Siasat Wala Blog

KARACHI: The two flights of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight forgot to bring back passengers’ luggage from Dubai to Islamabad and Peshawar, ARY News reported on Wednesday. PIA’s flight PK-218 landed at Islamabad Airport without the luggage of the passengers, who flown back to Islamabad from Dubai, while PK-256 was coming to Peshawar from Alain. The passengers recorded their protest in front of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) counter for leaving their luggage back in Dubai. The Deputy Terminal Manager held talks with the protesting passengers, which failed, said the airport sources. Meanwhile, Airport Security Force (ASF) contingents were called on at the airport after failure of the talks with the passengers. Read more:  PIA lost passengers’ luggage worth over Rs20 million in five years In the month of March it was revealed in an audit report, that the PIA had lost luggage of passengers worth over Rs20 million in last five years. As per the report, luggage w

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was moved on Wednesday against the government’s possible move to bring in a presidential ordinance to amend rules of the parliamentary panel tasked with deciding nominees for the posts of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). A petition moved in the apex court states that the government wants to appoint CEC and two members from Sindh and Balochistan of its choice by way of amending rules of the panel, which now require a two-thirds majority for the purpose. It submitted that the government is trying to replace the word “two-thirds majority” with “simple majority”, which it said would be a violation of Article 213 and 218 of the country’s Constitution. The federal government, the ECP secretary, and the Ministry of Law have been impleaded as respondents in the petition that requests the top court to restrain the government from amending the rules. Earlier, on Dec 31, the Islamabad High Court (

MULTAN: Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi reached to the shrine of Hazrat Shah Rukn-e-Alam on Wednesday and inaugurated the 706th annual Urs of the Sufi saint, ARY News reported. The three-day Urs of the revered Sufi saint will start today i.e. January 1st and will continue upto January 3. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who is spiritual seat holder of the shrine, he opened the Urs celebrations with shower to the Mazar with rosewater. Later, he will address a gathering of the devotees of the Sufi shrine. On third days a conference will be held to be addressed by prominent scholars and the Urs will end with  concluding prayers. The local authorities have stepped up security for the Urs, which attended by large number of people from various parts of the country. According to officials the annual Urs attracts over 100,000 devotees of the shrine mostly from Sindh and southern districts of Punjab. Hazarat Shah Rukn-ud-din Alam Abul Fateh, commonly known as Shah Rukn-e-Alam Suhra

LAHORE: A petition challenging the recent increase in the prices of petroleum products was filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday. The federal government, Oil and Gas Regularity Authority (OGRA) have been made respondent in the plea. The petition states that the federal government increased the prices of petrol, diesel and other petroleum products for the month of January, despite decrease in its prices at the international market. It says the OGRA is collecting more than 17 per cent sales tax on the sale of petroleum products. The petitioner, thus, has pleaded with the court to declare the recent increase in the fuel prices as illegal and unconstitutional and issue directives for the authorities concerned to reduce the prices. Read more: Govt hikes petrol price by Rs2.61 per litre On Tuesday, the federal government had increased the price of petrol by up to Rs2.61 per litre for the month of January 2020, according to a notification issued by the Ministry of Finance.

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health, Dr Zafar Mirza, has announced the healthcare targets of 2020 set by Pakistan including polio eradication, disposal syringes and issuance of health insurance cards, ARY News reported on Wednesday. Dr Zafar Mirza, in his statement to the media, said the country was facing a decline in social sectors due to economic deficit in 2019 while the federal government had paid complete attention to its healthcare vision. The special assistant said the government had not only issued health insurance [Sehat Insaf] cards but also expanded its scope to other parts of the country by providing it to all needy families till December 2019. Read: PM Imran Khan, Dr Zafar Mirza pay surprise visit to hospitals The next target is to provide the facility to half of the overall population of Pakistan by December 2020, he added. Commenting over polio virus, Mirza detailed that cases had been reduced to 8 in 2017 but it was increased at the beginnin

Pakistani actor Humayun Saeed started the new year by performing Umrah with his wife and sister-in-law. The 48-year-old actor took to Instagram and shared a picture of himself standing next to the Holy Kaabah in Makkah. He said it was his wish to ring in 2020  at the most sacred place. “Always wished to begin my new year at this most sacred place. Alhamdulillah, my wish came true this year,” he wrote. View this post on Instagram Always wished to begin my new year at this most sacred place. Alhamdulillah, my wish came true this year. Bidding farewell to 2019 and welcoming 2020 with prayers and best wishes for all of you and our beloved Pakistan. May Allah bless us all with His infinite mercy and fill the next year – and every year after – with prosperity, love, peace and lots of happiness for all of us. Happy new year! I pray that 2020 is better for each and every one of us. Ameen A post shared by Humayun Saeed (@saeedhumayun) on Dec 31, 201

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan says the New Year will be the year of economic stability and the people’s progress, prosperity and well-being. Having been through troubling times, the people of Pakistan will now see happiness, good news and prosperity in their lives this year, she said in a Twitter post on the New Year’s Day. InshAllah, she added, their hopes and wishes will be fulfilled. نیا سال قومی ترقی، معاشی استحکام،عوامی فلاح اور خصوصاً عام آدمی کی خوشحالی کا سال ہو گا۔پاکستان کے عوام نے جن مشکل حالات کا سامنا کیا اب انکی زندگیوں میں خوشیوں،خوشخبریوں اور خوشحالی کا وقت آرہا ہے۔انشاءاللہ انکی امیدیں اور امنگیں پوری ہوں گی۔ — Firdous Ashiq Awan (@Dr_FirdousPTI) January 1, 2020 Ms. Awan said Prime Minister Imran Khan put the national economy on the right path by taking tough and courageous decisions. The fruits of these decisions will reach the people in the months and years to come, she added. وز

KARACHI: The Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations will also remain closed in Sindh on Wednesday (today) pointing out the extent of the gas crisis in the province. It is to be mentioned here that the CNG stations in Karachi and other areas were opened four days in a period of 15 days. The households in Karachi and other parts of Sindh also facing gas shortage and the issue of low gas pressure despite the gas utility’s claims of supplying the fuel to its domestic consumers. The low pressure of gas has been reported at Karachi’s SITE, Lyari, Nazimabad, North Karachi, Landhi, Korangi and other localities. The CNG stations were supposed to reopen today, but again the closure schedule has been changed by the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC). A SSGC spokesperson said that the decision has been taken owing to the shortage of gas in the system, adding that they were facing difficulties to meet the gas demand of domestic consumers. On the other hand, due to gas load shedding export orde

PARIS: Paris Opera musicians on Tuesday gave a symphonic show of support for the grinding transport strike over the French government’s pension overhaul. The orchestra musicians set up on sunlit steps outside the Bastille Opera to play for several hundred passers-by, many capturing the concert on cellphone cameras as cars clogged the nearby roundabout. It chimed in with the protests that have led to a crippling transport strike that has greeted President Emmanuel Macron’s reform, which would also remove the opera employees’ right to early retirement. “We still refuse to participate in any parody of negotiations,” a musician told the crowd before the start of the concert. The repertory included classics like The Damnation of Faust by Hector Berlioz and The Dance of the Knights from the Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev, and ended with a rousing rendition of the La Marseillaise , France’s national anthem. Paris Opera employees are covered by one of France’s 42 separate pension

Teen heartthrob Justin Bieber is opening up about his creative and personal life through a 10-part documentary ahead of a career comeback after three years away from the spotlight. YouTube announced on Tuesday that Bieber’s first-ever documentary series, Justin Bieber: Seasons , will launch on the video platform on Jan. 27. It will chronicle the making of the Canadian singer’s first album in four years, as well as giving fans glimpses of his private life with new wife, model Hailey Baldwin, and other family members. Bieber, who first found fame on YouTube as a baby-faced 13 year-old in 2007, abruptly pulled out of his “Purpose” world tour in 2017, citing the need for rest. In the past year, he has written a series of Instagram postings to his 124 million followers talking about his struggles with depression, drug abuse and fame and crediting religion and childhood sweetheart Baldwin for his recovery. Earlier in December, Bieber, 25, announced that in 2020 he would release his fir

NEW YORK: The dollar slid to a six-month low on Tuesday as progress on U.S.-China trade tensions led investors to higher-risk assets, while a year-end rally that lifted global stocks to record highs stayed alive on the last trading day of 2019. A gauge of world stock markets and stocks on Wall Street rebounded late in the session after trading lower most of the day, marking an end to a remarkable year for investors. Many equity indices, long-term bonds, oil and gold posted double-digit gains in 2019. U.S. President Donald Trump said the Phase 1 trade pact with China would be signed on Jan. 15 at the White House, though confusion remains about details of the agreement. Hope of an imminent deal has been a key driver for lifting global equities to their best year since 2009, up 24% for the year and 88% for the decade. MSCI’s all-country world index .MIWD00000PUS of stock performance in 49 nations rose 0.86 point or 0.15 percent, to 565.24. The index is less than 3 points shy of an al

LAHORE: Justice Mamoon Rashid Sheikh took oath as the 51st Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday. Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar administered the oath to the chief justice-designate at a ceremony at the Governor House. Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, high court judges, government officials and representatives of lawyers’ bodies were present on the occasion. Justice Mamoon Rashid Sehikh was named the new LHC chief justice after Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan reached the age of superannuation on  Dec 31. His tenure as the top LHC judge will span just two months and 18 days. Read More: Chief Justice LHC Sardar Muhammad Shamim retires today Justice Qasim Khan, senior pusine judge of the high court, will succeed Justice Mamnoon Sheikh as LHC CJ on March 18, 2020 and will serve in the office for about one year and four months. Addressing a full court reference on the high court premises held in his honour on Dec 31, Justice Shamim Khan had

KARACHI: Cold wave continued to grip most parts of the country with icy winds sweeping across Pakistan. According to Met officials, continental air is prevailing over most parts of the country. A shallow westerly wave is likely to affect western and upper parts of the country from Wednesday, they said. Light rain with thunderstorm and snowfall over mountains is expected at isolated places in Northwest Balochistan, upper hilly areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir, and Gilgit Baltistan. Read More: Today is the coldest day of Karachi this winter Dense fog is likely to prevail in most plain areas of Punjab and upper Sindh while in few plain areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the morning and night hours. Cold and dry weather is expected in most areas of the country while very cold in upper areas. Dense fog prevailed over most plain areas of Punjab and Upper Sindh as well as some districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Read More: Skardu continues to remain coldest place in Pakistan with mi

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday he hoped North Korea would choose peace over war, a response to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un saying would introduce a “new strategic weapon” in the near future. “So, seeing that reporting publicly, it remains the case that we hope that Chairman Kim will take a different course,” Pompeo told Fox News in an interview. “We’re hopeful that … Chairman Kim will make the right decision – he’ll choose peace and prosperity over conflict and war,” Pompeo said. In a separate interview with CBS News, Pompeo was asked whether he was alarmed by Kim’s statements – Kim said there were no grounds for North Korea to be bound any longer by a self-declared moratorium on intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear bomb testing. “If Chairman Kim has reneged on the commitments he made to President Trump, that is deeply disappointing,” Mike Pompeo said. “He made those commitments to President Trump in exchange for President Trump agreein

KARACHI: Academic activities resume in Sindh including Karachi, as educational institutions across the province reopened on Wednesday (today) after winter vacations, ARY News reported. Due to severe cold wave the attendance in majority of schools is low, while teachers in some schools are also absent from their duties. Meanwhile, majority of the private schools in Karachi, have extended winter vacations till January 6,  owing to cold wave in the city. Earlier on Tuesday, Sindh education secretary Ahsan Ali Mangi had rejected rumours of extending winter vacations for schools. The Sindh’s Secretary School Education and Literacy Department, Ahsan Ali Mangi, had clarified that schools would reopen from January 1 (today). Read More:  No extension in winter vacations for schools, announces Sindh govt According to the notification issued by the Sindh government, academic activities to resume on January 1, 2020 (Wednesday). All schools, colleges, public or private, under the Education D

ISLAMABAD: Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is expected to arrive in Islamabad on January 2, on a day-long visit, ARY News reported on Wednesday, citing sources. The visiting crown prince is scheduled to hold meetings with Prime Minister Imran Khan and other high-level officials of the government, said sources privy to the matter. The expected visit of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is considered to be most important in context of Pakistan skipping the Kuala Lumpur summit. Earlier on December 20, Prime Minister Imran Khan had made a telephone call to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and exchanged views on bilateral relations. Read more: COAS Qamar Javed Bajwa calls upon Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Matters of mutual interest, regional, international affairs and other issues were came under discussion during the telephonic conversation. The two leaders had also discussed ways of further deepening bilateral coo

KARACHI: At least 13 people, including  two women and a minor girl, were wounded in aerial firing during New Year celebrations in Karachi, ARY News reported on Wednesday. According to rescue sources, 13 persons sustained injuries when some citizens resorted to aerial firing to welcome the new year of 2020 in different parts of the metropolis. The injured were shifted to different Jinnah, Abbasi Shaheed and Murshid hospitals of the city for treatment. Pakistan and rest of the world welcomed the arrival of New Year 2020 with new hopes, wishes, and ambitions. Read more: Welcome 2020: New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off in Pakistan Bahria Town Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad had organized a splendid show of fireworks. ARY News also extended its viewers New Year greetings. The moment when the clock struck 12, everybody was on their feet as celebrations started and fireworks show across most of the cities made the atmosphere lively everywhere. In a surprise move for the residents of t

The Year 2019 passing through its twilight period with a new year is ahead. It is the time look back how the PTI government led by Imran Khan governed the country in its first full year. This year remained a tumultous year with regard to the political developments in the country. The year witnessed several high profile arrests of the opposition politicians in accountability cases, protests by the parliamentary opposition, poor political relationship between the treasury and opposition that made the parliament effectively dysfunctional forcing the government to legislate with presidential ordinances. The two sides even failed to iron out their differences over appointment of the new Chief Election Commissioner and two members of the commission from Sindh and Balochistan and to seek the court to settle the matter. Prime Minister Khan also found out it difficult to mend ways with the parliamentary opposition for requisite legislation in the course of his first year in power. He fa

QUETTA: An election tribunal on Tuesday declared election of two members of Balochistan Assembly as void, ARY News reported. The tribunal declared election of Abdul Rehman Khetran and Akbar Askani MPAs as void while deciding election petitions against them. Abdul Rehman Khetran had won the provincial assembly seat PB-VIII Barkhan and Akbar Askani was returned elected from PB -48 Kech-IV constituency. The tribunal has ordered re-election on the constituencies vacated due to the decision. Both members were affiliated with Balochistan Awami Party, which is the major partner in the provincial ruling coalition. Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran was the information technology minister in Chief Minister Jam Kamal ‘s cabinet. He was elected MPA as an independent candidate from Barkhan in 2018 general election. He had later joined the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP). While Mir Akbar Askani had won the election on BAP ticket from provincial constituency PB-48 Kech-IV in general election. Balochi

ARY covered a wide range of lifestyle topics this year. As the year comes to an end, we compiled a list of our top 10 most-read stories list for 2019. And, our online readers surprised us.  We learnt that you like reading stories about our local stars be it Aiman Khan, Mehwish Hayat or Ayeza Khan. You also like to stay updated on what’s going on in Bollywood. And, not to forget our hit drama Meray Paas Tum Ho;  stories related to it also made it to the list. Here are the top 10 ARY lifestyle stories that saw the greatest reader engagement this year. 1) Pakistanis troll Adnan Sami after anti-Pakistan tweet Amid Pakistan-India tensions, when singer Adnan Sami posted an anti-Pakistan tweet after the false Indian claim of airstrikes, he was trolled by Pakistanis in a unique fashion. A journalist joked that the now-Indian singer is an undercover agent. This was ensued by hilarious tweets and memes which took over social media. Adnan later had to clarify there’s no truth to it. Our r

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led federal government has decided to hold meeting with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), one of its allies, in current week, ARY News reported on Tuesday, citing sources. Sources said, the delegation will meet MQM-P leadership under the leadership of Jahangir Tareen, to discuss their reservations and country’s overall political situation. The meeting is expected to discuss matters related to provision of funds to the MQM-P, return of local bodies powers and others. Sources further said working relationship between the coalition partners and written agreement will also come under review.   It may be recalled that MQM-P on Monday had rejected Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto’s offer to join Sindh government by breaking alliance with PTI-led federal government. Read more: MQM-P wants PM Imran to handover Karachi package funds MQM-Pakistan formed an alliance with the federal government