Daily Archives: July 31, 2022

Lahore

PA speaker election challenged in LHC

LAHORE: The recent Punjab Assembly (PA) speaker election has been challenged in Lahore High Court (LHC).

Three leaders of PML-N including Saiful Malook Khokhar, Mian Abdul Rauf and Mansoor Usman have filed petitions in LHC challenging the Punjab assembly speaker election.

Secretary Punjab assembly, newly elected speaker Punjab assembly and others have been made respondents in the petitions.

The petitioners have taken the plea numbering was made on ballot papers in the election of Punjab assembly speaker. It was aimed at tracing the members of assembly participating in secret balloting to ascertain which member cast vote to whom while as per rules election of speaker Punjab assembly is conducted through secret balloting.

General

Nawaz Sharif gives no time frame to return to Pakistan

LONDON/ISLAMABAD: PML-N supreme Nawaz Sharif while expressing annoyance over party defeat in by polls has directed the party to start making preparations from now for future by polls.

Nawaz Sharif has further said organizational changes be also made in consultation with Maryam Nawaz. However he has not given any time frame in connection with his return to country.

Source said meeting was held under Nawaz Sharif through video link which was attended by party senior leaders including Prime Minister (PM) Shahbaz Sharif.

A detailed review of party defeat in by polls in Punjab was taken in the meeting. The party described the inflation real cause which led to defeat in by polls.

Nawaz Sharif directed party leadership to enhance contacts with party workers and launch campaign

from now for future by polls. He also directed to make organizational changes in the party in consultation with Maryam Nawaz to reactivate party.

The participants also exchanged views on political and economic situation of the country. They declared the steps by federal government to contain price hike insufficient.

PML-N leaders also discussed about Nawaz Sharif return to country.

PML-N supremo said he was worried over the economic situation of the country. The poor segments of society have been adversely affected due to inflation.

I am anxious to return to country. Soon I will be among the party workers, he announced.

Islamabad

NEPRA scales up power tariff by 50 paisas per unit

ISLAMABAD: NEPRA has increased the power tariff by 50 paisas per unit.

The increase in the cost of electricity has been made under the head of Fuel Adjustment Surcharge (FAS).

The enhanced tariff will be applicable from September 01 for three months. The upward revised tariff will shift additional burden of Rs 12 billion to the consumers.

The industrial consumers which are enjoying relief package will stand exempted from this increase in power tariff. The increased tariff will also not be applicable to life line consumers.

Islamabad

China defends military ship’s planned visit to India’s neighbour Sri Lanka

BEIJING: China said on Friday it hoped “relevant parties” would refrain from interfering with its legitimate maritime activities, after New Delhi voiced concern over a Chinese military ship’s planned visit to a port in India’s southern neighbour Sri Lanka.

India worries that the Chinese-built and leased port of Hambantota will be used by China as a military base in India’s backyard. The $1.5 billion port is near the main shipping route from Asia to Europe.

Shipping data from Refinitiv Eikon showed Chinese research and survey vessel Yuan Wang 5 was en route to Hambantota and due to arrive on Aug. 11, at a time when Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis in seven decades. India has provided Sri Lanka with nearly $4 billion in support this year alone.

During a weekly briefing late on Thursday, an Indian foreign ministry spokesman said the government was monitoring the planned visit of the Chinese ship, adding that New Delhi would protect its security and economic interests.

India has already lodged a verbal protest with the Sri Lankan government against the ship’s visit, Reuters reported on Thursday.

In response to questions from Reuters, China’s foreign ministry said Beijing had always exercised freedom of the high seas lawfully.

“China hopes that the relevant parties will view and report on China’s marine scientific research activities correctly and refrain from interfering with normal and legitimate maritime activities,” the ministry said in a statement.

Relations between India and China have been strained since armed clashes on their border two years ago killed at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers and led to a massive build-up of troops on both sides.

