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  • Pakistani cabinet to decide on demands of banned TLP party on Wednesday – interior minister 


Pakistani cabinet to decide on demands of banned TLP party on Wednesday – interior minister 

Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan, on October 25, 2021. (PID Photo)
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Updated 25 October 2021
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Pakistani cabinet to decide on demands of banned TLP party on Wednesday – interior minister 

  • Says Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s demand seeking expulsion of French envoy to be debated by parliament
  • TLP protesters threaten to relaunch long march to Islamabad if their demands are not fulfilled by Wednesday 
Updated 25 October 2021
Aamir Saeed

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Monday the demands of the banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) religious party, currently holding demonstrations, would be discussed at a federal cabinet meeting on Wednesday, adding that the government had reached an “understanding” with the group as negotiations continued to convince them to call off protests. 

Thousands of supporters of the radical party who said they would march on Islamabad are currently camped in Muridke, a city some 55 kilometers from Lahore, and have agreed to stay there till Tuesday. The protesters departed the eastern Pakistan city of Lahore on Saturday, clashing for a second straight day with police. On Friday, two policemen were killed in violent clashes between security forces and protesters. 

The protests are aimed at pressuring the government to release TLP chief Saad Rizvi, who was arrested in April this year amid similar demonstrations seeking the expulsion from Pakistan of the French ambassador over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) published in France last year. 

On Sunday, the government said it had released 350 TLP supporters after negotiations with the group. 

“We stand by our commitment … and [will] take the matter [of TLP demands] to the cabinet on Wednesday,” the interior minister, who is heading the government’s negotiation team, said at a weekly press briefing in Islamabad. 

Ahmed said Prime Minister Imran Khan would be back from a trip to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and the minister would discuss the matter with him before Wednesday’s cabinet meeting. 

Besides the release of Rizvi and other party supporters and the expulsion of the French ambassador from Pakistan, the TLP demands that a ban on its party imposed earlier this year be lifted and its supporters be removed from the ‘fourth schedule,’ a listing of suspected militants under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997. 

Regarding the TLP demand for the French ambassador’s expulsion, the minister said the issue would be taken up by parliament. 

“We have reached an understanding with them [TLP]. I want to wrap this up,” the minister said, without saying what the understanding was. “There are some legal lacunae [that need to be filled to meet TLP demands]. Saad Rizvi understands it, while some others are pressing us to do it just now.”

“The decisions can’t be made just now, there is a legal process,” he said. “So, we will follow the process, and take this to the cabinet on Wednesday.” 

The minister said that he had held two meetings with Rizvi in Lahore and found him “more cooperative” than other TLP leaders. 

Meanwhile, the TLP said it would proceed with its march to Islamabad if talks did not yield results. 

“If negotiations fail to make a breakthrough, our long march will proceed to Islamabad on Wednesday,” said Mufti Muhammad Wazir Ali, who is heading the TLP’s negotiation committee. 

Topics: Pakistan TLP

Pakistan committee discusses development of border areas in inaugural session

Updated 04 May 2024
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Pakistan committee discusses development of border areas in inaugural session

  • The committee was formed to devise comprehensive strategies for holistic development in Pakistan’s border regions
  • Key topics that came under discussion at the inaugural session included tariff rationalization, employment creation
Updated 04 May 2024
KHURSHID AHMED   

ISLAMABAD: A high-level committee tasked with development of Pakistan’s border regions on Saturday held its inaugural session in Islamabad to discuss the challenges facing communities based in the country’s frontier regions, the Pakistani commerce ministry said.

The inaugural session of the committee, which was formed to devise comprehensive strategies for holistic development in these areas, was presided over by Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan, according to the ministry.

Key topics that came under discussion at the meeting included tariff rationalization and employment creation, reflecting the committee’s commitment to addressing border communities’ challenges.

“The committee aims to present its recommendations to the Prime Minister within 10 days, signaling a promising start to collaborative efforts for socio-economic development in the region,” the commerce ministry said in a statement.

Pakistan shares a long, porous border with Iran and Afghanistan, with people live along it relying on cross-border trade with little or no government tariffs, quotas, subsidies or prohibitions.

Islamabad last year announced restrictions on the informal trade to discourage smuggling of goods and currency in order to support the country’s dwindling economy.

Pakistan’s trade with China mostly takes place through formal channels, while the country’s trade ties with India, another neighbor it shares border with, remain suspended since 2019 over the disputed region of Kashmir.

Topics: Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan

Pakistan records ‘wettest April’ in more than 60 years — weather agency

Updated 04 May 2024
AFP
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Pakistan records ‘wettest April’ in more than 60 years — weather agency

  • Pakistan’s metrology department says April rainfall was recorded at 59.3 millimeters, ‘excessively above’ the normal average of 22.5 millimeters
  • There were at least 144 deaths in thunderstorms and house collapses due to heavy rains in what the report said was the ‘wettest April since 1961’
Updated 04 May 2024
AFP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan experienced its “wettest April since 1961,” receiving more than twice as much rain as usual for the month, the country’s weather agency said in a report.

April rainfall was recorded at 59.3 millimeters, “excessively above” the normal average of 22.5 millimeters, Pakistan’s metrology department said late Friday in its monthly climate report.

There were at least 144 deaths in thunderstorms and house collapses due to heavy rains in what the report said was the “wettest April since 1961.”

Pakistan is increasingly vulnerable to unpredictable weather, as well as often destructive monsoon rains that usually arrive in July.

In the summer of 2022, a third of Pakistan was submerged by unprecedented monsoon rains that displaced millions of people and cost the country $30 billion in damage and economic losses, according to a World Bank estimate.

“Climate change is a major factor that is influencing the erratic weather patterns in our region,” Zaheer Ahmad Babar, spokesperson for the Pakistan Meteorological Department, said while commenting on the report.

While much of Asia is sweltering dure to heat waves, Pakistan’s national monthly temperature for April was 23.67 degrees Celsius (74 degrees Fahrenheit) 0.87 degrees lower than the average of 24.54, the report noted.

Topics: rains

Fire erupts at Karachi garment factory, no loss of live reported

Updated 04 May 2024
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Fire erupts at Karachi garment factory, no loss of live reported

  • The biggest Pakistani city, known for poor fire safety protocols, witnesses hundreds of such incidents annually
  • In November last year, a blaze at a shopping mall in Karachi killed around a dozen people and injured several others
Updated 04 May 2024
NAIMAT KHAN

KARACHI: A fire broke out at a garment factory in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Saturday, rescue officials said.

The blaze erupted on the ground floor of the garment factory in Zarina Colony in the New Karachi area, according to Rescue 1122 service.

“One fire truck is actively participating in the operation,” a Rescue 1122 spokesperson said, adding that another fire tender has been called to the site.

No loss of life has been reported in the wake of the fire.

Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and the main commercial hub, is home to hundreds of thousands of industrial units and some of the tallest buildings in the South Asian country. 

The megapolis, known for its fragile firefighting system and poor safety controls, witnesses hundreds of such incidents annually.

In Nov., a blaze at a shopping mall killed around a dozen people and injured several others. In April last year, four firefighters died and nearly a dozen others were injured after a fire broke out at a garment factory, while 10 people were killed in a massive fire at a chemical factory in the city in August 2021. 

In the deadliest such incident, 260 people were killed in 2012 after being trapped inside a garment factory when a fire broke out.

Topics: fire Karachi fire fighters

Saleem Haider Khan, Faisal Kundi named governors of Pakistan’s Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces

Updated 04 May 2024
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Saleem Haider Khan, Faisal Kundi named governors of Pakistan’s Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces

  • Nominations come as part of power-sharing deal between PM Sharif’s party and ex-FM Bhutto-Zardari-led faction
  • According to the deal, the PPP backed Sharif for the prime minister’s office in return for constitutional positions
Updated 04 May 2024
Aamir Saeed

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a coalition partner in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government, has nominated Saleem Haider Khan and Faisal Karim Kundi as governors of Pakistan’s eastern Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, the PPP chairman announced on Friday.

