Tag: Pak

Can’t help a country if their basic industry is terrorism: Jaishankar on Pak

[ad_1]
Pune: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday virtually dismissed the idea of helping Pakistan to come out of its economic mess.
Speaking at the annual Asia Economic Dialogue organised by the external affairs ministry here, Jaishankar said he will consider the local public sentiment while making a big decision.
“I would have a pulse (on) what do my people feel about it. And I think you know the answer,” he said.
Pakistan is grappling with an economic crisis and has not been successful in getting an agreement from multilateral institutions either. In the recent past, India has helped neighbours like Sri Lanka as it struggled to come out of its economic woes and regularly helps others in the neighbourhood as well.
However, when it comes to Pakistan, the fundamental issue impacting the New Delhi-Islamabad ties is terrorism, Jaishankar said, adding that one must not be in denial of this problem.
“No country is ever going to come out of a difficult situation and become a prosperous power if its basic industry is terrorism.
“Just as a country has to fix its economic issues, a country has to fix its political issues too, a country has to fix its social issues,” he said without naming Pakistan.
Jaishankar also made it clear that it is in nobody’s interest to see a country get into severe economic difficulties, and that too a neighbour.

Once a country is in the throes of a serious economic problem, it has to make policy choices to get out of it, the career diplomat-turned-politician said, adding that others cannot solve it for the country.
The world can only provide options and support systems, Jaishankar said, making it clear that Pakistan will have to make “tough choices”.
He said India has also undergone the same challenges several times in its modern history, with the last one being 30 years ago with the balance of payment crisis.
Meanwhile, Jaishankar said ever since Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, the country’s approach to the neighbouring countries has undergone a perceptible change and also reminded all about the Prime Minister’s decision to call heads of state for the swearing-in function to start a new relationship.
Citing the case of Maldives, he said India’s help in the recent past includes the Greater Male project and also added that he was present at the foundation stone laying event a few weeks ago.
India is also buying or selling power with many of its neighbours, Jaishankar said, adding that it recently started buying power from Nepal.
Going forward, the country is also mulling to up its focus on education and healthcare spending in the neighbourhood, Jaishankar said.
He also assured that India will also be using its G-20 presidency to give a voice to the problems of the ‘global south’ and asserted that India is the best-placed country to do that.
The prime minister and his top ministers have spoken to 125 countries in the past month in India’s effort to be an effective voice of the global south, Jaishankar said.
Speaking at the same event, Maldives’ Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer said climate finance is a big challenge and expected help to flow through on the commitment at the earliest. His counterpart from Bhutan, Lyonpo Namgay Tshering said an easing of global financial conditions is also the need of the hour.
Jaishankar said there are multiple second and third-order impacts of the major world events and policy decisions, which India will be flagging to the world as part of its G-20 presidency.
The EAM also said that the G-20, with nearly 200 events across the country, is a marketing of India to influential people across the world by exposing them to cultural and socio-economic changes taking place in the country.
[ad_2]
#country #basic #industry #terrorism #Jaishankar #Pak
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 23, 2023
‘Vulgur content’: Internet slams Pak university over incest question

[ad_1]
A professor was fired and blacklisted by Islamabad-based COMSATS University after he set a question regarding incest in an examination of Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (BEE) students in December last year.
The question asked students to write an essay about a particular passage involving an incestuous relationship between siblings Julie and Mark.
“Julie and Mark are brother and sister. They are traveling together in France on summer vacation from college,” reads the question.
“One night they are staying alone in a cabin near the beach. They decided that it would be interesting and fun if they tried making love. At the very least, it would be a new experience for each of them,” it read.
“Julie is on birth control while Mark uses a condom and they both enjoyed being intimate together although they vowed never to do it again,” the passage concludes.
Students were asked to share their views about the scenario and if it was fine for Julie and Mark to “make love”. They were also asked to give reasons and “include some relevant examples”.
A screenshot of the question paper was shared on the social media platform Twitter raising concerns and condemnation. Many, including celebrities and student bodies, termed it as ‘vulgar content’ and demanded the chancellor, as well as the vice-chancellor, be questioned.
یہ کیا جہالت ہے؟ انگریزی کے امتحان میں اس قدر بیہودہ سوال کی کیا منطق ہے؟ یہ مادر پدر آزاد ذہن کا فتور ہمارے نوجوانوں کو برباد کر رہا ہے!! pic.twitter.com/YSoQ4QhMi6
— Ovais Mangalwala (@ovaismangalwala) February 19, 2023
کیا COMSAT یونیورسٹی اسلام آباد کےاساتذہ یا طلبہ میں سے کوئی بتا سکے گا کہ اسکی کلاس BEEمیں انگریزی کے مضمون کی Quiz میں ایسے بیہودہ سوال پوچھے جارہے ہیں ۔ اگر ایسا ہے تو بہت تشویشناک ہے اور اگر نہیں ہےاس پروپیگنڈے کا خاتمہ ہونا چاہیے ۔ pic.twitter.com/EQEiGndGKK
— Orya Maqbool Jan (@OryaMaqboolJan) February 20, 2023
The professor has been identified as Khair ul Bashar, according to New York Post.

