Ruckus on Friday marred yet another session of the National Assembly as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Ahsan Iqbal got a scolding from speaker of the House, Asad Qaiser.
“Please follow rules. I am doing so too […] mind your tone,” the speaker told the opposition lawmaker.
While the reason behind the war of words has not yet been confirmed by any, a video of the episode showed Iqbal repeatedly interrupting the speaker, demanding what appeared to be more time on the floor of the House.
“Please mind your tone. You have been a minister, and you call yourself ‘professor’… is this the way to talk?” a visibly displeased Qaiser was seen asking Iqbal who kept talking back at the speaker.
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Earlier, rumpus also erupted after PML-N MNA Afzal Khokhar tabled a privilege motion.
During the session, while talking about the operation to demolish his Lahore residence, the Khokhar Palace, the PML-N leader told the House that the administration had stormed his place late at night and destroyed furniture among other things.
“This type of attitude of Punjab authorities will not be tolerated,” he said.
The House has been adjourned to meet again on Monday.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has served a notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for costing the country a whopping Rs690 million (Rs69 crores).
As per the details, NAB did not deduct 15% withholding tax while paying damages worth over Rs4 billion (Rs4 Arab) in the Broadsheet case.
The News quoted sources as saying that a notice on behalf of the International Tax Department of FBR under Section 152 of FBR Ordinance was sent to NAB to pay the said amount.
The notice said it had come to the knowledge of tax department that NAB had paid damages to Broadsheet LLC — the United Kingdom (UK) based company roped in during military ruler Pervez Musharraf’s regime to track down foreign assets purchased by Pakistani politicians “through looted money”.
“NAB had to deduct 15% withholding tax and deposit it to the national exchequer at the time of payment under the Income Tax Ordinance, but it was not followed,” it said.
The fine was paid to the UK-based firm after NAB ended with it the asset recovery agreement in 2003, pushing Broadsheet as a third party to move the London High Court for damages.
The UK-based companies claimed that Pakistan owed them money according to the terms agreed upon since the government was taking action to seize assets identified by the firm, including the Avenfiled Apartments of the Sharif family.
After much drama, an arbitration court of London had imposed a $20 million fine on NAB in the Broadsheet case. However, NAB had to pay an extra $9 million under the head of mark-up due to non-payment on time.
The court in London had withdrawn over $28 million partially in this regard by freezing accounts of the Pakistan High Commission.
Zeb Bangash is disappointed with Bollywood’s version of Bibi Sanam. Performed originally by Zeb and Haniya on Coke Studio, the international hit landed up in the Hindi film Cabaret, where it was sung by Usha Uthup.
In an opinion piece published on Scroll India, Bangash wrote: “From the moment my cousin Haniya and I released our version of Bibi Sanam on Coke Studio, it resonated with people from Kabul to Kolkata and beyond, becoming one of our most-loved and celebrated numbers. Its success spawned many other versions on YouTube and it was a delight to see and hear people from all over the world engaging with the song with so much love.”
She continued: “In time, many classic versions were uploaded. In 2013, inspired by Ustaad Shamsuddin Masrur’s performance of the song in the 1960s, I recorded an entirely fresh version of Bibi Sanam with my Brooklyn-based band SANDARAA. Not surprisingly, this version became a crowd-pleaser on SANDARAA tours even to predominantly Western audiences in North America.”
Zeb further wrote: “I came across a recently uploaded Bibi Sanam video from a Bollywood film. The film was completed a few years ago, but I hadn’t heard of or seen it. I was eager to see what space had been carved out for this beautiful folk classic by the multi-billion dollar industry we all follow and participate in so actively. The names attached to the project heightened my excitement. Usha Uthup, whose beautiful spirit and voice has inspired me since childhood, and Richa Chadha, an actor I respect as someone who stood up against objectification of women on the silver screen.”
However, the song left the singer disappointed.
“I finally heard the song, I was unsettled, disappointed by its re-imagining. I could not find Richa’s spirit or Usha’s voice in the song, neither could I find the soul of Qandahar, Tajqurghan, Kabul jaan, or Sisstaan — all the places the song has referenced,” wrote Zeb while expressing her thoughts on the rendition.
“Instead, the song was forcibly put in a place it was never meant for. I must admit it deeply disturbed me to see a cover of our loving tribute/rendition juxtaposed against the general ongoings of a forgettable Bollywood item song. What was infused into the innocence, the freshness, and sweetness of Sistaan is unwanted aggressive sexuality. Sadly, it felt perhaps for the first time a version has compromised the beauty of an ancient poetic, musical and spiritual tradition.”
