Pakistani-American billionaire businessman Shahid Khan has said that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan is “the best thing to happen to Pakistan”.
“I think he is greater than life and the best thing that has happened to Pakistan in at least my lifetime,” he said in a video doing rounds over the internet.
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Pakistani-American Businessman , Shahid Khan is all praises for Prime Minister Imran Khan!
Earlier, Khan called on PM Imran at Pakistan House in Washington.
According to reports, expressing pleasure to have met the premier, he said that the future of the country seemed bright and in safe hands under PM Imran’s leadership.
Owner of Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) and Fulham FC, Khan, as of May 2019, has a net worth of $6.8 billion. He is ranked 65th in the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, and is overall the 224th wealthiest person in the world.
He is also the richest person of Pakistani origin.
Cricketing legend and former Pakistani fast bowler Wasim Akram on Tuesday shared how he was humiliated for carrying an insulin bag with him while boarding a flight from the Manchester airport.
Taking to Twitter to share his ordeal, Akram said he was humiliated by Manchester airport staff who “asked rude questions and told him to dump the insulin case in a plastic bag” from its travel cold-case.
“Very disheartened at Manchester airport today, I travel around the world with my insulin, but never have I been made to feel embarrassed,” he tweeted.
Very disheartened at Manchester airport today,I travel around the world with my insulin but never have I been made to feel embarrassed.I felt very humiliated as I was rudely questioned & ordered publicly to take my insulin out of its travel cold-case & dumped in to a plastic bag pic.twitter.com/UgW6z1rkkF
“I felt very humiliated as I was rudely questioned and ordered publicly to take my insulin out of its travel cold-case and dump into a plastic bag,” the cricket star wrote.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has made it mandatory for citizens to show their Computerised National Identity Cards (CNIC) for purchases over Rs50,000.
According to reports, the said purchases shall be made from a registered sales tax vendor, while in case of a female buyer, the CNIC of her husband or father would also be acceptable.
The development comes as the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) tightens the noose around undocumented individuals making purchases without paying taxes.
According to Dawn, all such measures are primarily aimed at bringing small, medium and even some large retailers into the sales tax net. FBR further states that transactions under ‘good faith’ will not be penalised.
“No action will be undertaken without the approval of the chief commissioner of the jurisdiction.”
Furthermore, where the incidence exceeds Rs5 million, the action will require further approval of member operation or director general (export-oriented sector). No action will be taken unless it has been undertaken against the person who has used a fake CNIC, reports said.
This condition will help avoid unverifiable and fictitious business buyers which results in huge sales tax losses.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency provided information to the CIA which helped the United States (US) track down and kill Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
Bin Laden, founder and first leader of militant group Al-Qaeda, was killed in Abbottabad on May 2, 2011, by US Navy SEALs. Islamabad had so far denied having any knowledge of the terror chief’s hideout until he was shot dead.
However, in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier following his meeting with US President Donald Trump on Monday, the premier said it was the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) that gave the initial information on bin Laden.
“It was ISI that gave the information which led to the location of Osama bin Laden. If you ask CIA, it was ISI which gave the initial location through the phone connection,” he said.
“We in Pakistan always felt that we were an ally of the US and if we had been given the information about Osama, we should have taken him out,” he said, adding that Pakistan was fighting the war against terrorism for the US.
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“Here we were an ally of the US and the US did not trust us. And they actually came and bombed and killed a man in our territory,” he said.
Even though Pakistan officially denied knowing that bin Laden was living within its territory, ex-ISI chief Asad Durrani told Al Jazeera in 2015 that the agency probably knew where he was hiding.
The 9/11 mastermind was tracked down after a 10-year manhunt to Abbottabad, a garrison town north of Islamabad where Pakistan’s military academy is headquartered, sparking allegations authorities were colluding with the terror group.
Two former senior Pakistani military officials told AFP in 2015 that a defector from Pakistani intelligence assisted the US in its hunt for bin Laden, but denied that Islamabad and Washington had officially worked together.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has hinted at a possible prisoner swap of Dr Shakil Afridi and Dr Aafia Siddiqui with the United States (US).
