Page 12 - Pakistan Government

India abstains in UNGA on Pakistan's draft resolution on Islamophobia

India abstained in the UN General Assembly on a draft resolution introduced by Pakistan and co-sponsored by China on Islamophobia, asserting that the prevalence of religiophobia against Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and other faiths facing violence and discrimination must also be acknowledged rather than singling out just one religion. The 193-member General Assembly adopted the resolution Measures to combat Islamophobia', introduced by Pakistan on Friday, with 115 nations voting in favour, none against and 44 abstentions, including India, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Ukraine and the UK. India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj voiced condemnation of all acts motivated by anti-Semitism, Christianophobia and Islamophobia but asserted that it is crucial to acknowledge that such phobias extend beyond Abrahamic religions. Clear evidence shows that over decades, followers of non-Abrahamic religions have also been affected by religiophobia. This has led to the

Pok part of India, its citizens are Indians irrespective of religion: Shah

Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) is part of India and its people irrespective of their religion are Indians, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday. He also strongly defended the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 and said the law was enacted to provide Indian nationality to persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. "PoK is part of India. The people of PoK are also Indians - be it Hindu or Muslim. Both Hindus and Muslims of PoK are our own," he said at an interaction at the India Today Conclave. On the CAA, Shah said the law was passed in 2019 and the rules were issued now as he sought to dismissed criticism over its timing. He said those opposing the CAA claiming it is based on region are the same people who support laws such as the Muslim Personal Law. The home minister recalled that during the Partition, Congress leaders, including first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, had said that the minorities from Pakistan would be welcomed in India. He said the

Pak govt has access to phone interception system: Telecom dept tells court

Pakistan's telecommunication authority has installed a system for legal phone interception and the system was at the disposal of the government and its agencies, the chairman of the country's top telecom body told a court here. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman, Major-General Hafeezur Rehman made the statements during the hearing of a case at the Islamabad High Court on Thursday, the Dawn newspaper reported. Responding to a question by Justice Babar Sattar, who was heading the IHC bench, about whether there was a mechanism for legal interception, Rehman said that the top telecom body had installed a system, but it was at the disposal of the federal government and its agencies. However, he added that all provisions of the licence for telecom operators have been enforced, except the provision of legal interception. "Phone hacking has become so easy that if you leave your mobile phone somewhere and go to the washroom, I can connect and hack it before you return,

Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif proposes 5-year plan for country's economic revival

The newly-elected government of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has decided to work on a comprehensive five-year roadmap for the cash-strapped country's economic resurgence, according to a media report on Friday. This strategic blueprint will focus on curbing inflation, alleviating poverty and creating jobs, the Dawn newspaper reported. In the first meeting, the prime minister sought estimates from different ministries and divisions and formed a committee to go back to the ministries to set five-year targets in different sectors, such as IT, agriculture, industries, energy, food and livestock, reforms in FBR (Federal Board of Revenue), ease of doing business, etc, Minister of State for IT Shaza Fatima Khawaja said after the meeting. Khawaja said the committee, after getting the required information from the ministries and divisions, would prepare a consolidated document carrying five-year targets for all sectors. She said several meetings would be held soon on the five-year .

Imran Khan's party to move Supreme Court after denial of reserved seats

Imran Khan's party has announced that it would approach the Supreme Court after a top court rejected the Sunni Ittehad Council's petition challenging the election commission's decision to allocate reserved seats in the national and provincial legislatures meant for it to other parties. The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday dismissed petitions of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), in a huge blow to jailed former prime minister Khan's beleaguered Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party. The bench, which heard arguments for two consecutive days, pronounced a short order on Thursday and rejected the two petitions filed by the SIC which was joined by the PTI lawmakers to claim their share of reserved seats for women and minorities in the national and provincial legislatures after the February 8 elections. After the decision, PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan told reporters outside the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi on Thursday where the 71-year-old PTI founder is jailed. He said that the former ruling .

Pak EC announces Senate election schedule for 11 Balochistan seats

In this electoral process, the Balochistan Assembly will have the authority to elect 11 Senators, comprising seven for general seats, two for women, and two for technocrats

Stop demolition activities against Pak Hindu refugees: Delhi HC to DDA

The DDA was ordered to remove encroachments by the NGT from the Yamuna flood area

Prez Zardari's daughter Aseefa Bhutto set to become first lady of Pakistan

In a historic decision, Pakistan President Asif Zardari has decided to formally recognise his 31-year-old daughter Aseefa Bhutto as the First Lady of the country, according to a media report. The status of the First Lady goes to the wife of the President of the country in general. But Zardari became a widower after his wife and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in 2007. Zardari did not remarry and the position of the first lady also remained vacant during his first tenure as the country's president from 2008 to 2013. Zardari, 68, was sworn in as the country's 14th president on Sunday. During his oath-taking ceremony at the President's House in Islamabad, Zardari was accompanied by his youngest daughter, Aseefa. Sources claimed that President Zardari decided to declare Aseefa Bhutto as the first lady of Pakistan, ARY News reported. This became particularly relevant when Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, the eldest daughter, tagged Aseefa in a tweet on Sunday The text r

Pak Prez Zardari decides to forgo salary, cites nation's economic hardship

Pakistan's newly-elected President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday announced that he would not draw any salary during his tenure as part of his bid to help the cash-strapped country face the challenging economic hardship. Zardari, 68, who took oath as Pakistan's 14th President on Sunday, decided to encourage prudent financial management and not burden the national exchequer, his Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said in a statement on X. The President considered it essential not to burden the national exchequer and preferred to forgo his salary, President Secretariat Press Wing said in a press release on Tuesday. Former president Arif Alvi was drawing Rs 8,46,550 per month, which was fixed by Parliament in 2018. Zardari is one of the richest politicians in Pakistan. Zardari, co-chairman of the PPP, took oath as President of Pakistan for a second term at a ceremony at Aiwan-i-Sadr in Islamabad on Sunday. Separately, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, following the steps of Zardari, also decide

Pakistan's ex finance minister Ishaq Dar appointed new foreign minister

Ishaq Dar, a four-time former finance minister, has been appointed as Pakistan's Foreign Minister, as the new government settled in to tackle myriad problems at the domestic and external fronts, including its relations with India and other neighbours. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday inducted 19 members into his Cabinet, ending the tenuous wait for the completion of government formation in the cash-strapped country. Dar, an ethnic Kashmiri and chartered accountant by training, is a senior leader of the Pakistan Muslin League-Nawaz (PML-N). He is also a confidant of the party head and former three-time premier Nawaz Sharif. With little experience in managing foreign affairs, he has been given the important portfolio when Pakistan's ties with its neighbour India as well as Afghanistan are at their lowest ebb. The two sides broke off trade ties and lowered diplomatic presence in each other's capital in August 2019 after India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and

Perform or perish: Pakistan PM Shehbaz tells new cabinet members

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said a deep surgery is required to pull the cash-strapped country out of the economic crisis and urged his Cabinet members to either perform or perish. The prime minister inducted 19 members into his Cabinet earlier in the day, ending the tenuous wait for the completion of government formation in the country. Addressing the maiden cabinet meeting, Shehbaz said Pakistan is facing massive challenges and a deep surgery is required to pull the country out of the economic crisis. Taking stock of the issues and problems affecting the economy and the country, the prime minister asked his Cabinet members to perform or perish, saying that the time is now or never. Shehbaz said the government should take difficult decisions and that too without wasting any time. Deep surgery is needed as antibiotics will not work, he said. Shehbaz said bringing inflation under control is the biggest challenge, however, the government together with the provinc

Pakistan PM Sharif picks Ex-JPMorgan banker Aurangzeb as finance minister

Aurangzeb was chosen over other possible candidates, including longtime Sharif ally Ishaq Dar and ex-central bank governor Shamshad Akhtar

Pak Prez administers oath to 19-member Cabinet recommended by PM Sharif

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday administered the oath to 19 members of the Cabinet of the newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, ending the tenuous wait for the completion of government formation. The oath-taking ceremony was held in the President's House and was attended by Prime Minister Sharif among others. Those who took oath included Ishaq Dar, Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Azam Tarar, Rana Tanvir, Mohsin Naqvi, Ahad Cheema, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Riaz Prizada, Qaiser Sheikh, Shaza Fatima, Aleem Khan, Jam Kamal, Amir Muqam, Awais Leghari, Atta Tarar, Salik Hussian and Musaddiq Malik. The portfolio of the new minister will be announced later. Aurangzeb will likely be the finance minister, Dar as the foreign minister, and Khawaja Asif the defence minister. Azam Tarar will be the law minister, Atta Tarar as information minister, Musaddik Malik as petroleum minister, Mohsin Naqvi as interior minister and Ahad Cheema as minister for Kashmir ..

Pakistan's ruling PML-N, coalition partner PPP may scrap caretaker system

Pakistan's ruling PML-N party and its coalition partner PPP have reached a consensus to abolish the caretaker system and reform the politically volatile and cash-strapped country's electoral system, a media report said on Saturday. Three-time ex-premier Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and ex-foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari-led Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have eliminated the need for a caretaker government, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. The two parties agreed that the outgoing government's head will remain in office until the new general elections, and the prime minister's cabinet will be dissolved after completing its term, while the premier will continue to serve. The PML-N and PPP have also endorsed the drafting of legislation for electoral reforms to make the electoral process "simple and easy", the report said It added that both parties will take other parties into confidence on the proposed reforms. The PML-N-led alliance is also aiming

Voting begins in Pak's presidential election: Asif Ali Zardari set to win

Voting began on Saturday in the Presidential elections in Pakistan in which Asif Ali Zardari is set to be elected for a second time. Asif Ali Zardari, the 68-year-old joint candidate of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Sunni Ittehad Council's candidate Mahmood Khan Achakzai, 75, are vying for the office of president. The voting began at 10 am and will continue till 4 pm. The new president would replace the incumbent Dr Arif Alvi, whose five-year term ended last year. However, he has continued since the new electoral college was not yet formed. According to the Constitution, the president is indirectly elected by an electoral college comprising federal and provincial lawmakers.

Setback to Imran Khan as IMF refuses to interfere in Pak electoral dispute

This comes after incarcerated former PM Imran Khan penned a letter to the IMF, urging the global lender to give the poll results a thorough once-over before cutting any new cheques for Islamabad

Grand Democratic Alliance in Pak announces boycott of presidential election

The Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) earlier on February 21 declared that they would begin a protest against the suspected rigging of polls

As a woman, it was hard 'to 'make space' in father's PML-N: Maryam Nawaz

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, who scripted history when she became the first woman to occupy the post in any province of Pakistan, on Friday said she had to work "quite hard" for more than a decade to make space for herself in the ruling PML-N, a party founded by her father Nawaz Sharif. Speaking at an event to mark Women's Day in Lahore, she said, As this has been a very male-dominated party historically, I also had to work quite hard for 12-13 years to make space for myself. But if I am standing here, it is a message for every woman, mother and daughter, that if you want to do something, then being a woman cannot be an obstacle in fulfilling your dreams and mission, she was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper. Maryam, 50, who is considered a political heir to Nawaz Sharif, took oath as the chief minister of Punjab on February 26 reportedly as part of a deal worked out with the blessings of the powerful Pakistan Army when the three-time former premier's Pakistan Muslim ...

Shehbaz set to return as Pak's PM after old-guard parties form coalition

Sharif was prime minister until parliament was dissolved in August in the leadup to elections, and he handed power to a caretaker government

PPP's Sarfraz Bugti elected Balochistan Chief Minister

Months after stepping down as the caretaker interior minister, Pakistan Peoples Party's Sarfraz Bugti was on Saturday elected unopposed as the new chief minister of the restive Balochistan province. Bugti, who recently joined the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and enjoyed the support of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), submitted his nomination papers with Assembly Secretary Tahir Shah on Friday, Dawn News reported. PPP leader and former chief minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri and PML-N leader Nawab Gangeez Khan Marri proposed his name. No other candidate filed nomination papers till 5 pm on Friday. Bugti's nomination papers were accepted after scrutiny by the secretary, who also announced that he had been elected unopposed. The official announcement of Bugti's election as the leader of the House will be made during the assembly session on Saturday. Bugti is also expected to be administered the oath later in the day by Balochis