The university has released a statement regarding the issue stating, “The content of the quiz is highly objectionable and totally against the curriculum laws of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and caused unrest amongst the families of the students.”

[ad_2]
#Vulgur #content #Internet #slams #Pak #university #incest #question
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 21, 2023
MP man freed from Pak jail after three years to return home on Tuesday

[ad_1]
Bhopal: A Bhil tribal family living in a remote village in Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa district had reasons to cheer on Monday as they received their elder son – Raju Laxman Pindare – at the Wagah border.
Raju (35), who was in jail in Pakistan since July 2019 after inadvertently entering the neighbouring country, was handed over to the Khandwa police a week after he was handed over to the Indian authority by Pakistan.
A team of Khandwa district police along with his two family members, who had left for Amritsar on Saturday, is likely bring back Raju to Bhopal via Delhi from where he would be taken to his village in Khandwa, where the villagers are ready to welcome.
The moment has come as early Holi for not only the Pindare family, but for the entire Bhil community.
“The return of my son has brought Holi early for all of us. We had lost all hopes of seeing him again. But god, the local administration, police and the media ensured his return from Pakistan jail after over three years,” said Raju’s father Laxman Pindare, who till a few days back was running from pillar to post to get his son back home.
During Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra’s Madhya Pradesh leg, Laxman Pindare tried to meet Rahul Gandhi to seek his help, but he could not meet the former Congress President.
“We received information about his release from Pakistan jail from the Khandwa district administration four days back. Before leaving for Amritsar, I talked to Raju over the phone,” Raju’s younger brother Dilip Pindare told IANS over phone.
In July 2019, Pakistan claimed to have arrested an Indian identified as Raju Laxman Pindare for ‘spying’ on a nuclear facility in Dera Ghazi Khan district in Pakistan Punjab.

Pakistan had also claimed that Raju was arrested while entering the DG Khan district from Balochistan. Raju was released after he completed his prison sentence on February 14.
Meanwhile, Raju’s mother Basanta said that he was mentally unwell and she had got information about his arrest in Pakistan through some local officials in 2019, six months after he had gone missing.
Raju used to wander here and there but it is still not known how he managed to enter Pakistan, Basanta said.
She also said the family was poor and there was no chance of her son being a spy as alleged by Pakistan authorities.
[ad_2]
#man #freed #Pak #jail #years #return #home #Tuesday
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 20, 2023
Alvi should act as president, not Imran Khan’s spokesman: Pak Interior Minister

[ad_1]
Islamabad: Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah “censured” President Arif Alvi, asking him to respect his constitutional stature as he has nothing to do with the date for elections, the media reported Sunday.
The interior minister, in a statement, said that Alvi should act as the president of Pakistan and not as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s spokesperson, The News reported.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader stated that the former prime minister, prior to this, made the president, speaker, deputy speaker and governors do “unconstitutional” things, The News reported.
He said Alvi was “intruding” into the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) domain, claiming that Khan was pressurising the electoral body while using the office of the president.
The minister said that President Alvi was an “accomplice” in PTI’s foreign funding case, The News reported.
On the other hand, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that the President should remain within his constitutional limits.
Taking to Twitter, Asif said that the president should not trespass the ECP’s limits. “He (President Alvi) should not do politics. He should remember that he usurped the constitutional post as a result of a selection/occurrence in 2018.”
Meanwhile, the president while addressing a conference earlier, said that democracy could be strengthened by implementing the Constitution, so elections must be held as per the constitutional requirement, The News reported.

Referring to the current situation in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, Alvi said he once again wrote a letter to the chief election commissioner for holding a meeting so that the election dates could be announced in both provinces as per the constitutional requirement.
Dr Alvi said it was a constitutional requirement to hold the elections within 90 days of the dissolution of any assembly, so matters should be settled as per the Constitution.
[ad_2]
#Alvi #act #president #Imran #Khans #spokesman #Pak #Interior #Minister
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 19, 2023
Pak Defence Minister acknowledges country has already gone bankrupt

[ad_1]
Sialkot: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif suggested on Saturday that one-fourth of Pakistans debt could be paid off if only two golf clubs built on expensive government land are sold, media reports said.
The minister acknowledged that the country has already gone bankrupt, and that the solution to the country’s problems lies within the country, and not with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Samaa TV reported.
He also blamed the establishment, bureaucracy, and politicians for the current economic situation.
Asif revealed that he has been in the Parliament for 33 years and had witnessed the country’s politics being disgraced for 32 of those years.
The PML-N leader also pointed out that golf clubs had been built on government land, and that selling two of them would reduce one-fourth of Pakistan’s debt, Samaa TV reported.
Asif also expressed his condolences for the loss of personnel in the fight against terrorism, saying that security agencies are working tirelessly to combat the issue.
He claimed that terrorists were allowed to settle in the country two years ago.
Asif also said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will announce major austerity measures in all government institutions to control the fiscal deficit by minimising government expenditures, The Express Tribune reported.

Meanwhile, the opposition also proposed to the government to take some bold decisions and implement austerity measures to cut its expenditures in order to steer the country out of the economic crisis.
Opposition leader Shahzad Waseem said that the rulers had closed corruption cases involving Rs 1,100 billion and the Pakistani people were bearing the brunt of it. He also expressed fear that the new budgetary measures would stoke inflation, The Express Tribune reported.
[ad_2]
#Pak #Defence #Minister #acknowledges #country #bankrupt
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 18, 2023
Pak govt drops another inflation bomb; petrol up by Rs 22

[ad_1]
Islamabad: The Pakistan government under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif dropped another bomb of inflation on the masses on Thursday as it jacked up petrol price by Rs 22.20 per litre and increasing gas price by at least 124 per cent, plunging the already inflation-hit people into further stress and struggle.
As per the latest notification issued by the government effective from Thursday, the prices of petroleum products were revised as follows:
MS (petrol) revised to Rs 272.00 a litre, high-speed Diesel (HSD) price revised to 280.00 litre, kerosene oil (SKO) price revised from Rs 189.93 to Rs 202.73 and light diesel oil revised from Rs 187.00 to Rs 196.68, all effective from Thursday.
The decision came weeks after the government increased prices of petroleum products by Rs 35, a decision undertaken two days before the scheduled revision of prices.
Sources in the Finance Ministry said that the decision has been taken to manage the depreciation of Pakistani rupee against the US dollar, since an artificial cap on the local currency was removed and the rupee value was allowed to decide its value as per the market-based currency exchange rate.
Moreover, the government has also jacked up sale prices of gas on the advice of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), increasing the gas sale price from 16.6 per cent to at least 124 per cent for categories of consumers of the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC).
To add more to the misery of the locals, the revised prices of gas have been put to effect from January 1, 2023, leaving the masses shell-shocked and clueless as to how the latest inflation bomb will further damage their lives.
The Pakistan government is forced to take these decisions as it continues to engage with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a desperate effort to get its ninth review of the IMF EFF (Extended Funding Facility) approved and release of $1.1 billion, for which IMF has demanded implementation of tough pre-conditions if Islamabad wants to revive the IMF programme.

Pakistan is currently at the lowest level in terms of its foreign exchange reserves, which stand at just over $2 billion, enough to meet only three weeks of imports.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had earlier expressed his anger at the IMF for not approving Pakistan’s ninth review and had stated that if the IMF team does not visit Pakistan, he doesn’t not care, adding that Pakistan would handle the situation from elsewhere.
However, with all other countries, including China, linking their financial support to Pakistan with the revival of the IMF programme, Pakistan is left with no other option but to nod to all the tough demands of the IMF, which include multi-decade high inflation of at least 27 per cent and rising.
As virtual talks with the IMF team continue, Pakistan government has also laid a supplementary finance bill aka ‘mini-budget’ before the Parliament for debate and approval, proposing to raise the goods and services taxes (GST) from 17 per cent to 18 per cent, which Dar said would help raise at least Rs 170 billion in extra revenues during the current fiscal year ending July.
The finance bill also proposes increase in taxes on luxury items to at least 25 per cent. Moreover, it also proposes price hike for air travel, cigarettes and sugary drinks etc., which has been widely questioned and criticised by the coalition partners of the government and the opposition benches.
But analysts say that Pakistan has no other option but to accept all the demands of the IMF and revive the funding programme to save the country from bankruptcy, which under the current situation seems eminent.
[ad_2]
#Pak #govt #drops #inflation #bomb #petrol
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 16, 2023
Pak court cancels bail of ex-PM Imran Khan in election commission protest case

[ad_1]
Islamabad: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court here on Wednesday rejected the bail of former prime minister Imran Khan for failing to attend the court hearing of a case linked to protests outside the election commission, a ruling which could lead to his arrest.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) activists staged a protest after Khan was disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the prohibited funding case last year.
In October last year, Police launched a case under the anti-terrorism laws and the former premier was on interim bail in the case.
On Wednesday, Judge Raja Jawad Abbas of Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad remarked that Khan had been given enough time to appear before the court but he had failed to do so while his lawyer Babar Awan in his arguments urged the court to grant a one-time exemption from in-person appearance as Khan had not recovered from a gun attack of last year.
The judge refused to accept the plea and ordered that Khan should appear by stating that the court cannot give any relief to a “powerful person” like Khan which is not given to a common person.
Finally, the judge refused to extend the interim bail, leaving the 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician, who survived an assassination attempt in November last year, vulnerable to police arrest.
The PTI leadership had asked party workers to stage protests across the country, including near the ECP, after Khan was disqualified over hiding details of party funding.
Separately, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) barred a banking court from passing any direction on Khan’s bail plea in the Federal Investigation Agency’s prohibited funding case against the PTI.