Afridi, a Pakistani physician, is in authority’s custody for helping the US in running a fake hepatitis vaccine programme in Abbottabad to confirm Osama bin Laden’s presence by obtaining DNA samples.
Aafia, on the other hand, is a Pakistani neuroscientist convicted of multiple felonies and is locked up in a US prison.
When asked about jailed Afridi during an interview with Fox News on Monday, the premier said that in Pakistan, he is considered a spy and it is a very emotive issue. “The way it [Osama bin Laden operation] was conducted, it really embarrassed Pakistan at a time when we were an ally of the US in its war on terror.”
Osama bin Laden, founder and first leader of Al-Qaeda, was killed in Abbottabad on May 2, 2011, by US Navy SEALs in an operation Pakistani authorities “were unaware of”.
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“You are the prime minister, you can make a decision can’t you,” Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked.
“There are some decisions in a democracy that even a premier finds difficult to make, because we do have an opposition,” PM Imran said, adding that it, however, was something that could be negotiated.
“We also have someone in a US prison, a frail woman called Aafia Siddiqui and we could negotiate a swap.” “The talks have not started yet, but we know that US wants Afridi and we can negotiate,” he added.
United States (US) President Donald Trump has described Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan as “one of the greatest athlete and a very popular PM”, and jokingly said that he would help him get re-elected.
“It’s my great honour to have the very popular and, by the way, great athlete — one of the greatest — but very popular prime minister of Pakistan,” Trump said while welcoming PM Imran to the Oval Office for the two leaders’ maiden meeting.
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PM Imran is currently on a three-day official visit to the
US on Trump’s invitation. This is his first visit to the country since coming
to power last year.
During the more than 40 minutes meeting, the two leaders
spent time with the media — responding to a volley of questions. The mood and
atmosphere in the Oval Office was quite comfortable.
PM Imran appeared to be at ease and confidently answering questions. During the unusually lengthy question and answer session with the media, wherein they gave almost all the Pakistani journalists present an opportunity to ask questions — the two leaders appeared to have forged good chemistry instantly, laughing and joking several times.
“We should be doing tremendous business together. So, I look
forward to it,” Trump said as he concluded his welcome remarks for PM Imran. “InshaAllah,”
Khan said, adding that he has been looking forward to this meeting since he
assumed office of the country’s chief executive.
Trump described it as a “very important meeting”. “I think
the potential with Pakistan and likewise, the opposite way, I think we have not
even come close to meeting it. There is tremendous potential between our country
and Pakistan.”
In fact, in response to a question, Trump said that he would
love to visit Pakistan, but he has not received an invitation yet. “Well, I
can’t say that yet because, so far, he has not extended me an invitation,” he
said.
In response to another question, Trump said he would help PM Imran in his re-election. “I’m going to campaign for you. I’m going to help him win his campaign,” said the US president.
Important documents of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Shibli Faraz have been stolen from his residence in Islamabad, a private media outlet reported.
According to Faraz, the documents, allegedly stolen from his residence in the F-7 sector of the federal capital, include details of his tax returns, property papers and records of the Ahmed Faraz Trust.
The senator said that the house had been empty for the past few years and he had recently shifted the documents from his office.
Terming the alleged robbery an attempt to malign him, Faraz said the episode took place only to blackmail him on the basis of the lost documents. “Stunts like these will not deter me or my party,” he said.
Claiming that former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif eats homemade food in his air-conditioned jail cell with television, PM Imran Khan has said that he will ensure the “criminal” does not receive such treatment.
The premier, who is currently in the United States (US) on a three-day official trip, said this while addressing around 30,000 Pakistani-Americans at Washington DC’s Capital One Arena.
The gathering was termed as the “largest” in the community’s history by those present at the jampacked venue with 20,000 official seating capacity.
“Nawaz Sharif wants food from home in jail, he wants air conditioning in jail. But in a country where half the population has no air conditioning or TV, what kind of punishment would this be?”, the premier questioned.
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Dear sir @ImranKhanPTIwhen will you stop being so petty? Even the economy class of PIA is better than you pic.twitter.com/CpiM3mb00M
“When I return, I’ll make sure there is no air conditioning or TV for Nawaz Sharif who is a criminal. I know Maryam [Nawaz] Bibi will make some noise, but I say to her, return the money. It’s as simple as that,” he added.
