Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) leader and lawyer Salman Akram Raja has been arrested by the police near PTI’s Jail Road office, for participating in the party’s call for nationwide protest against electoral rigging. Salman participated as a PTI backed independent candidate in general elections
“They’re arrested me illegally, and I’m with the public, we will continue raising my voice for truth” he said while being arrested
PTI yesterday had called for nationwide protests against electoral rigging.
A New York judge ordered Donald Trump to pay $355 million over fraud allegations and banned him from running companies in the state for three years Friday in a major blow to his business empire and financial standing.
Trump — almost certain to be the Republican presidential nominee this November — was found liable for unlawfully inflating his wealth and manipulating the value of properties to obtain favorable bank loans or insurance terms.
Trump lashed out on social media calling the ruling a “Total SHAM,” the judge in the case “crooked” and the prosecutor who brought it “totally corrupt.” His legal team said he would “of course” appeal.
As the case was civil, not criminal, there was no threat of imprisonment. But Trump said ahead of the ruling that a ban on conducting business in New York state would be akin to a “corporate death penalty.”
Trump, facing 91 criminal counts in other cases, has seized on his legal woes to fire up supporters and denounce his likely opponent, President Joe Biden, claiming that court cases are “just a way of hurting me in the election.”
However, Judge Arthur Engoron said the financially shattering penalties are justified by Trump’s behavior.
“Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological,” Engoron said of Trump and his two sons, who were also defendants, in his scathing ruling.
“They are accused only of inflating asset values to make more money… Donald Trump is not Bernard Madoff. Yet, defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways,” he added, referring to the perpetrator of a massive Ponzi scheme.
Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. were also found liable in the case and ordered to pay more than $4 million each, prompting Don Jr. to claim on social media that “political beliefs” had determined the outcome.
Engoron also extended the mandate of retired judge Barbara Jones as an independent monitor of Trump’s business affairs, as well as ordering the appointment of an independent director of compliance to the Trump Organization, with candidates to be nominated by Jones.
“Conditions that Judge Engoron imposed, such as having Judge Jones monitor the Trump companies, may be onerous. I do expect an appeal,” said Richmond University law professor Carl Tobias.
It was as a property developer and businessman in New York that Trump built his public profile which he used as a springboard into the entertainment industry and ultimately the presidency.
The judge’s order was a victory for New York state Attorney General Letitia James. She had sought $370 million from Trump to remedy the advantage he is alleged to have wrongfully obtained, as well as having him barred from conducting business in the state.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will hit the streets today at 12pm across the country to protest against what they claim is rigging and tampering with election results from February 8th.
Major parties that won the most seats have been looking for allies and making alliances to form the next governments at both the national and provincial levels.
The PTI expressed disappointment with the election results, where its affiliated candidates won over 90 National Assembly seats, making them the largest group. They announced plans to hold peaceful protests countrywide against what they called “record-high rigging” in the recent general elections.
“The PTI has called for country-wide protests against the unprecedented, massive, brazen rigging in general elections 2024, where PTI’s win of 180 National Assembly seats and a two-thirds majority in the parliament, was cut down to half,” the party said in a statement.
As confusion around the formation of the government rages, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Faisal Karim Kundi has said that if his party had chosen to sit in opposition, the country would’ve gone towards another election.”The PPP will stay in Parliament for constructive criticism,” he stated.
While addressing a press conference in Islamabad today, Kundi said PPP will contest the seats of Senate Chairman and Speaker of the National Assembly (NA), adding that PPP will also help Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) form a government in the centre.
The politician also urged all political parties to work together for political stability in Pakistan.
Caretaker Chief Minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar has directed the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) to give the students of Pre-Engineering, Pre-Medical, and General Science Part-I up to 15 percent additional marks in their exams, reports Geo News.
The Sindh caretaker CM approved recommendations of a fact-finding committee formed to investigate Intermediate Part-I students’ getting unusually low marks this year.
The committee submitted its report to the chief minister, following which BIEK’s IT in-charge was removed from his post.
The CM said it had been decided on the committee’s recommendation that the students of pre-engineering, pre-medical, and general science would be given 15 percent extra marks.
The committee advised forming paper patterns and a scheme for giving marks before the beginning of the educational year. It also said that the paper pattern and marking scheme would be implemented for three years. The Sindh CM ordered the relevant departments to increase the number of paper inspection centres to 10 in the city. He added that the MCQs papers should be checked with an optical marks recognition system so that there is no mistake.
CM Baqar ordered that employees including head examiners, examiners, and invigilators should be trained, adding that the rules and regulations of BIEK should be strictly implemented.
“The controller of examinations, all deputy controllers, and the IT manager are responsible for conducting the examinations in 2023,” he said. He also mentioned that notices should be issued against the board officers who do not follow the rules and regulations.
Background
On January 23, the BIEK released the results for Part I (first year) of the examination, revealing a concerning decline in the students’ performance. The statistics indicated that 80% of candidates failed in Arts (Regular), 72% failed in Arts (Private) and 63% failed in Commerce (Private) groups. Earlier in the results released, only 36.51% of candidates were successful in Pre-Medical, 34.79% in Pre-Engineering, and 38.69% in computer science groups.
