said and added that the result would have been total chaos in the country.

    Earlier, according to family sources, Maryam was taken away by NAB in the presence of her father while her teenage daughter was also present there.

    The bureau had summoned Maryam on Thursday at 3 pm in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case, but she didn’t appear before the watchdog, which is said to have led to the PML-N leader’s arrest.

    The case pertains to government accusations that the Sharif family used the mills for money laundering and availing millions of rupees in subsidy without actually exporting sugar.

  • VIDEO: ‘Because I don’t polish boots,’ jailed Maryam responds to journalist’s question

    VIDEO: ‘Because I don’t polish boots,’ jailed Maryam responds to journalist’s question

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President (VP) Maryam Nawaz’s response to a journalist’s query, as she reached an accountability court on Friday, has gone viral over the internet.

    The PML-N leader was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday in connection with the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case. A day later, Maryam was brought to court by NAB authorities who sought her 15-day physical remand.

    As she spoke to media persons after appearing before the court, a journalist asked the PML-N VP as to what built up to “people not liking her” and if it dated back to the Dawn Leaks fiasco or something that followed.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “[It’s] because I do not polish boots,” the PML-N VP replied. “And I consider [it] a bad thing [to do].”

    The PML-N leader further said she believed that representatives of the people should be respected. “Running the country is the representatives’ job. I will raise my voice against anyone who violates constitutional boundaries,” Maryam added.

    “This is what people don’t like.”

    In response to another question, Maryam accused the government of “using state machinery to victimise political opponents”.

    “They fear Maryam Nawaz. Selected is after me, his government is after me, there are restrictions on media,” she said, adding that the government was also trying to restrict opposition parties from holding public rallies.

    “But none of that worked. To compete with Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz, they needed to be put behind bars,” Maryam maintained.

  • Kashmir crisis: Pakistan’s aggressive diplomacy at UN puts India on backfoot

    Kashmir crisis: Pakistan’s aggressive diplomacy at UN puts India on backfoot

    Islamabad’s aggressive diplomacy, ever since India revoked Article 370 of its constitution to snatch occupied Kashmir’s autonomy, has put New Delhi on backfoot at the United Nations (UN), ARY News reported.

    According to reports, Pakistan’s Representative to the UN Maleeha Lodhi has highlighted the need to ensure that the crisis triggered by India’s unlawful annexation of Jammu and Kashmir is addressed in accordance with UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions on the disputed region.

    During Lodhi’s meeting with UN Political Affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo on Thursday, she focused on the illegality of Indian actions and called on the UN, especially the secretary general, to clearly enunciate its position on the subject.

    The meeting was part of a series of contacts Pakistan’s envoy has been making to brief senior UN officials from all regions of the world about Pakistan’s stance on the Indian government’s decision to strip Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) of its special status and placing the disputed state under a lockdown.

    She also informed DiCarlo about the complete lockdown in IoK, including shut down of internet services and landlines that had begun even before the announcement of the controversial decision.

    A statement issued on behalf of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has also acknowledged the critical importance of UN Resolutions on Kashmir to deal with the crisis.

    Lodhi also met three non-permanent members of the UN Security Council — Kuwait, Indonesia and South Africa — as India, on backfoot, also stepped up its campaign to have the world believe that the decision was taken for the socio-economic development of the Kashmiris and that they enjoy the same rights as Indians.

  • VIDEO: PML-N’s Uzma Bukhari beats up Lahore cop, ends up in hospital

    VIDEO: PML-N’s Uzma Bukhari beats up Lahore cop, ends up in hospital

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former Punjab lawmaker Uzma Zahid Bukhari on Friday beat up a Punjab police constable as a scuffle broke out between party workers and cops outside the accountability court in Lahore.

    As per the details, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) authorities had brought PML-N Vice President (VP) Maryam Nawaz, who was arrested Thursday, to the court in connection with the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.

    With PML-N leaders and workers gathering outside the court to express solidarity with the detained VP, enraged party activists were seen pelting stones at the police, reportedly resulting in injuries to one of the cops.

    This led to the scuffle during which Uzma Bukhari was seen thrashing a constable. A video available with The Current, shows the cop approaching her from behind and allegedly groping her, as a reaction to which the PML-N leader gives him a sound beating.

    While authorities or party sources have not yet reacted to the episode or confirmed what followed the incident, another video shows Uzma being shifted to the hospital in an ambulance.

    Meanwhile, the court has reserved its judgment on NAB’s appeal for a 15-day physical remand of Maryam Nawaz.

  • Zardari calls PM Imran an ‘immigrant’, says they had ‘nothing to do with Pakistan’s creation’

    Zardari calls PM Imran an ‘immigrant’, says they had ‘nothing to do with Pakistan’s creation’

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari has called Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan an “immigrant”, adding that those who migrated to the country “had nothing to do with its creation”.