Continuing his tirade against Nawaz, PM Imran alleged that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo was “propped up” by a military dictator.
“Nawaz was propped up by military dictator. Shehbaz Sharif was propped up because he was his brother. Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal became leaders on the basis of some piece of paper that left the party behind to them. Similar stories with other parties,” he said.
Targeting his political rivals, the premier reiterated that the government had started seizing their undeclared properties because they had “looted the country when they were in power”.
A video of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA Haleem Adil Sheikh, wherein he is proudly presenting the party’s “sariyay [iron rod] wala seth“, went viral over the internet on Saturday.
The video shows Adil using the term to refer to his colleague and Sindh Human Rights Focal Person Mir Iftikhar Ahmed Khan Lund.
Earlier this month, Lund’s appointment by the Human Rights Ministry had sparked a debate on social media since he is accused of violating his driver by inserting an iron rod into his rectum.
“The poor don’t matter to them…” Adil says while criticising an unnamed entity in the video breaking the internet. “The thing is if they learn their lesson with batons… it’s good… [else] we have sariyay wala seth with us now,” he says as he holds Lund’s hand and the entire room breaks into laughter.
WATCH VIDEO:
PTI leader Haleem Adil Sheikh introducing the party’s leader in Ghotki and ‘human rights adviser’ Iftikhar Lund as “Sarye (iron rod) Wala Seth”. Iftikhar Lund faces charges of torturing his employee by shoving an iron rod into his rectum. Video via Rab Nawaz Baloch pic.twitter.com/5CA7g1HefO
According to a Human Rights Ministry notification dated July 10, Minister Shireen Mazari appointed Lund as a focal person on the issues of human rights in Sindh.
“He shall assist the office of the federal minister on the issues of human rights while keeping liaison with relevant stakeholders,” the notification read.
While the appointment is “purely voluntary without the ministry bearing any expenses”, the news took the internet by storm owing to the gross violation allegedly committed by Lund in April.
THE ASSAULT:
As per the details, a van driver named Allah Rakhio was allegedly assaulted and meted out inhumane punishment in Sindh’s Ghotki district on the orders of his employer, Lund, and his three relatives.
According to the victim’s son, Zahid Hussain Rakhio, his father had a disagreement with Shafiq Lund, following which he was called to Iftikhar’s residence where he was mercilessly beaten up by Shafiq, Rafiq Lund and Mumtaz Ali Lund in Iftikhar’s presence.
Injured Rakhio called Hussain, who took him to the hospital, where he received eight stitches on his private parts. A video of Rakhio lying on his back on a stretcher and narrating his ordeal was also widely shared over the internet.
FIR AGAINST LUND:
A First Information Report (FIR) against Iftikhar, Mumtaz, Shafiq and Rafiq on the victim’s complaint was filed at the Khanpur Mahar police station.
The FIR was filed under sections 324 (attempt to commit qatle amd), 355 (assault or criminal force with intent to dishonour a person), 147 (punishment for rioting) and 143 (punishment for being a member of unlawful assembly).
Hussain claims that police have not yet made any arrests and are trying to brush the incident under the carpet, while party sources say the issue was resolved in an out of court settlement as the driver forgave Lund and his accomplices.
Two women have stepped up to contest the provincial election being held in ex-Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Geo News reported.
FATA was finally merged into KP in May 2018 after then president Mamnoon Hussain signed the 25th Constitutional Amendment Bill into law.
People of the tribal districts on Saturday are casting a ballot for the first time to elect members of the provincial assembly on sixteen seats up for grabs in seven newly-merged districts.
In the 16 constituencies up for grabs, almost all contestants are men; however, two women from the Awami National Party (ANP) and Jamaate Islami (JI) have stepped up to give them a tough time.
Naheed Afridi from the ANP is hoping for a win in Khyber district’s PK-106. There are a total of 148,470 voters in this constituency, of which 65,652 (44 per cent) are female.
JI’s Malasa Bibi, on the other hand, is running for PK-109 of the Kurram district. In her constituency, there are 187,844 voters in all, of which 82,560 are women.
The two women are breaking barriers by contesting the election in extremely conservative tribal districts where women have not always been allowed to even cast their votes.
