Former finance minister Asad Umar has reportedly refused to comment on the financial bailout package by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), saying he doesn’t have anything to do with it anymore.
“Ask me about samosa and pakora prices instead,” he said when questioned about the IMF programme during a recent media interaction.
The former minister said he was no longer a part of the government and was only a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member. “So whatever is happening, ask about it from advisers and ministers concerned,” he added.
“What does it have to do with me now?”
Pakistan and the IMF on Sunday reached an agreement under which the global lender would provide $6 billion to Islamabad over a period of three years. The loan is to help the country make its way out of the prevailing economic crisis.
Umar had played an important role in negotiating the deal as the finance minister. However, on April 18, he had announced to quit his portfolio after being told to do so by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.
The Senate has passed a resolution to allow aspirants of Central Superior Services (CSS) to take their examinations in Urdu alongside English.
The resolution, passed on Monday with majority, was moved by
Jamaate Islami (JI) Senator Sirajul Haq.
In defence of his resolution, the JI chief said that Article 251 of the Constitution clearly directed to implement Urdu as the official language, however, it could not have been executed even after 45 years.
Taking the floor, State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said if the decision was implemented in haste, the drop out percentage in the exams would increase.
“Students should be given an option to attempt the exams in their
preferred language,” he added while assuring the upper house of implementation.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Sassui Palijo, on the
other hand, opposed the resolution and said English was an international
language.
“Countries like China, France and Germany, who were so concerned about their languages, are also promoting English to prepare their people to compete at the international level,” she added.
Palijo further said that it would not be wise to “confine talents
to Urdu language”.
Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry
has revealed that he was earning way more as a television anchor and by practicing
law in the past than at present as a minister.
“A minister’s salary is Rs345,000, out of which the house rent is Rs90,000. We are paid Rs255,000 after that,” he tweeted while replying to a person who had asked him his salary amid massive budget cuts by the government.
Minister ki Tankhaw 3,45,000 hai 90 hazar house rent jata hai so 2 lakh 55 hazar miltay hein https://t.co/1JwJVbDoZz
His salary at present is way less than the one he received as a television anchor for a private media outlet, as a known fact is how stalwarts like Fawad earn in millions while hosting shows.
The same has been confessed by Fawad himself earlier. Speaking to a private media outlet in October 2018, he had said his income as a minister is way less than what he was getting as an anchor.
When asked if he has any regrets after assuming office as a
minister now that he doesn’t get any time to perform other duties, Fawad had said,
“It is true that we have hefty engagements as ministers but our salaries are
also very low.”
An image has been shared multiple times on social media alongside the claim it shows Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi dining with his Pakistani counterpart, Imran Khan.
The claim is false as PM Imran’s photo has been doctored to make it appear as though Modi is sitting beside him, reported AFP Fact Check, a blog that focuses on fact-checking in response to the multiplication of disinformation online.
The post’s Hindi language caption translates to English as:
“The one with the green cap looks a little familiar.”
Meanwhile, another picture breaking the internet showed Indian National Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Modi’s place.
The Hindi language caption of that image translates to
English as: “Who is this eating chicken biryani beside Miya Imran? Now the
people will judge. This is Pappu’s condition.”
Miya is an honorific for Muslim males, while Rahul Gandhi is
often referred to as “Pappu” – which means “fool” or
“simpleton” in Hindi – by supporters of the ruling Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP).
A reverse image search on Google found the image was doctored from this photo, which was posted on Twitter on July 5, 2015. The photo shows PM Imran dining with his then-wife Reham Khan.
Modi’s BJP has been accusing the Congress of playing for Pakistan.
It has even claimed that Islamabad “wants to fix the polling results in favour
of Congress”.
Things, however, took an unexpected turn after PM Imran said
there was better chance of peace between the neighbouring countries if
hardliner BJP was elected to power.
The statement was not very well received by a majority of
people right before the general polls in world’s largest democracy. Congress said
Pakistan had “now officially allied” with Modi and voting for him was “a vote
for Imran Khan”.
Seeking votes in national defence’s name and aggression towards Pakistan ahead of elections is not new to Indian politicians. The outcome of the 2019 general polls will also give a verdict on Modi’s hyper-Hindu nationalism that raised his nationalist BJP to power in 2014.
Indian National Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has praised Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan for remembering the King of Mysore, Tipu Sultan, on his death anniversary, Hindustan Timesreported.
The Lok Sabha member took to Twitter to praise PM Imran for the interest he shows in the history of the subcontinent.
“One thing I personally know about Imran Khan is that his interest in the shared history of the Indian subcontinent is genuine and far-reaching,” he tweeted.
“He read; he cares. It is disappointing, though, that it took a Pakistani leader to remember a great Indian hero on his punyathithi,” Tharoor added.
One thing i personally know about @imranKhanPTI is that his interest in the shared history of the Indian subcontinent is genuine & far-reaching. He read; he cares. It is disappointing, though, that it took a Pakistani leader to remember a great Indian hero on his punyathithi. https://t.co/kWIySEQcJM
The tweet came after the premier paid a tribute to Tipu Sultan on his death anniversary on May 4.
Today 4th May is the death anniversary of Tipu Sultan – a man I admire because he preferred freedom and died fighting for it rather than live a life of enslavement.
“Today 4th May is the death anniversary of Tipu Sultan – a man I admire because he preferred freedom and died fighting for it rather than live a life of enslavement,” PM Imran had tweeted.
Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has been asked to “stop having photo sessions and start working” by a man who intercepted him during the former’s visit to a Ramzan Bazaar.
The man, who claims to be the president of Bahawalpur Traders’ Union, can be heard asking the chief minister to not only visit the relief bazaars but also keep a check on the traders.