Zeb said that the Bollywood version depicting gyrating women dancing around poles raises a stream of uncomfortable questions for her.
The singer further wrote: “The past 12 months, we saw social movements promoting inclusion and equality, we participated in them virtually and created a real global social impact. Social media provides an opportunity for authentic and discerning collaborations. In the context of this hyper-connected environment, I need to ask whether we as artists and content creators are making lazy and uninformed artistic choices?”
“When you sing a song in a new language, you acquire an intimacy not only with the music, but also its people, as you gain access to its stories and histories. You then suffuse it with your own histories and culture – if done right, it is always a process of inclusion. This is especially true for rich spiritual soundscapes. Is it too much to hope that this can culminate in evolution beyond the item number?” she questioned.
“When a dominant cultural machine imposes its careless vulgarity upon lesser-known spiritual traditions, it can undermine the culture and ultimately re-form and warp an identity from sacred to profane.”
“Bibi Sanam has always possessed a mesmerising quality, magic kept alive for centuries, by artists and audiences, meshed with their personal memory, experience, and history. For me the Bollywood version is a disservice to the song’s meaning and the culture it comes from,” she concluded.
Zebunisa Bangash is a Pakistani singer-songwriter from Lahore. Her family originally hails from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Given her prolific career and her ability to sing in various languages and appeal to audiences of all ages across cultures and continents, it is no wonder that Zeb has a huge international fan following around the world.
The Ministry of Defence has opposed a request seeking removal of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general (DG) Lt Gen (r) Asad Durrani’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL), saying he had been “interacting with hostile elements” including Indian intelligence agency RAW since 2008 and was likely to be involved in future publications against the interest of Pakistan, Dawn reported.
The spymaster had landed in trouble after co-authoring a book, “The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace”, with Amarjit Singh Dulat, the former head of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), in 2018.
After the book’s publication, the Military Intelligence (MI) had written to the interior ministry to put Durrani’s name on the ECL and the same was done in May 2018. The former spymaster challenged the move in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in 2019.
In its para-wise comments submitted in response to Durrani’s petition in the IHC on Wednesday, the Defence Ministry said the ex-ISI chief’s name was placed on the no-fly list for “his involvement in anti-state activities”. It said a perusal of the book The Spy Chronicles revealed that it contained “certain contents concerning [the] national security of Pakistan, being in contravention of the provisions of the Official Secrets Acts, 1923”.
“It is further highlighted that there are [a] number of such publications on the way, supported by hostile elements which contain content to create misperception, confusions, question marks against the top leadership circles at country level and to target the common people,” reads the ministry’s response.
It added that Durrani had been “affiliated/interacting with hostile elements especially Indian RAW since 2008”, saying although he had submitted an affidavit “committing to refrain from such activities” to the government, the same had still not been seen “in tangible terms”.
According to the ministry’s reply, Rule 2(c) of the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Rules, 2010, authorised the federal government to prohibit a person from exiting Pakistan for a foreign destination if the said person is involved in “‘acts of terrorism or its conspiracy’, ‘heinous crimes’ and ‘threatening national security’”.
Moreover, it said Articles 15 and 19 of the Constitution clearly stated that the “freedom of movement and freedom of speech are subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by [the] law in the public interest and integrity, security or defence of Pakistan”.
It said Durrani’s name could not be removed from ECL “at this stage” because inquiries being conducted against him were being finalised. It said the former ISI chief wanted to travel abroad with the intention of participating in international conferences, forums and talks which will have “serious national security implications as evident from the recently published book ‘Honour Among Spies’” — which was also authored by Durrani and published “through Indian publishers/RAW supported elements”, according to the defence ministry.
“Moreover, the petitioner also appeared on social media on October 12 and 13, 2020, and expressed his views which of course cannot be well received by any patriotic citizen,” the ministry stated, continuing to defend the placement of Durrani’s name on ECL.
The ex-ISI chief’s petition is expected to be taken up again by the IHC next month.
The High Court of Kerala has issued notices to Indian skipper Virat Kohli, along with actors Tamannaah Bhatia, Aju Vargheese, and the state government in a plea seeking a ban on online gambling in the state.
According to reports, the court plea alleges that as brand ambassadors of online rummy games they are getting the youth of India addicted to gambling after victims claimed the three celebrities have played a role in tempting them.
The petition also seeks a ban on the game.