The PPP forged an alliance with PM Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party after Pakistan’s national election on February 8 failed to present a clear winner.

According to the power-sharing deal, the PPP backed Sharif for the prime minister’s office in return for the presidency, chairman of Senate and other important constitutional positions.

In a post on X, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari congratulated Khan and Kundi, and extended his good wishes to them

“I am confident they [Khan and Kundi] will perform their duties with the dignity their new office demands,” he said on X.

In Pakistan, a governor is a representative of the state to a province, who is appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister.

Such positions may seem ceremonial and symbolic, but they do hold significant constitutional importance.

At present, PML-N’s Balighur Rehman has been serving as the Punjab governor, while JUI-F’s Hajji Ghulam Ali holds the post in KP.

Bhutto-Zardari also called on PM Sharif in Islamabad, following the nominations, Pakistani state media reported.

“During the meeting, views were exchanged on overall political situation in the country and matters of national interest,” the Radio Pakistan broadcaster said.

Pakistan Cricket Board confirms details of national side’s South Africa tour

Updated 04 May 2024
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Pakistan Cricket Board confirms details of national side’s South Africa tour

  • The side will depart for Durban on December 2 after returning from Australia in Nov.
  • The ODIs will be played from December 17-22 in Paarl, Cape Town, and Johannesburg
Updated 04 May 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday announced details of the Pakistan men’s cricket team’s tour of South Africa for three Twenty20, three one-day international and two Test matches in the second half of 2024.

Durban, Centurion, and Johannesburg will host the T20Is from December 10-14, according to the PCB. The ODIs will be played from December 17-22 in Paarl, Cape Town, and Johannesburg, while the two ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 matches will be held at Centurion (December 26-30) and Cape Town (January 3-7).

The side will depart for Durban on December 2 after returning from Australia on November 19, having featured in a series of three ODIs and three T20Is from November 4-18. After completing their African safari on January 8, Pakistan will take on New Zealand and South Africa in a three-nation ODI tournament on home turf, which will be followed by the eight-team ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan.

“Prior to the tours of Australia and South Africa, Pakistan will host Bangladesh and England for two and three Tests, respectively,” the PCB said in a statement. “This means they will play seven Tests, minimum of 10 ODIs, and six T20Is in the six-month period from August 2024 to January 2025.”

This will be Pakistan’s seventh Test tour of South Africa since 1994-95. Their two Test wins were in the 1997-98 and 2006-2007 series.

In the Durban Test in 1997-98, Pakistan won by 29 runs at the back of centuries from Azhar Mahmood (132) and Saeed Anwar (118), match figures of nine for 149 by Mushtaq Ahmed and a first innings five-fer by Shoaib Akhtar. In the 2006-2007 Port Elizabeth Test, Pakistan won by five wickets with Inzamam-ul-Haq being named as Player of the Match for his 92 in the first innings.

In ODIs, Pakistan has won two of the last three series in 2013-2014 and 2020-21, while South Africa triumphed in 2002-2003 (4-1), 2006-2007 (3-1), 2012-2013 (3-2), and 2018-2019 (3-2).

In 12 T20Is to date, Pakistan leads 6-5 in head-to-head encounters, with one match ending in no-result.

Tour schedule:

10 Dec – 1st T20I, Durban

13 Dec – 2nd T20I, Centurion

14 Dec – 3rd T20I, Johannesburg

17 Dec – 1st ODI, Paarl

19 Dec – 2nd ODI, Cape Town

22 Dec – 3rd ODI, Johannesburg

26-30 Dec – 1st Test, Centurion

3-7 Jan – 2nd Test, Cape Town

Topics: Pakistan Cricket Board

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