“Please don’t just have photo sessions and work too. Ask them to work,” the man can be heard as saying.
Under the provincial government’s Ramzan Package 2019, a total of 309 fair price bazaars have been set up across Punjab. The government claims to keep a strict eye on quality, quantity and prices of essential items available there.
Blasphemy convict Aasia Bibi, who was acquitted by the Supreme Court (SC) last year, has left for Canada, The Current has learnt.
Following reports claiming Aasia’s departure, Foreign Office (FO) sources confirmed that the Christian woman has left for Toronto.
Aasia Bibi was acquitted of blasphemy charges by the SC on October 31, 2018, after spending nine years in jail on death row. The ruling sparked countrywide protests by religiopolitical groups.
After she was released from a Multan women’s prison on November 7, she was flown to Islamabad via a special aircraft and later shifted to an undisclosed location.
Reports had claimed Aasia’s departure time and again within the past couple of months; authorities concerned, however, had denied the same every time.
Power Division of the Ministry of Energy has claimed zero shortfall of electricity in the country, reporting that some 1,392 megawatts (MW) are being produced against the total demand.
According to Power Division spokesperson Zafaryab Khan, overall power demand in the country on Tuesday remained at 18,908MW, while 20,300MW of electricity are being generated.
صبح 8:30 پر ملک میں بجلی کی صورتحال، کل سسٹم ڈیمانڈ 18908میگاواٹ، دستیاب بجلی20300میگاواٹ،شارٹ فال زیرو، تمام بجلی تقسیم کار کمپنیاں اپنے اعلان شدہ رمضان شیڈول کے تحت لوڈ منیجمنٹ کر رہی ہیں، لوکل فالٹ کی صورت میں متعلقہ کمپلنٹ آفس یا آزالہ نہ ہونے پر 118 پر کال یا8118پر SMSکریں
He further said the power distribution companies were implementing load management in Ramzan as per a previously announced schedule.
The statement from the Power Division comes after hundreds of people reported being deprived of electricity during Sehri on the first of Ramzan in heatwave-struck Karachi.
Unannounced power outages were reported in Malir, North Nazimabad, Liaquatabad, Gulbahar and other parts of the city’s district central.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has announced making rohaniyaat [spiritualism] a “super science”, saying that the doctrine needs research.
“I had been thinking about creating this university for the past 23 years and telling the students about the Ideology of Pakistan,” he said while laying the foundation stone of Al-Qadir University in the Sohawa town of Jhelum district.
WATCH VIDEO:
The premier further said the varsity was named after Abdul Qadir Jilani, who linked science and spirituality. “Research on spirituality will be conducted here,” he added.
Here’s what Twitterati had to say about PM Imran’s statement:
He has planned to teach “Spirituality” at a university, but he could not even properly pronounce it in urdu.
But he can't even pronounce "Rohaniyaat", he corrected it on the 3rd attempt. I think this sentence was written by someone else for him. He was in his own high mood, smiling. Don't know what's going on in BaniGala, they all look like addicts
Science and rohaniyat are absolutely different and opposite entities,science believes in what is proved by experiment and observations , where as rohaniyaat has nothing to do with this
Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz also took a jibe at PM Imran.
سیانے کہتے ہیں نقل کے لیے بھی عقل چاہیے- پرچی کا طعنہ دینے والا نہ اپنا حلف پڑھ سکا تھا نہ لکھی ہوئی پرچی پڑھ سکتا ہے۔ پرچی سے پڑھے تو تماشہ بنتا ہے، پرچی کے بغیر بولے تو اور بھی بڑا تماشہ بنتا ہے، قدرت بھی کس کس طرح بدلے چکاتی ہے !
— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) May 5, 2019
“There is craft in daubing. He who used to criticise [others] for reading off a paper was neither able to read out his own oath nor deliver a speech,” she tweeted.
Maryam further said that he [PM Imran] reading off a paper was a spectacle, and so was he delivering an unprepared speech.
A resolution seeking ban on celebrities hosting Ramzan transmissions has been accepted by the Punjab Assembly.
The resolution, tabled by a Pakistan Rahe Haq Party lawmaker, states the “unfortunate practice afflicts the spirits of millions of Muslims every year”.
While the internet is divided over the proposed ban, many believe the Punjab Assembly is only keeping up with its tradition of discussing resolutions that “do not even affect the people”.
Here’s a list of some other interesting provincial house resolutions that don’t really make much sense.
SUMMONING GOOGLE CEO:
A resolution filed in December 2018 called for summoning Google Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai for showing Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s photo under “bhikari” (beggar) search.
Resolution submitted in Punjab assembly to summon Google CEO and ask him to explain why search for ‘bhikari’ shows PM Imran Khan’s photo. pic.twitter.com/PTlBP49G3l
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmakers in April submitted a resolution calling for the reinstatement of Ishaq Dar as minister of finance “on contract”.
The resolution, reportedly tabled by PML-N MPA Hina Pervez Butt, stated that then Finance Minister Asad Umar was “incompetent to resolve economic issues of the country” and urged the government to accept the “golden chance”.
It is also mentioned that Dar had recovered the value of Pakistani Rupee (PKR) from Rs111 to Rs98 against the United States Dollar (USD) during the tenure of the PML-N.
ALEEMA KHAN’S ‘SEWING MACHINES’ FOR WOMEN:
Another resolution submitted in January this year called on the government to “benefit from Aleema Khan’s advice” and provide women across the country with sewing machines.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s sister Aleema, who is named as the owner of properties in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), had claimed that she bought properties from the money she earned through sewing machines.
The resolution was tabled by PML-N lawmaker Azma Bokhari.
