Tag: Prime Minister Imran Khan

  • VIDEO: ‘Peas being sold for Rs5/kg,’ claims Imran govt

    VIDEO: ‘Peas being sold for Rs5/kg,’ claims Imran govt

    As rising vegetable prices spell misery for people under the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) for Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has claimed that peas are being sold in the market for only Rs5 per kilogram (kg).

    “Another grower, [Federal Minister for Aviation] Ghulam Sarwar Khan Sahab has told [me] that 20kg pea bags are being sold at the rate of Rs5/kg,” she said while addressing a press conference.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Statement from PM Imran Khan’s aide, who seems to be totally unaware of the persisting sky-high vegetable prices in the country, made headlines a day after the premier’s finance adviser, Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, told reporters that tomatoes were being sold for as low as Rs17 per kg across Karachi.

    “In Karachi, in the sabzi mandi (produce market), tomatoes are being sold for Rs17 per kg”.

    When some of the reporters present at the scene told him that tomatoes were, in fact, being sold at Rs240 per kg, he refuted saying “people were lying”.

    “That’s what is being run on the television,” Imran’s adviser noted, to which one of the reporters said, “But on the TV, it says tomatoes are being sold for Rs240 a kg.”

    Another journalist responded with a fresh personal story, “Sir, I myself bought tomatoes for Rs300 a kg.”

    “Oh but I am agreeing that prices of many commodities need to be controlled. Agriculture [industry] has seasonality,” the PM’s adviser explained, as someone from behind persistently tried to stop the person holding the phone from recording the video.

  • Hafeez Sheikh claims tomatoes being sold at Rs17 per Kg

    Hafeez Sheikh claims tomatoes being sold at Rs17 per Kg

    Advisor to Prime Minister (PM) on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Abdul Hafeez Sheikh has claimed that tomatoes are being sold at Rs17 per kilogramme, Pakistan Today reported.

    However, the fruit is being sold at as much as Rs320 per kilogramme in the market as reported by citizens who bought groceries from multiple locations in the city on Monday morning.

    Hafeez Sheikh also advised people to buy tomatoes only from the sabzi mandi if they did not wish to splurge on the basic food item.

    When some of the reporters present at the scene told him that tomatoes were, in fact, being sold at Rs240 per kilo, he refuted their comment, saying people were lying.

    Watch Video:

    A journalist said: “Which sabzi mandi, sir?” To which, Dr Sheikh responded: “You go and check it out yourself!”

    Another journalist added: “Is it the sabzi mandi of Islamabad that you’re talking about?”

    Immediately, then, the adviser looked directly at the camera, muttering under his breath, “oh this again,” and everyone behind him laughed.

    “That’s what is being run on the TV,” Dr Sheikh noted, to which one of the reporters said: “But on the TV, it says tomatoes are being sold for Rs240 a kilo.”

    A journalist responded with a fresh personal story: “Sir, I myself bought tomatoes for Rs300 a kilo.”

    “Oh but I am agreeing that prices of many commodities need to be controlled. Agriculture [industry] has seasonality,” the PM’s adviser explained, as someone from behind persistently tries to stop the person holding the phone from recording the video of Dr Sheikh’s comments.

    “There are storage facilities for many things, especially fresh produce, but we don’t have them in our country, so we need to come up with solutions for such problems”, the advisor added.

    Then there’s this thing that if you increase the capacity, then it’s natural that you’d predict beforehand about which things experience seasonal shortage, and, therefore, you can order it prior and store and there would be additional storage cost,” Dr Shiekh said.

    Vendors and hawkers claim that the high prices are not their fault since wholesale prices have shot up significantly.

  • Is PM Imran really related to Indian Punjab CM Amarinder Singh?

    Is PM Imran really related to Indian Punjab CM Amarinder Singh?

    Local media reports are headlining that Prime Minister Imran Khan and Indian Punjab’s Chief Minister Amarinder Singh share family ties. But while the two certainly do share history, they are not related.

    According to an official statement issued by Singh’s office, PM Imran and Singh on their five-minute bus ride on the inauguration of the Kartarpur Corridor discovered a ‘special connect’ between their two families even though they had not met each other before and neither did the two know each other personally.