Foreign security analysts describe the Yuan Wang 5 as one of China’s latest generation space-tracking ships, used to monitor satellite, rocket and intercontinental ballistic missile launches.

The Pentagon’s annual report on China’s military modernisation says the Yuan Wang ships are operated by the Strategic Support Force of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

A Sri Lankan consulting firm, the Belt & Road Initiative Sri Lanka, said on its website that the Yuan Wang 5 would be in Hambantota for a week and “conduct space tracking, satellite control and research tracking in the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean region through August and September”.

Sri Lanka formally handed over commercial activities at its main southern port to a Chinese company in 2017 on a 99-year lease after struggling to repay its debt.

China is one of Sri Lanka’s biggest lenders and has also funded airports, roads and railways, unnerving India, which is now trying to claw back lost ground.

Sri Lanka angered India in 2014 when it allowed a Chinese submarine and a warship to dock in Colombo.

International

US, Pakistan presses Taliban for girls’ education: Blinken

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has identified Pakistan as one of the partners the United States has been working with to persuade the Taliban to let girls go back to school.

On Thursday, Secretary Blinken launched the US-Af¬ghan Consultative Mecha-nism (USACM), which would enable Afghan citizens to communicate directly with American policymakers.

Addressing the launching ceremony, the top US diplomat said that besides Pakistan, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Qatar and Turkey, and others were also backing US efforts to convince the Taliban to reverse their decision to keep Afghan girls out of school.

The new platform (USACM) that was launched in Washington on Thursday brings together Afghan women, journalists, and at-risk ethnic and religious communities with the representatives of the US State Department. It will facilitate regular engagement with the US government on issues ranging from human rights documentation to women in Islam.

With USACM’s launch, “we are taking these relationships to the next level. That’s why I’m so pleased about today,” Secretary Blinken said. He identified the group’s priorities as supporting income-generating activities for Afghan women, strategising ways to help Afghan human rights monitors safely document abuses, and devising new methods to promote religious freedom.

The United States has discussed with Taliban officials the possible release of Afghan central bank’s assets frozen after the fall of Kabul in August last year, the US State Department confirmed on Friday.

“The two sides discussed ongoing efforts to enable the $3.5 billion in licensed Afghan central bank reserves to be used for the benefit of the Afghan people,” said an official statement released in Washington.

“The United States expressed the need to address the urgent humanitarian situation in Afghanistan” and also “underscored the need to accelerate the work on these efforts,” the statement added.

The meeting, involving Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West and Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson, took place on Wednesday in Tashkent. The meetings took place after the conclusion of the Tashkent Conference on Afghanistan that Uzbekistan hosted on July 26.

Media reports on the meeting claimed that the talks had made “some progress” and the US and Taliban officials had exchanged proposals for unfreezing the assets. But some differences remained unresolved.

One of the key differences was over the Taliban’s refusal to replace the bank’s top political appointees, “one of whom is under US sanctions as are several of the movement’s leaders,” one of the reports added.

Lahore

Mehwish Wishes To Portray DC Comics’ Wonder Woman

LAHORE: Lollywood diva and recipient of Presidential award winner Mehwish Hayat seems as if she is wishing to portray DC Comics’ ‘Wonder Woman’.

Taking to Instagram, Ms Marvel actress had earlier posted earlier this week a fan-made edit that had the actor’s face morphed on the body of Gadot in her ‘Wonder Woman’ costume and wrote, “That’s a really kool edit,” she wrote in the caption.

The actress who has the iconic superheroine of DC on her bucket list is seemingly making the fans’ wish to happen. She had expressed her desire to play the Gal Gadot replacement by sharing a fan edit on her Instagram stories.

In Ms Marvel, Mehwish had left her fans in awe with her stellar portrayal of Aisha. The fans liked her role with Ms Marvel and made interesting comments on her presence on the screen.