Most students who passed their matriculation exams with lower marks faced potential challenges in securing admissions to professional universities and colleges, given that admissions are typically based on Inter Part-I marks.
The Federal Ministry of Health has imposed a ban on eating sweet items in its subordinate institutions, reports Samaa News.
According to the spokesman of the Ministry of Health, many diseases are caused by sweet drinks so the Federal Ministry of Health has banned the use of sweet items in its subsidiaries. Eating and drinking sweets are no longer allowed in all institutions affiliated with the Ministry of Health.
An advisory has been issued by the Caretaker Health Minister Dr. Nadeem Jan that sugary drinks cause communicable and non-communicable diseases and that is why confectionery of all sorts will not be served in official meetings or functions.
India’s main opposition Congress party said on Friday that its bank accounts had been frozen by the tax department just weeks before the expected announcement of national elections.
Critics and rights groups have accused India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of using law enforcement agencies to selectively target its political foes.
Congress spokesman Ajay Maken said the action against his party was aimed at sidelining it ahead of the polls.
“When the principal opposition party’s accounts have been frozen just two weeks before the announcement of the national elections, do you think democracy is alive in our country?” he asked reporters.
“Don’t you think it is going towards one party system?” he added.
Four of Congress’s accounts had been frozen after an investigation of the party’s 2018-19 income tax returns, Maken said.
He added that the tax department had issued a payment demand for 2.1 billion rupees ($25.3 million) in relation to its probe.
Maken conceded that the party had filed its returns late by up to 45 days but insisted it had done nothing to warrant such a penalty.
“Today is a sad day for Indian democracy,” he said, adding that the party was appealing the decision in court and would stage public protests.
India’s Congress party spokesman Ajay Maken addresses a press conference at All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in New Delhi on February 16. — AFP
Friday’s announcement follows numerous legal sanctions and active investigations against leading opponents of Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, scion of the dynasty that dominated Indian politics for decades, was convicted of criminal libel last year after a complaint by a member of Modi’s party.
His two-year prison sentence saw him disqualified from parliament for a time until the verdict was suspended by a higher court, but raised concerns over democratic norms in the world’s most populous country.
‘Face the consequences’
Congress is a member of an opposition party alliance hoping to challenge Modi at this year’s polls, and other leading figures in the bloc have also found themselves under investigation.
Arvind Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party and chief minister of the capital region Delhi, has repeatedly been summoned by investigators probing alleged corruption in the allocation of liquor licences.
Earlier this month police arrested Hemant Soren, until then the chief minister of eastern Jharkhand state and another leading figure in the opposition alliance, for allegedly facilitating an illegal land sale.
India’s main financial investigation agency, the Enforcement Directorate, has ongoing probes against at least four other chief ministers or their families, all of whom belong to the BJP’s political opponents.
Other investigations have been dropped against erstwhile BJP rivals who later switched their allegiance to the ruling party.
Virendra Sachdeva, president of the BJP’s Delhi branch, said on Friday that Congress had only itself to blame for the freezing of its accounts.
“It is unfortunate that a big party like Congress is not following government rules,” he told the Press Trust of India news agency.
“If it is not following the rules, then it has to face the consequences. “
The Senior Vice President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Maryam Nawaz, received a briefing on development projects in Punjab. The PML-N nominated Maryam Nawaz as their choice for the province’s chief minister.
Zahid Akhtar Zaman, the Chief Secretary of Punjab, briefed the PML-N leader after she was nominated for the top provincial position.
According to sources in Geo News, the provincial chief secretary went to Jatti Umrah on Thursday to brief Maryam and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif on the current situation in Punjab.
During a meeting, Zaman explained the ongoing projects as well as the law and order situation in the province.
Maryam Nawaz won a National Assembly (NA) and a Provincial Assembly seat in the general elections.
The party’s stalwart was elected by voters on PP-159 and NA-119, respectively.
Pakistani actor Syra Yousuf did something special for Valentine’s Day. Instead of celebrating with a romantic partner, she celebrated with her favorite girls on ‘Galentine’s Day’. Syra shared pictures on Instagram of her Galentine’s Day celebration with her daughter, Nooreh, her niece, and her step-daughter, Zahra, posting three pictures showing how happy they were together. In the caption, she wrote, “My favorite gals, My Galentine.”
Anoushay Abbasi is openly talking about being bullied on her weight. The versatile actress recently lost weight and got targeted by so-called well wishers.
“People are never happy. When I was overweight, there was an issue, and now that I’ve lost weight, there’s still criticism.” The actress appeared as a guest on a program hosted by actor and singer Ahmed Ali Butt.
Ahmad asked whether she had struggled with weight. “When did you face body shaming, when you were overweight or when you lost weight?” Anoushay responded, “I had to face body shaming in both situations. When I was chubby in my childhood, people used to say, “You’re too heavy, you should lose some weight,” and now that I’ve lost weight, people say, “You’ve lost too much weight, please gain some back.”
Emphasizing that she was happy in both states, Anoushey said, “People are never satisfied, and I don’t know how to please them.”