    Addressing the joint session of the parliament held to discuss the recent developments in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK), the ex-president suggested that migrants had nothing to do with the creation of Pakistan.

    “I come from Sindh. Sindh and Bangladesh created Pakistan. It was not you who created Pakistan, you were a migrant,” Zardari said. “You were made to flee from there and you came to seek refuge here.”

    The premier’s father, Ikramullah Niazi, was born in Mianwali, while his mother Shaukat Khanum was born in Jalandhar and migrated to Pakistan after partition.

    “You [migrants] are most welcome here, Pakistan was created to accommodate all Muslims,” the former president said further in an attempt to rectify his outrageous statement.

  • NAB arrests Maryam Nawaz

    NAB arrests Maryam Nawaz

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President (VP)
    Maryam Nawaz on Thursday was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau
    (NAB), media reports said.

    According to reports, Maryam had arrived at Lahore’s Kot
    Lakhpat jail to see her incarcerated father, former prime minister (PM) Nawaz
    Sharif, when she was taken into custody by NAB officials.

    The PML-N leader has reportedly been taken into custody in
    the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case against members of the ex-PM’s family.

    Earlier, the PML-N VP had also been sent a
    questionnaire inquiring about the case details, including questions on how and
    where the shares were divided since the inception of the mill in 1985.

    NAB officials say that Maryam had failed to satisfy the
    bureau during her last appearance before an investigation team. She had tried
    to lead the inquiry officials “astray with unnecessary and abstruse information
    in a sitting that lasted for 45 minutes”.

    The evidence against the owners of the sugar mills had
    surfaced during an investigation against ex-Punjab chief minister (CM) Shehbaz
    Sharif and his sons Hamza and Salman in money laundering and income beyond
    means cases.

  • PTI govt accused of sidelining China to appease US

    PTI govt accused of sidelining China to appease US

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed has accused the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan-led government of “downgrading relations with China to appease the United States (US)”.

    Addressing the joint parliament session on Wednesday, he alleged that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government deliberately slowed down the development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) while Islamabad negotiated with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout.

    “They also shared details of the CPEC with the US, against national interests,” he said, adding that the premier, during his Washington trip, also “completely miscalculated President Donald Trump’s mediation offer on Kashmir as it was deception, decoy and a trap”.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    The senator said that the US Department of State had clearly supported the Indian narrative according to which the Kashmir issue was an internal matter between Pakistan and India, and the US should not intervene.

    “The government sidelined China and thought that the US would help solve all its problems,” the senator said and added that the opposition had warned the ruling PTI that the move would upset the Chinese.

  • Fawad shuts up Indian major who pointed out PTI-PML-N clash

    Fawad shuts up Indian major who pointed out PTI-PML-N clash

    Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has shut up an Indian army veteran who attempted to highlight the divide between ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

    A war of words had erupted between Fawad and PML-N Senator Mushahidullah Khan as the joint session of the parliament continued for the second day on Wednesday.

    The ruckus in the parliament had started after the PML-N leader condemned the government for having failed to take Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi head-on.

    It was at this juncture when Fawad began to disrupt his speech, prompting Mushahid to ask the speaker to “put a leash on Fawad”.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Even though Speaker Sadiq Sanjrani urged them both to not indulge in cross-talk, the PML-N senator continued addressing the minister, “I had left you tied at home… I had put a leash around your neck before coming to parliament.”

    The two leaders then traded “shut up” barbs with each other.

    Pointing out the clash, an ex-officer of the Indian army, Major (r) Gaurav Arya, took to Twitter and wrote:

    Responding to the Indian major’s tweet, Fawad wrote:

    The tweets come amid tensions rising on either side of the border over the Kashmir dispute. Indian government on Monday had snatched away the Muslim-majority region’s autonomy by revoking Article 370 of the constitution.

    The move has attracted a strong reaction from Pakistan as Kashmiris fear that it could pave way for Muslim genocide in the troubled valley.

  • Geo News fined ten lakh rupees for Shahzeb Khanzada Show

    Geo News fined ten lakh rupees for Shahzeb Khanzada Show

    The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) fined Geo News ten Lakh rupees for airing a, “highly seditious and scandalous programme against National Accountability Bureau Chairman, retired Justice Javed Iqbal and maligning state institutions.”

    PEMRA says that GEO News’ prime time anchor, Shahzeb Khanzada in his programme “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath,” on July 18, discussed the highly controversial video which allegedly targeted the NAB chairman and did not take the point of view of the bureau as part of the program.

    NAB Chairman, Justice (Retired) Javed Iqbal was allegedly involved in a controversial video which was leaked online

    PEMRA also says that GEO News’ representative was unable to defend the program in his reply and arguments and also directed the channel to make an editorial committee to monitor their content before airing.

    A highly placed source at GEO News says that the fine is “completely unfair” and also asks how criticism of the NAB chairman is “highly seditious”?

    Judge for yourself. Watch the program here: