General Asim Munir, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), reaffirmed the military’s commitment to strengthening the nation and bolstering its agricultural foundation on Friday. The army chief declared at the National Farmers Convention that farming and ranching were vocations similar to prophetic calling, and he promised to take tough measures against any kind of mafia that worked together to take advantage of the country. Munir reflected on Pakistan’s explosive growth in the 1960s, recognising it as an Asian pathfinder. However, he bemoaned the decline brought about by a departure from the Quaid-e-Azam’s three golden values of discipline, unity, and faith. According to the army chief, the Green Pakistan Initiative was designed to give the agriculture sector priority, with a large share going to the provinces and the remaining amount going to farmers.
The National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) has been instructed by the Economic cooperation Committee (ECC) to maintain constant cooperation with the provinces in order to implement measures that guarantee price stability and prevent stockpiling and profiteering. The orders were given out on Friday during the ECC meeting, which was chaired by Finance Minister Dr. Shamshad Akhtar in Islamabad. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) addressed the gathering on the state of inflation and the most recent changes in the costs of various necessities. The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development’s summary was also taken into consideration by the ECC when approving the Employee Old Age Institution’s budget. The forum instructed EOBI to closely adhere to the budget schedule and commended it for its excellent performance.
At a meeting held at Governor House on Friday, Dr. Gohar Ejaz, the federal minister for commerce, industries, and production, presided over topics pertaining to the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and Pakistan Steel Mills. Federal Secretary of Commerce Sualeh Farooqi, Chief Executive of TDAP Zubair Motiwala, along with other PSM and TDAP officials attended the meeting. Dr. Gohar Ejaz was informed during the meeting of the events that resulted in the Mill’s closure and destruction. According to the caretaker minister, the PSM might be resurrected provided the government and SIFC fulfil their legal and responsible obligations while keeping in mind the results of the audits of its “Key Performance Indicators” (KPI) from 1982 to 2023.
Dr. Umar Saif, the minister of information technology and telecommunications, announced on Friday that his ministry, in collaboration with all other telecom industry stakeholders, will implement a “Contract based smart phone policy” on January 15, 2024, which will help the economy by allowing travellers to receive the newest models of phones on convenient installment plans. Speaking with the media, the minister of IT stated that our goals are to promote responsible financial behaviour and guarantee that smart phone accessibility keeps growing. He also added that we need a strong mechanism to safeguard investors against defaults, suggesting steps like blocking defaulters’ mobile phones and possibly their national identity cards. The Minister stated that telecom firms will be able to directly offer smartphones to clients through installment plans under this regulation.
Aneeq Ahmed, Pakistan’s Caretaker Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, announced the Hajj balloting on Friday. Details show that 63,805 of the 69, 438 applications that were submitted under the Regular Hajj Scheme were successful in the balloting. He said that we had been successful in cutting the price of the Hajj package by Rs 100,000, demonstrating the effectiveness of our efforts to lower costs. 5,633 applicants who were not accepted have a waiting list created based on their cities of departure. In the event that intended pilgrims from that city withdraw their Hajj application, those on the waiting list will be chosen. We will notify all candidates tonight by the mobile app, website, or SMS on their phones.
Shehbaz Sharif, the president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), declared on Friday that he would run in the forthcoming general elections from the NA-242 constituency in Karachi, according to reports. In the most recent general elections, he ran from Karachi’s NA-249 seat, but was narrowly defeated by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda. Speaking at a press conference in Karachi following his meeting with the leadership of the MQM-P today, Shehbaz stated that as long as PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif was elected to power on February 8, the problem of public transport in Karachi will be rectified. “After February 8, the transport issue will be resolved for good under Nawaz Sharif’s leadership,” declared the former prime minister. Voting is the only way for people to help Nawaz Sharif succeed.”
The UN has urged Israel to “end unlawful killings” of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and issued a warning that the region’s human rights situation is getting worse due to unprecedented levels of violence. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned that the situation in the occupied West Bank is “rapidly deteriorating” against the backdrop of the Gaza conflict. Images of bulldozers in refugee camps, captives stripped naked and spat at, and farmers robbed of their produce were among the scenes. Turk voiced concerns about Israel’s use of military force and firearms by law enforcement, movement limitations that harm Palestinians, and a rapid surge in settler violence that results in the displacement of herding communities in his remarks on a recent report on the West Bank produced by his office, OHCHR.
The top brass of the Pakistan Army pledged on Thursday to supply the required military support to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the elections scheduled for February 8, 2024. The decision was made during the two-day 261st Corps Commanders’ Conference (CCC), which was chaired by General Syed Asim Munir, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), and held at General Headquarters, according to a statement released by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). The propaganda wing of the military stated, “Forum also noted that requisite and necessary support will also be extended to Election Commission of Pakistan for forthcoming general elections.” Moving forward, the Indian military forces’ appalling human rights breaches and ongoing repression in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) have deeply concerned the army’s high brass. The attendees categorically denounced the recent kidnapping, torturing, and murdering of people by the Indian army, according to the ISPR. It stated that such actions are serious crimes against humanity and cannot weaken the resolve of the courageous Kashmiris fighting for their legitimate right to self-determination. It further stated, “Pakistan would continue to support its Kashmiri brethren with all political, moral, and diplomatic support for [the] resolution of Kashmir issue in accordance with pertinent UNSC resolutions and international law.” The conference denounced the grave breaches of human rights and war crimes occurring in Gaza and declared its total sympathy with the Palestinian people. The government’s call for an early ceasefire in Gaza and a diplomatic end to the war was reaffirmed by the army. According to the ISPR statement, among other unlawful economic crimes, the CCC also conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the continuing measures being taken against power theft, smuggling, money laundering, and hoarding of necessities. According to the statement, Pakistan Army would keep giving law ...
Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, the prime minister, called the anti-vaxxers “ill-fated people” on Thursday and encouraged the Ulema to oppose those disseminating false information about the polio vaccination in order to help Pakistan reach its objective of being polio-free. “Those who argue that the polio vaccine is not Islamic are misguided. You must join us in opposing these individuals. We are fighting this together. Speaking at the National Ulema Conference on Polio Eradication here, the prime minister remarked, “We owe it to our future generation.” The conference, which was attended by Ulema from various schools of thought, cabinet members, diplomats, and donors, featured the adoption of a declaration that declared the Ulema’s unwavering support for the government in its fight against the crippling virus and rejected the baseless propaganda against the polio vaccine.
On Thursday, the Foreign Office expressed regret for the “interference” that some foreign missions in Pakistan had caused by making comments about the Baloch demonstrators, stating that Pakistan was more than capable of managing its domestic affairs. At a weekly news briefing, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch stated that Pakistan’s Constitution protected its citizens the right to free speech and that the country has legislation in place to handle such instances internally. The comment from the spokesman was made in response to a query regarding the recent tweets that the ambassadors of the European Union and Norway posted in Pakistan, expressing their “concerns” about the alleged abuse of Baloch protestors in Islamabad. “It is unfortunate that foreign embassies are interfering in Pakistan,” the speaker remarked, stressing that her nation was dedicated to upholding the rights of its citizens.
Recent Comments