The petitioner had complained to the high court that several people have lost their lives in the country after losing huge amounts of money by playing rummy online. A 27-year-old had reportedly committed suicide two weeks ago after losing Rs2.1 million in the online game.
Sajesh, 32, who had lost a huge amount playing online rummy said: “The intervention of the honourable high court is welcome as I know that several people have lost huge amount of money playing this online game and I myself have lost more than Rs 6 lakh.
“The brand ambassadors indeed play a big role in attracting the gullible youth in playing this game which soon turns into an addiction. I had to seek professional medical help to come out of this addiction and the court must ban this game in India.”
No statements have been issued by the three celebrities yet, with Kohli currently on paternity leave while he spends time with his newborn daughter and wife Anushka Sharma.
Kohli and Anushka Sharma were blessed with a baby girl earlier this month. On the other hand, Tamannah recently wrapped up the shoot for her upcoming web show November Story, which she described as a ‘nail-biting series’. The series will release on Disney+ Hotstar soon.
Transparency International (TI) — a Berlin-based international non-governmental organisation combating global corruption — on Thursday released a new report, according to which, the country under the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, for the second consecutive year, has witnessed more corruption than it did in the outgoing year of the former ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
According to TI’s global report on the 2020 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), while Pakistan’s ranking and CPI score in 2019 dropped from 117 to 120 and from 33 to 32, respectively, the ranking has now fallen down to 123 and CPI score to 31 in 2020.
The report comes at a time when the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan-led government boasts of the success of its promised accountability drive against opposition lawmakers and government officials. The same has time and again been termed as “political victimisation” by those on the radar of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Before the second consecutive drop, Pakistan witnessed a slight improvement in the 2018 CPI, scoring a point higher than in 2017 but remaining unchanged in the rankings. The country scored 33 out of 100 on the index — one point better than its score of 32 in 2017 and 2016. Its ranking, however, remained unchanged at 117 out of 180 countries, in 2018.
TI’s annual report on CPI is formulated on the basis of input from 13 international agencies. In the case of Pakistan, however, the assessment of eight agencies is taken into account. These include the World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey; the World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment; the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index; the Bertelsmann Stiftung Transformation Index; the Economist Intelligence Unit Country Risk Service; the Global Insight Country Risk Ratings; the IMD World Competitiveness Center World Competitiveness Yearbook Executive Opinion Survey; and the Varieties of Democracy project’s findings.
Pakistan in the last 11 years had improved its index score from 23 in 2010 to 33 in 2018. However, never in the said time period had Pakistan been assessed to have performed negatively when compared to the previous year, which has now happened twice.
Fahad Mustafa has condemned the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for ignoring Fawad Alam for a decade.
“If you want to witness what a failure of our system really is, watch Fawad Alam playing like a champ that he really is. We have wasted 10 years of this incredibly talented athlete,” wrote Fahad on social media.
If you want to witness what a failure of our system really is watch @iamfawadalam25 playing like a champ that he really is. We have wasted 10 years of this incredibly talented athlete.@TheRealPCBpic.twitter.com/yDS0o9YLV2
Fawad, who was ignored for almost eleven years, has gone on to score a century during the Pakistan vs South Africa series, happening in Karachi. This is the cricketer’s third century. He scored his first in 2009 when he hit 168 on his Test debut against Sri Lanka while opening the innings. Since then Alam has played just six Tests having made a comeback in 2020. He scored his second hundred in New Zealand during the Pakistan vs New Zealand Test series after he got a chance to play when Babar Azam was ruled out due to his thumb injury.
Meanwhile, Pakistanis including celebrities, politicians and sports analysts cannot stop praising Alam for his brilliant feat and many have called out the previous selectors for ignoring his talent.
Fawad Alam resilience is exemplary. Shining star indeed!!! A hall mark of talent & hard work. Shine on & make Pak proud.
Fawad Alam = resilience we can all learn from his journey to never give up & only focus on hardwork till your last breath in life not only cricket #PAKvsSA
Superb performance Fawad Alam!!! @iamfawadalam25 Brilliant Knock!!!! Not only justifying his inclusion but also raising questions why he has been out of the test team for so long. A great innings and hope he remains consistent. Keep Rocking!!! Very well done!!!
What a gratifying story. Every time I see Fawad Alam score runs, my heart rejoices. 10 years denied him will never be returned, but all we can do is celebrate these apogee moments with him. Well played; #Fawadever .
Fawad Alam is the sign of a fighter, Pakistan was 27 for 4, under pressure at home but the experience stands tall of Fawad against South Africa and he brings up hundred from 220 balls including 8 fours and 2 sixes. What a knock, one of the best. #PAKvSApic.twitter.com/DUpzNWNUWi
SO FREAKING HAPPY FOR FAWAD ALAM!! A fighting century! Showed what it is to have home ground advantage- scrappy- gritty- brilliant knock under pressure! Nobody deserves it more than him- the hero we all needed to save this match. #PAKvsSA#fawadalam
What a comeback from Pakistan on day 2! Fawad Alam leading the way with Azhar, Rizwan and Faheem playing key knocks. We’ve got a decent lead and with the rough built outside the left handers off stump things look tough for SA. Well played Pakistan ❤️#PAKvsSA
Federal Information Minister Shibli Faraz was on Wednesday caught visibly annoyed on camera when he expressed displeasure over his colleague and Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s special assistant, Dr Shahbaz Gill, having an informal conversation with media persons.
In videos of the episode doing the rounds on social media, Faraz was seen asking Gill as to what he was doing.
“I was just giving them [journalists] economy-related points,” PM’s aide tells the government spokesperson over which the latter tells him that he was headed for the scheduled post-meeting presser.
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“If you want to talk to journalists, join me for the press conference,” the information minister can be heard as adding after saying that it was his job but Gill had been doing so for quite some time.
“I won’t join you [for the presser],” Gill says after continuing to explain for a while that he was only updating journalists on facts and figures regarding the country’s debts.
“Then don’t,” the information minister says and storms out, leaving Gill rather embarrassed in front of media persons.
It may be noted that Faraz is the third information minister after Fawad Chaudhry and Firdous Ashiq Awan, who discharged her duties as the pemier’s special assistant on information in the absence of a minister.
Gill, on the other hand, was called to centre after spending some time in Punjab as Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar’s spokesperson.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised its forecast for global economic growth in 2021 but warned that there was still “extraordinary uncertainty” about the outlook.
According to the latest World Economic Outlook forecast, the IMF projects global growth at 5.5%, which is higher than their previous forecast in October. Global growth will moderate to 4.2% growth in 2022, the IMF said.
As per the forecast, Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the ongoing year will stand at 1.5% that it shares with Nigeria, while neighbouring India and China are likely to stand at staggering 11.5% and 8.1%, respectively.
GDP is the total monetary or market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period. As a broad measure of overall domestic production, it functions as a comprehensive scorecard of a given country’s economic health.
Malaysia’s growth is likely to stand at 7%, Turkey: 6%, Spain: 5.9%, France: 5.5%, the United States (US) 5.1%, Indonesia: 4.8%, the United Kingdom (UK): 4.5%, Mexico: 4.3%, Brazil: 3.6%, Canada: 3.6%, Germany: 3.5%, Japan: 3.1%, Russia: 3%, Italy: 3%, while the GDP growth of Saudi Arabia has been predicted to stand at 2.6%.
The upgrade for this year reflects the positive effects from the start to vaccinations in some countries, additional fiscal support in the US and Japan, and at least a partial return to business and consumer normality as the health crisis wanes.
“Much now depends on the outcome of this race between a mutating virus and vaccines to end the pandemic, and on the ability of policies to provide effective support until that happens,” said IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath in a blog post accompanying the updated forecast.
The global economy contracted by 3.5% in 2020, the worst peacetime contraction since the Great Depression of the 1930s, the agency said.
Close to 90 million people are expected to enter extreme poverty in 2020 and 2021, reversing the trends of the past two decades, the IMF said.
Altogether, the COVID-19 pandemic will cost the global economy $22 trillion over 2020-2025 relative to pre-pandemic projected levels.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) pilots have spotted and unidentified flying object (UFO) flying at 35,000 feet above Karachi.
According to ProPakistani, the “foo fighter” — a term used by Allied aircraft pilots during World War II to describe UFOs or mysterious aerial phenomena seen in the skies over both the European and Pacific theaters of operations — was a white round object above the jet which the plane’s captain noticed on Sunday.
The flight crew immediately started filming the object and after landing found that similar sightings had been reported in the past across the world.
The flight captain said that the round object had a metal ring around it and was emitting white light from the center.
He added that it was difficult to determine whether the object was hovering or moving slowly due to relative motion.
Sharing the video of the incident, UFO hunter and blogger Scott Waring said that PIA pilots had provided the most focused photo of a foo fighter in the history of UFO research.
He added that it “proved that aliens follow planes and keep a close eye on human activities”.
