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Pakistani court summons interior secretary over X shutdown 

Pakistani court summons interior secretary over X shutdown 
This photo illustration shows the X logo (formerly Twitter) on a smartphone screen in Los Angeles, California, on July 31, 2023. (AFP/File)
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Updated 03 April 2024
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Pakistani court summons interior secretary over X shutdown 

Pakistani court summons interior secretary over X shutdown 
  • X, formerly Twitter, was suspended across Pakistan on Feb. 17 after a government official admitted to manipulating votes
  • Joint interior secretary appears before Islamabad High Court, says X banned due to national security threats online
Updated 03 April 2024
Arab News Pakistan
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ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday summoned the interior secretary to appear before the court on April 17 and provide solid reasons behind placing a ban on social media platform X, state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported. 

The platform, formerly known as Twitter, was downed on Feb. 17 after jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party called for protests against a government official’s admission of vote manipulation in February’s election, which was itself marred by a nationwide mobile network shutdown and delays in release of constituency results.

 The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA), which regulates the Internet, last month informed a high court in the Sindh province in writing that it had blocked X on the orders of the interior ministry.

“The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday summoned secretary interior in a case against closure of services of social media application X in the country,” APP said. 

The petition against X’s ban was filed by journalist Ehtisham Ali Abbasi in the high court. During teh hearing, the joint interior secretary submitted a report on X’s ban, saying that access to the platform was restricted following a report by security agencies. 

“The chief justice expressed dissatisfaction over the report and said that it was only based on assumptions as no solid reasons has been mentioned regarding the threats to national security,” APP said. 

Justice Farooq said Pakistan was being defamed worldwide over the ban on X, adding that the interior secretary should appear before the court to present his stance. 

The chief justice asked the joint secretary to produce documents regarding the security threats posed by the platform, adding that “just verbal arguments” wouldn’t be accepted in court.

“The joint secretary said that there was a threat to national security due to the material on the Internet,” APP reported, adding that the judge hit back by saying that evidence to support the claims should also have been submitted. 

The court summoned the interior secretary in person on April 17 and adjourned hearing of the case.

Topics: X shutdown Social Media Ban

Spurred by reduced interest rates, Pakistan’s stock market closes above 92,000 points in a row

Spurred by reduced interest rates, Pakistan’s stock market closes above 92,000 points in a row
Updated 15 sec ago
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Spurred by reduced interest rates, Pakistan’s stock market closes above 92,000 points in a row

Spurred by reduced interest rates, Pakistan’s stock market closes above 92,000 points in a row
  • KSE-100 index climbs 499 points or 0.54 percent to close at 92,520.48 points on Thursday
  • Analysts say market responding to reduced interest rates, move to restart privatizations
Updated 15 sec ago
Hasaan Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed above 92,000 points for the third time in a row on Thursday, with analysts attributing the bullish trend to market volatility triggered by reduced interest rates and investors selling their stocks for profit. 
Pakistan’s benchmark index settled at 92,304.32 points on Tuesday and 92,021.44 points on Wednesday. As per the stock market’s official website, the benchmark KSE-100 index increased by 499 points or 0.54 percent on Thursday to close at 92,520.48 points. 
The bullish trend has been observed in the market since Monday when Pakistan’s central bank cut its key policy rate by 250 basis points to 15 percent. This was the fourth straight reduction since June, as the country keeps up efforts to revive a sluggish economy with inflation easing.
“The market is responding to reducing interest rates and, importantly, is also picking up on the government’s razor-sharp focus on the economy evidenced by the push to increase tax-to-GDP, attract FDI, and restart privatizations,” Raza Jafri, chief executive officer of leading financial services corporation EFG Hermes Pakistan, told Arab News.
He highlighted how lower interest rates were helping in creating valuation multiples at the KSE-100 but their “positive impact on the real economy will come with a lag.”
Jafri said the rally this year was led by banks, fertilizers and pharmaceuticals, adding that a rotation toward the construction, auto and oil marketing sectors more aligned with economic recovery was witnessed.
“An analyst at Topline Securities said the market showed notable volatility, with the index reaching a peak of 92,967 and dipping to a low of 91,891 as investors capitalized on profit-taking in large-cap stocks,” Topline Securities said in a social media post.


The development comes as the South Asian nation’s economic indicators continue to improve after it secured a $7 billion, 37-month bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in September. 
Last year, Pakistan narrowly avoided a sovereign default when it clinched a last-gasp $3 billion IMF bailout program. The country has suffered a prolonged economic crisis that drained its foreign exchange reserves and saw its currency weaken amid double-digit inflation.