Last year, the ECP in the funding case against the PTI ruled that the party had received prohibited funding.
Later, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) registered a case against Khan and other party leaders as signatories/beneficiaries of the PTI account where the funds were parked.
At the previous hearing, the banking court had rejected Khan’s request for a virtual hearing and asked him to appear in person on February 15.
During the hearing on Wednesday, the court once again rejected the exemption request and instructed him to appear before the judge in person on Wednesday.
But Khan had approached the IHC with a request for virtual proceedings which in its order instructed the PTI chief to submit fresh medical reports and stopped the banking court from taking further action in the case till February 22.
Khan has been facing a raft of cases and once he jokingly remarked that the only case he was not booked so far was the “crime of dipping rusk in tea before eating them”.
[ad_2]
#Pak #court #cancels #bail #exPM #Imran #Khan #election #commission #protest #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 15, 2023
Former Pak Finance Minister to be arrested for derailing IMF deal

[ad_1]
Islamabad: The Pak Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has sought permission from the Interior Ministry to arrest former Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin in a case pertaining to his alleged role in the derailment of the deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a media outlet reported.
The FIA completed a preliminary inquiry into Tarin’s audio leaks and saw his leaked conversations as an ‘attempt to disrupt’ the IMF loan programme and funds, thereby ‘causing harm’ to the national interest, Dawn reported.
The probe agency sought approval of the Interior Ministry to initiate legal proceedings against Tarin, leading to his arrest, the media outlet reported, citing sources.
Two audio leaks had surfaced in August 2022 in which a man purportedly former minister Tarin can be heard guiding Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab finance ministers, belonging to the PTI, to tell the PDM coalition government in the Centre and the IMF that they would not be able to commit to a provincial budget surplus in light of the monsoon floods that wrought havoc across Pakistan.
In a notice issued to Tarin in September 2022, the FIA said that an inquiry had been initiated against his alleged role on the basis of the audio leak. “In it, you are provoking him (Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra, Finance Minister of KP) to write a letter to the federal government on behalf of the KP government that it will not return extra money of the fiscal budget so that interruption may be created between IMF and the Government of Pakistan.”
Subscribe us on
[ad_2]
#Pak #Finance #Minister #arrested #derailing #IMF #deal

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 12, 2023
‘Yellow’ snowfall in parts of north Kashmir due to dust from Pak, Afghanistan: MeT

[ad_1]
Srinagar, Feb 10 (GNS): The weatherman on Friday issued clarification regarding “yellowish snowfall” in north Kashmir, saying that the same was due to dust carried out by winds from central parts of Pakistan and Southern Afghanistan.
“Analysis of 2nd Generation Weather Satellite (Meteosat-9) of EUMETSAT( European Operational Satellite Agency) confirms that yesterday’s Yellowish/dusty snowfall over some parts of North Kashmir was dust carried out by winds from central parts of Pakistan & Southern Afghanistan which started around 7 PM IST and travelled Northeast wards and reached North Kashmir around 02:00 hours AM(IST),” the Metereological department said in a statement issued to GNS. (GNS)
[ad_2]
#Yellow #snowfall #parts #north #Kashmir #due #dust #Pak #Afghanistan #MeT
( With inputs from : thegnskashmir.com )

February 10, 2023
‘Yellow’ snowfall in parts of north Kashmir due to dust from Pak, Afghanistan: MeT

[ad_1]
Srinagar, Feb 10: The weatherman on Friday issued clarification regarding “yellowish snowfall” in north Kashmir, saying that the same was due to dust carried out by winds from central parts of Pakistan and Southern Afghanistan.
“Analysis of 2nd Generation Weather Satellite (Meteosat-9) of EUMETSAT( European Operational Satellite Agency) confirms that yesterday’s Yellowish/dusty snowfall over some parts of North Kashmir was dust carried out by winds from central parts of Pakistan & Southern Afghanistan which started around 7 PM IST and travelled Northeast wards and reached North Kashmir around 02:00 hours AM(IST),” the Metereological department said in a statement issued to GNS. (GNS)
[ad_2]
#Yellow #snowfall #parts #north #Kashmir #due #dust #Pak #Afghanistan #MeT
( With inputs from : roshankashmir.net )

February 10, 2023