Category: PAKISTAN

LAHORE: Member of National Assembly (MNA) and former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member Ayesha Gulalai has revealed the name of her new political party, which she announced to form earlier this month. Gulalai recently met PTI leader Seema Anwar in Lahore, a video of the occasion shows, in which she said her new political party will be called Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-Gulalai or PTI-G. During the meeting, Gulalai asked for a list of angry PTI female members from Anwar and extended an offer to her to join her new party, which Seema turned…

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PRICES of food items have started rising in the wake of a recent fall in the rupee’s value, though the price hike has somewhat remained subdued as the depreciation is not accompanied by supply constraints. However, a sharper rise has been noticed in prices of imported food items. From tea, coffee, milk powder, chocolates and cheese to pulses, spices and pickles, a large number of imported food items have become costlier by five to 10 per cent, wholesale traders at Jodia Bazaar say. Locally produced foodstuff has also depicted a…

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LAHORE: Internal rifts in the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf resulted in a clash between the activists belonging to two groups within the party at a ceremony, forcing the leadership to leave the venue here on Sunday. It all began when supporters of Punjab chapter president Aleem Khan resorted to sloganeering against Lahore chapter chief Waleed Iqbal for not inviting Mr Khan to the Quaid-i-Azam Day ceremony held at the Aiwan-i-Iqbal. Iqbal was organiser of the event. As some of Mr Khan’s activists attempted to reach the stage, the rivals intervened, ensuing a…

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LAHORE: Notwithstanding the opposition by the interior ministry to entry of offshoots of proscribed entities into the national political arena, Jamaatud Dawa Emir Hafiz Muhammad Saeed opened an office of a subsidiary of the JuD here on Sunday. The JuD chief visited different areas of National Assembly constituency NA-120, the Lahore seat the Sharifs had never lost since their debut in politics in 1985 here. He inaugurated an office of the Milli Muslim League (MML), the political face of the JuD, on Mohni Road and listened to civic problems of…

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In a blow to the PML-N, Nawabzada Lashkari Raisani — former senator and the ruling party’s leader from Balochistan — joined the Balochistan National Party (BNP) on Sunday evening. Along with Raisani, a large number of other political workers also parted ways with PML-N and joined the BNP. “Balochistan has always been ignored and deprived [of its due rights] by rulers,” Raisani told the supporters gathered on Sariab Road. He vowed to continue his political struggle for the “acquisition of usurped rights of people of Balochistan”. “Balochistan has been turned into a…

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LAHORE: Two days after TV channels flashed the news that former premier Nawaz Sharif had named Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif as the party’s nominee for the office of prime minister in 2018 general elections, the elder Sharif is said to be reluctant to publicly nominate his younger brother for the coveted office as he wants to keep his cards close to his chest till the last minute, it emerged on Saturday. While Shahbaz Sharif’s camp in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has been running a vigorous campaign to see their leader nominated…

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Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani, in response to a warning from United States (US) Vice President (VP) Mike Pence to Islamabad earlier this week, made it clear that Pakistan is not in the habit of “taking notices” from anyone. Pence, while addressing US troops at the Bagram military base in Kabul, had said that Pakistan has allegedly provided safe haven to terrorists for too long but those days are over now, as US President Donald Trump has now “put Pakistan on notice”. “Two days ago, Pence had the gall, the audacity to say…

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ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza, will brief the Senate Committee of the Whole House on the national security situation in the country during an in-camera session on Tuesday (tomorrow). Through a notice, the Senate Secretariat on Sunday informed all the senators about the extraordinary meeting, to be presided over by Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani. It will be after six years that the military leadership will be coming to the Parliament House for…

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ISLAMABAD: Justice Faisal Arab, who was a member of the three-judge Supreme Court bench that exonerated the PTI chairman on Friday, observed in his additional note that Imran Khan did not incorporate offshore company Niazi Services Limited (NSL) to park assets acquired through embezzlement, bribery or tax evasion to keep them hidden from the public eye. Comparing the case of Imran Khan with that of the Panama Papers case in which Nawaz Sharif was disqualified as prime minister, Justice Arab observed that Mr Khan’s case was that of acquisition of an…

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The Supreme Court on Friday will announce its verdict on a petition seeking the disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan and secretary-general Jahangir Tareen, DawnNews reported on Thursday evening. The verdict, which had been reserved by the bench on November 14, is expected to be read out at 2pm tomorrow afternoon by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar. Justices Nisar, Faisal Arab and Umar Ata Bandial had comprised the three-member bench which heard the case. The petitions filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Hanif Abbasi on Nov 2 last year sought the two PTI…

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Police claimed to have taken into custody more than 70 drug addicts and six narcotics dealers from Quetta’s main nullah on Tuesday. Abdullah Afridi, a senior police officer, told DawnNews that police also destroyed several safe havens established by peddlers inside the nullah during the operation. Two female addicts were among the 70 taken into custody from the nullah, which police said had been serving as a shelter for both dealers and addicts. Afridi said the arrested addicts would be handed over to a rehabilitation centre. “Their rehabilitation is our top priority”, he added.…

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday continued to press the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on why the apex court should allow for the Rs1.2 billion Hudaibya Paper Mills reference to be reopened. A three-judge SC bench — comprising Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel — was hearing the appeal against a 2014 decision of the Lahore High Court to quash the reference. At the outset of the hearing, Justice Alam asked the NAB prosecutor to satisfy the court on reasons as to why the bureau waited…

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