Lahore

Mere Humsafar Trending In Three Countries

LAHORE: Mere Humsafar is a Pakistani television drama which is produced by Humayun Saeed and Shehzad Naseeb under bannner of Six Sigma, it is directed by Qasim Ali Mureed for Ary Digital. The drama has a huge star cast including Hania Aamir, Farhan Saeed, Samina Ahmed, Zoya Nasir, Aamir Qureshi, Tara Mehmood, Saba Hameed, Waseem Abbas, Aly Khan and Omar Shahzad.

The drama rose to the popularity because of Hania and Farhan’s beautiful chemistry as Hamza and Hala. The drama is popular globally and fans from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, UAE and other countries are loving it, they specifically love the story of Hala and Hamza, the most. The character of Rumi and Sameen are also appreciated by the fans.

This week, 30th Episode of the drama aired which was loved and praised by the fans across the globe, the episode completed one million views within an hour and after 24 hours, the drama’s episode garnered 10 million views. Farhan shared the screenshot on his Instagram as well. Well, fans from other countries are informing that the drama is trending in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, UAE and Pakistan for sure. Here are the screenshots about the drama’s trending. In India, the drama Mere Humsafar trends every week. Have a look.

Lahore

Bushra Iqbal Calls Dania A Gold Digger Who Deserves To Be Punished – Watch Video

LAHORE: A couple of days ago Bushra Iqbal, ex-wife of late Aamir Liaquat case in FIA Cyber Crime against Dania Shah and her mother after they reached court in order to be the part of post-mortem case.

Recently in a press conference, Bushra Iqbal mentioned that “FIA has given us a positive response and they have assured us that they’ll investigate on their own and will take action against Dania. Aamir got married to Dania to live a peaceful and happy married life but he didn’t knew that he got married to a greedy woman. Within 4 months his bank accounts were left empty, even at this point he was asking people for money.”

“When Aamir was alive, they were just asking for divorce and nothing else, even they said that didn’t want a penny from Aamir but the moment Aamir died she started acting fake. The divorce was already accepted by Aamir a few days after Dania filed divorce but she’s not accepting it now. We have Aamir’s official statement which proves that Dania is not Aamir’s widow”, added Bushra.

Bushra further said that “Everyone knows that the actual reason behind Aamir’s death is Dania. The entire controversy created by Dania left Aamir all alone. Even Aamir’s driver told me that he used to travel by road know because he was not able to face people after his leaked videos went viral on social media. This case will surely save people from woman like Dania in future.”

While talking about the post-mortem case Bushra stated that “There were no external fractures or injuries on Aamir’s body so we decided not to perform the autopsy. For me Islamic values are preferred than anything else, If we had any doubt regarding Aamir’s death we would have been the first one to ask for post-mortem.”

Islamabad

Fawad Ch calls for announcement of decision by EC in respect of foreign funding cases of three parties at the same time

ISLAMABAD: PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry has said overseas and common Pakistanis donate funds to PTI and we will maintain this procedure of funding.

“ the Election Commission should announce the decision of foreign funding cases of the three parties at the same time, he said this in a statement issued here Saturday.

The ruling alliance hate for overseas Pakistanis is beyond comprehension, he added. Because they abolished the right to vote to overseas Pakistanis.

Now a hate campaign is being run against the overseas Pakistanis who donate funds to PTI and are back bone of national economy, he remarked.

The ruling alliance itself is a big mafia, he held. PTI does not rely on any mafia for funding, he added.

The election commission should release the decision in respect of funding of three parties simultaneously so that people could compare them, he demanded.

International

Indian troops martyr one Kashmiri youth in Baramulla

Srinagar: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Indian troops in their fresh act of state terrorism martyred one Kashmiri youth in Baramulla district, today.

The troops martyred the youth during a cordon and search operation (CASO) in Wanigam Bala area of the district.

Earlier, two Indian soldiers and one policeman were injured in an attack in the same area.

The operation was going on till last reports came in.