Topics: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)

Pakistan court remands ex-PM Khan’s acquittal petition to trial court in graft case

Pakistan court remands ex-PM Khan’s acquittal petition to trial court in graft case
Updated 07 November 2024
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Pakistan court remands ex-PM Khan’s acquittal petition to trial court in graft case

Pakistan court remands ex-PM Khan’s acquittal petition to trial court in graft case
  • Khan and his wife are accused of receiving expensive land through trust as bribe from real estate tycoon
  • IHC has instructed Pakistani trial court to announce decision on Khan’s acquittal petition, says his party
Updated 07 November 2024
Shahjahan Khurram

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday remanded former prime minister Imran Khan’s acquittal petition back to a trial court in a corruption case in which he is accused of receiving land as bribe from a real estate tycoon, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said. 
The corruption case against Khan, or the Al-Qadir Trust case as it has become popularly known, involves accusations that the former prime minister and his wife, Bushra Bibi, set up a charitable trust named Al-Qadir in 2018 as a front to receive valuable land as gift from real estate developer Malik Riaz Hussain. 
The Al-Qadir Trust runs a university outside Pakistan’s capital Islamabad devoted to spirituality and Islamic teachings, a project inspired by Khan’s wife who has a reputation as a spiritual healer. Khan and his wife deny any wrongdoing, saying that charges against them are politically motivated. 
In August, the IHC issued a temporary stay barring a trial court from issuing the final order in the case. The former prime minister filed an acquittal plea, which was turned down by an accountability court in September.
“IHC two-member bench has remanded the acquittal petition by Mr. & Mrs. Khan back to the trial court in Al-Qadir Trust case,” the PTI said in a statement. 
The party said the defense counsel had argued that “no personal gains” received by Khan could be established in the case and that the trustees had not benefitted from any transaction. 
“IHC has instructed the trial court to announce the decision on the acquittal petition,” the PTI said. “We are hopeful it’ll lead to ordering the release of both Mr. & Mrs. Khan.”
HOW DID THE BRIBE ALLEGEDLY WORK?
Pakistan’s government says the controversy originated with 190 million pounds repatriated to Pakistan in 2019 by Britain after Hussain forfeited cash and assets to settle a British probe into whether they were proceeds of crime.
Instead of putting it in Pakistan’s treasury, Khan’s government used the money to pay fines levied by a court against Hussain for illegal acquisition of government lands at below-market value for development in Karachi.
Pakistan’s then interior minister Rana Sanaullah said Hussain gave the land to Khan through the Al-Qadir Trust in exchange for that favor. 
Khan, who was removed from office after losing a parliamentary vote in April 2022, continues to remain popular among the masses. He has been languishing in jail since August 2023 after being convicted in four cases. Pakistan’s courts suspended two of the verdicts against Khan while he was acquitted in the remaining two.
Since his ouster from the Prime Minister’s Office, Khan has led a campaign of unprecedented defiance against the country’s powerful military, whom he accuses of colluding with his political rivals to orchestrate his removal and keeping him imprisoned. 
The military and incumbent coalition government deny Khan’s allegations vehemently.

Topics: Imran Khan Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party graft case

Pakistan announces free business, visit visas for Bangladeshis with 48-hour processing time

Pakistan announces free business, visit visas for Bangladeshis with 48-hour processing time
Updated 07 November 2024
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Pakistan announces free business, visit visas for Bangladeshis with 48-hour processing time

Pakistan announces free business, visit visas for Bangladeshis with 48-hour processing time
  • Pakistan and Bangladesh were single country known as East and West Pakistan until Bangladesh was born in 1971
  • Historically strained ties have warmed since ouster of former PM Sheikh Hasina on Aug. 5 after student-led uprising
Updated 07 November 2024
Hasaan Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Dhaka, Syed Ahmed Maroof, this week announced a new visa policy for Bangladeshi citizens, offering free business and visit visas with 48-hour processing time as both nations push to thaw historically frosty ties.
Pakistan and Bangladesh share a complex history, having been a single country known as East and West Pakistan until Bangladesh was born in 1971 after a war of liberation backed by Pakistan’s arch-rival and neighbor India. Nearly three million people were killed in the conflict.
Ties reached a new low in 2016 when Bangladesh executed several leaders of its Jamaat-e-Islami party on charges of committing war crimes in 1971. Pakistan called the executions and trials “politically motivated,” arguing that the convicts were being punished for taking a pro-Pakistan stance during the independence war.
The bitter ties have warmed since the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Aug. 5 after a student-led uprising in Bangladesh.
“I’m happy to announce that or to let you know that there are going to be no fees in two visa categories, one is a business visa and the other is a visit visa,” Maroof said on Wednesday.
“It’s a free-of-cost visa for Bangladeshis. Secondly, the visa is decided within 48 hours and thirdly, you don’t have to come to the Pakistan High Commission [to apply for the visa].”


He said Bangladeshi citizens who wanted to visit Pakistan needed to print out a form from the visa website that they would be required to present at the immigration desk in Pakistan in order to get a visa.
“But as a precaution, there are a few things they should always carry with them along with this paper,” he added. “They should have a proper verified place of where they will stay, in a hotel or with some friends or family, and a return ticket.”
Calling the new visa regime “pretty much straightforward and very simplified,” the official said the move would make travel much easier for Bangladeshis wishing to go to Pakistan.
“All in all, the new visa policy is amazing, wonderful and hassle-free,” Maroof concluded.
In September, Pakistan’s foreign office said Islamabad sought “robust, multifaceted relations, friendly relations” with Bangladesh to ensure peace and stability in the South Asian region.

Topics: Pakistan Bangladesh

Pakistan smashes Indian record by creating largest human image of waving flag

Pakistan smashes Indian record by creating largest human image of waving flag
Updated 07 November 2024
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Pakistan smashes Indian record by creating largest human image of waving flag

Pakistan smashes Indian record by creating largest human image of waving flag
  • Over 10,000 students participate in activity held during Punjab government-backed youth festival in Lahore
  • Record was previously held by India where 7,368 students formed the waving flag image in March this year 
Updated 07 November 2024
Hasaan Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan smashed India’s record by forming the world’s largest human image of a waving flag in the eastern city of Lahore city, with over 10,000 students participating in the activity this week, state-run media reported on Thursday. 

The new world record was made during the Lahore Youth Festival, organized by the provincial Punjab government and currently underway at the Fortress Stadium in Lahore.

“Pakistan has set a new world record by making the largest human flag,” Radio Pakistan said. “The record was achieved by the students of Army Public School Lahore who participated in the formation of the flag.”

The Guinness World Record website showed that the record for the largest human image of a waving flag was last held by India where 7,368 students formed the flag in March this year in Sonipat. 

State media in Pakistan widely reported on Thursday that Pakistan had now broken India’s record, with over 10,000 students from the Army Public School in Lahore forming the image of the nation’s flag. 

The national flag of Pakistan, also known as the Flag of the Star and Crescent, is made up of a green field with a stylized tilted white descending crescent moon, and five-pointed star at its center, and a vertical white stripe at its hoist-end. It was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan Aug. 11, 1947, and became the official flag of Pakistan on Aug. 14, following independence from the British Empire. 

The flag is referred to in the third verse of Pakistan’s national anthem and is widely flown on several important days of the year, including Republic Day, Independence Day and Defense Day. It is also hoisted every morning at schools, offices and government buildings to the playing of the national anthem and lowered again before sunset.

Topics: Pakistan flag human image of waving flag

‘Distinguished Icon’: Pakistan’s Mahira Khan honored with award by UK parliament

‘Distinguished Icon’: Pakistan’s Mahira Khan honored with award by UK parliament
Updated 07 November 2024
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‘Distinguished Icon’: Pakistan’s Mahira Khan honored with award by UK parliament

‘Distinguished Icon’: Pakistan’s Mahira Khan honored with award by UK parliament
  • Khan is one of the most popular and highest paid actresses of Pakistan, she has also worked in Bollywood 
  • In addition to acting, Khan promotes social causes including women and child rights, the refugee crisis
Updated 07 November 2024
Hasaan Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: British Parliament has bestowed an ‘Award of Recognition’ on Pakistani superstar Mahira Khan for “remarkable contributions” to global cinema and her role as a cultural ambassador, with the star saying the recognition was a win for “women’s empowerment.”

Khan is one of the most popular and highest paid actresses of Pakistan where she is the recipient of several accolades, including seven Lux Style Awards and seven Hum Awards. She has also made a mark in international cinema with her performances in ‘The Legend of Maula Jatt’ (2022) and Bollywood flick ‘Raees’ (2017) alongside India’s Shah Rukh Khan. In addition to acting, Khan promotes social causes such as women’s rights, the refugee crisis, and is vocal about issues such as child abuse and sexual harassment. Khan has worked with UNICEF since 2019 and was appointed as the national and global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Afghan refugees in Pakistan in 2019.

A gathering was hosted by MP Afzal Khan at the UK Parliament to present her with the award, which recognized her as a “distinguished icon in the world of entertainment.”

“I am a proud Pakistani sitting here receiving this award,” Khan said in her speech at the ceremony. 

“I am very happy at receiving the award because this award is for women empowerment,” she later told reporters. “For me, since I started to work, I have worked with the aim to open doors for other girls, make things easier for them, so that when they come they don’t face the difficulties I did.”

Khan said there had been a lot of advancement in Pakistan’s showbiz industry in the last few years with greater gender equality and pay parity.

“There are women now who charge more than men,” she said. “There is pay parity.”

Dr. Sarah Naeem, the wife of the Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK, said Khan had become a role model for women and young girls in Pakistan “through hard work, dedication to profession and championing women’s rights.”

“Mahira Khan has demonstrated, through her international career, that Pakistani women are able to prove their mettle across borders,” Dr. Naeem added. 

Topics: Mahira Khan

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