    Read more: Sikhs demand Nobel prize for Imran over Kartarpur opening

    The statement read, “During his conversation with [PM] Imran, Captain Amarinder told the latter that his uncle, Jahangir Khan had played for Patiala, along with Mohd Nisar, Lala Amarnath, fast bowler Amar Singh and the two Ali batsmen (Wazir Ali and Amir Ali).

    “These seven players were part of the team captained by Captain Amarinder’s father, Maharaja Yadvinder Singh (the ruler of the erstwhile Patiala state) in 1934-35, for India and for Patiala.”

    Jahangir was married to PM Imran’s maternal aunt, Mubarak, and was a cricketer during the British Raj era.

    The Congress leader’s office said that the bus ride lasted less than five minutes, but, thanks to cricket, it was enough to break the ice between the two leaders.

    Read more: Sunny Deol praises Pakistan, says he received a lot of love

    The Punjab chief minister was part of the group of over 550 Indian pilgrims who were the first Indians to enter Pakistan through the Kartarpur Corridor.

    Singh shared the bus ride with the premier after he was received by PM Imran and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the Zero Point of the International Border of the Kartarpur corridor.

  • ‘Naya Pakistan’: Tomatoes beat dollar as price jumps to Rs320/kg

    ‘Naya Pakistan’: Tomatoes beat dollar as price jumps to Rs320/kg

    Tomato prices have jumped to Rs320 a kilogram (kg) under the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, sending a shockwave to consumers with a massive jump from Rs160 per kg within a week.

    “Only two consumers bought half a kg of tomato each out of 12 to 15 customers as most of them purchased 250 grams because of the high rates,” Dawn quoted a Karachi-based vendor as saying.

    He reportedly blamed the hike on the soaring wholesale rate of tomato to Rs260-270/kg from Rs120-140 last Friday.

    According to the report, the vendor was of the view that the arrival of tomato from Quetta and Swat had slowed down drastically because of the winter wave that has affected tomato crop.

    The city government had quoted Saturday’s consumer price of Rs199 per kg for tomato which was Rs147 on Friday. However, neither tomato nor any other such items were available at official rates in the city.

    Yet there is some stability in the prices of other vegetables such as capsicum, whose price dropped to Rs240 from Rs280-320 per kg of last week.

    Falahi Anjuman Wholesale Vegetable Market New Sabzi Mandi President Haji Shahjehan said the arrival of Iranian tomato had also come to a halt followed by the slow arrival of Balochistan crop.

    While disagreeing with Rs276-270 per kg wholesale rate at the mandi, he said vegetable dealers quoted very high wholesale rates to justify their retail price as tomato’s actual wholesale rate on Saturday was Rs220 per kg.

  • Sikhs demand Nobel prize for Imran over Kartarpur opening

    Sikhs demand Nobel prize for Imran over Kartarpur opening

    As praises pour in for Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan over the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor despite deteriorating Pakistan-India ties, a group of Sikhs has demanded Nobel Prize for the premier.

    According to reports, several Sikh organisations, including “Sikhs for Justice”, have decided to launch a campaign seeking the Nobel Prize for Imran in a bid to make the world recognise his peace efforts.

    The Sikh community, in this regard, will write a letter to the Nobel committee — a body responsible for most of the work involved in selecting Nobel laureates — wherein it will highlight the details pertaining to Kartarpur opening amid heightened Pakistan-India tensions.

    It also plans to shed light on how the Imran-led government in Islamabad ignored all political differences between the two countries to facilitate Indian Sikh minorities and indicate Pakistan’s efforts for regional peace.

    PM Imran on Saturday formally inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor at a star-studded ceremony, paving way for Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit their second-most holiest site — Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan — without a visa.

    “I am happy we could do this for you,” he told a gathering of over 12,000 devotees, including former Indian PM Manmohan Singh and cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu.

    “Believe me, I had no idea of the importance this place holds; I found out a year ago,” Imran said. During his brief address, he also raked up the Kashmir issue and said it had resulted in 70 years of hatred between Pakistan and India.

  • ‘No NRO for corrupt,’ Imran tells Rehmatullil Alameen Conference as Nawaz packs bags

    ‘No NRO for corrupt,’ Imran tells Rehmatullil Alameen Conference as Nawaz packs bags

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that those who looted the nation deserved no leniency, and no National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) or other relaxations could be given to the corrupt.

    “People have said that I should forgive those who have looted the country, but it is not my money that they have looted,” the premier said as he addressed the International Rehmatullil Alameen Conference in Islamabad while his political nemesis and convicted former PM Nawaz Sharif packed bags for London.

    Imran added that people donated to charities, but did not pay taxes. “If they don’t give taxes, how will the country move forward? Those who plundered the wealth of the nation deserve no right to be spared.”

    The statements came soon after reports claiming that the Imran-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had allowed Nawaz to travel abroad for medical treatment after his health deteriorated in jail.

    The convicted former premier was earlier granted bail during his stay at Lahore’s Services Hospital following a critical decline in his platelet count.

    NAWAZ’S TICKET CANCELLED:

    Nawaz, accompanied by his brother Shehbaz Sharif and family physician Dr Adnan, was scheduled to leave for London on Monday via Qatar Airways’ commercial flight QR-629 from Lahore.

    His ticket, however, was canceled as his name remains on the Exit Control List (ECL) despite Shehbaz’s request seeking its removal for medical treatment abroad.

    Soon after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief’s request, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had opposed the removal of ailing Nawaz’s name from the no-fly list whereas government sources had hinted at possible foreign travel permission to the ex-PM.

    While Imran’s government had also allowed the premier to travel abroad for medical treatment, the premier had reportedly said that Nawaz’s removal from the ECL was subject to NAB’s approval.

    The statements had come despite Federal Interior Minister Brig (r) Ijaz Shah on October 31 saying that Nawaz’s name was not on the list in the first place.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “I checked the record and we did not put him [Nawaz Sharif] on ECL,” he had said while addressing a joint press conference with Special Assistant to the PM on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan.

    What do you think of the entire episode? Let us know in the comments

  • Aneel Mussarat didn’t get a selfie with Manmohan but guess who all he did get one with

    Aneel Mussarat didn’t get a selfie with Manmohan but guess who all he did get one with

    One of PM Khan’s best friends, UK millionaire Aneel Mussarat is incredibly fond of taking selfies – whether the person with him knows or not. Aneel was also present at the Kartarpur Inauguration and in a widely circulated video of Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Aneel is seen trying to take a selfie with Manmohan and is pushed aside by Manmohan’s guards.

    WATCH: Imran’s aide ridiculed by Manmohan’s guards

    If Aneel couldn’t get Manmohan he did find others.

    CM Punjab Usman Buzdar is all smiles (as smiley as he can get) for a picture with Aneel.

    Doesn’t qualify as a selfie but he got a money shot

    The picture with Indian Actor Sunny Deol isn’t a selfie but at least he got one big shot Indian in his stash of selfies on this trip

    The Bus Selfie with the PM and the foreign minister and is that Navjot Sidhu behind Imran Khan?

    Standing on the bus

    A smiling foreign minister on the side and the PM on the left, Aneel covered all the stars in this trip.

  • VIDEO: Imran’s millionaire aide ridiculed by Manmohan Singh’s guards

    VIDEO: Imran’s millionaire aide ridiculed by Manmohan Singh’s guards

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s aide and British-Pakistani businessman Aneel Mussarat on Saturday was ridiculed by former Indian prime minister (PM) Manmohan Singh’s security as the former approached the Indian National Congress (INC) leader for a selfie.

    In a video, widely being shared over the internet, Mussarat was seen introducing himself to Singh as he shakes his hand. He, however, is stopped from taking a selfie by the ex-Indian premier’s guards who push him back.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    KARTARPUR INAUGURATION:

    Earlier in the day, PM Imran Khan, his team, ex-Indian PM Singh, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu and Bollywood actor Sunny Deol among other prominent Pakistanis and Indians reached the Kartarpur to attend the opening ceremony of the much-awaited corridor.

    Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, situated in Kartarpur, is the second holiest place for the Sikh community. Located 120 km away from Lahore, it is at a distance of only 4 kilometres from the Pakistan-India border.

    It has been said in the agreement reached between Pakistan and India — to fulfill the much-awaited demand of the Sikh community — that 5,000 Indian Sikh pilgrims will be allowed to visit the Gurdwara through the Kartarpur Corridor on a daily basis.

  • WATCH: Maulana Fazl angrily shrugs off innocent supporter trying to get selfie

    WATCH: Maulana Fazl angrily shrugs off innocent supporter trying to get selfie

    A video of Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman brushing off a supporter trying to get a selfie with his leader has gone viral on the internet.

    JUI-F supremo with his thousands of followers and opposition support has been protesting against the incumbent government since the last week of October. Maulana and the opposition have demanded Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s resignation.

    However, it seems that the continuous meetings, prolonged journey and stay in the capital have taken a toll on JUI-F chief.

    Watch Video:

    In a recent video clip, Fazl can be seen impatiently brushing off a supporter, whose only crime was to wish to be pictured with the JUI-F supremo.

    In the video, Fazl strikes an indignant pose and hastily shrugs off the supporter who has his phone ready to take a selfie with his leader.

    Following the move, Fazl continues to move forward in a bad mood while the supporter backs off completely.

    Meanwhile, the Defence Minister Pervez Khattak has alleged that Maulana Fazl considered negotiations with the government committee as “time pass”.

    “They [opposition] are not even ready to listen. Maulana sahib says that this jirga is a time pass. Fine, then we are also passing time with you,” Khattak said.

  • Imran’s PTI reluctant to let ECP audit its foreign funding

    Imran’s PTI reluctant to let ECP audit its foreign funding

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is reluctant to let the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) audit its foreign funding as the ruling party has petitioned the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the top election watchdog’s decision.

    According to Dawn, through a petition filed in the IHC on Thursday, the ruling party has requested the court to restrain the scrutiny committee formed by the ECP from probing its foreign funding.

    On October 10 a three-member bench of the ECP, headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (r) Sardar Mohammad Raza, had rejected four applications filed by the PTI against the audit of its accounts by the scrutiny committee and directed the panel to continue its work and submit a report as soon as possible.

    Akbar S Babar, a founding member of the PTI, had filed the case in 2014, alleging that the party had illegally collected about $3 million through two offshore companies, and that the money was sent through illegal channels from the Middle East to certain accounts of “PTI employees”.

    He also alleged that the foreign accounts used to collect the funds were not mentioned in the annual audit reports submitted to the ECP by the PTI.

    The party, in one of its petitions, took the plea that since the ECP which comprised the CEC and four members, was incomplete, an order passed by it lacked legal force.

    The scrutiny committee was formed last year to investigate the issue of foreign funding of the PTI in a month, but later the time-limit was extended to an indefinite period.

    During the hearing on October 1, a conversation took place between the CEC and the PTI’s counsel over the disclosure that the party was operating numerous undeclared accounts.

    The party’s lawyer argued that some of the PTI’s accounts might not be in the knowledge of the party’s central office and that the PTI could not be held responsible for its account in Azad Kashmir as it fell under another legal jurisdiction.

    On Aug 22, President Arif Alvi had appointed Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui from Sindh and Munir Ahmed Kakar from Balochistan as ECP members on the posts that had fallen vacant after the departure of Abdul Ghaffar Soomro and retired Justice Shakeel Baloch.

    However, the ECP chief refused to administer oath to the new members on the ground that the appointments had been made without fulfilling constitutional requirements.

    The ECP’s scrutiny committee is headed by the director general law and also comprises two auditors from the defence establishment.

    The ECP was of the view that President Alvi had made these appointments “in violation of clauses 2A and 2B of Article 213 of the Constitution” that made it mandatory for these appointments to be made with the consensus of the prime minister and the Leader of the Opposition.

    However, the committee could not make any significant progress as the PTI did not submit financial documents, particularly statements of its bank accounts, sought by the committee.