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Pakistan to send qualified nurses to address shortage of health care professionals in New York — minister

Pakistan to send qualified nurses to address shortage of health care professionals in New York — minister
This handout photograph, taken and released by the Associated Press of Pakistan, shows Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi during a press briefing in Sialkot on December 13, 2023. (APP)
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Updated 06 July 2024
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Pakistan to send qualified nurses to address shortage of health care professionals in New York — minister

Pakistan to send qualified nurses to address shortage of health care professionals in New York — minister
  • New York’s health care system was severely impacted by COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a critically stretched workforce
  • Mohsin Naqvi announced the decision after meeting the deputy speaker of the New York State Assembly in Islamabad
Updated 06 July 2024
Arab News Pakistan
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ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi said on Saturday Pakistan would take immediate steps to send qualified nurses to the United States for employment while holding a meeting with Deputy Speaker of the New York State Assembly Phil Ramos in Islamabad.
New York’s health care system was severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, which led to a critically stretched workforce. Projections indicate the nursing shortage in New York could reach nearly 40,000 by 2030, prompting legislative measures to expedite the training and deployment of nurses.
Pakistan, known for producing a high number of qualified nursing professionals, has already sent many to countries like the United Kingdom and various Middle Eastern states to address similar shortages.
According to an official statement released by the interior ministry, the visiting US delegation discussed this issue with Naqvi as part of broader talks on collaboration in fields such as education and policing.
“An agreement was reached to send qualified Pakistani nurses to New York for employment after completing necessary processes,” the statement said. “The procedure for this will be finalized soon.”
It quoted Naqvi as saying “immediate necessary steps will be taken to send qualified Pakistani nurses to New York.”
The minister said during his visit to New York last month, there were positive discussions on increasing cooperation between Islamabad Police and the New York Police Department.
He added an Islamabad Police delegation would soon visit New York.
Naqvi went to the American city to participate in the United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit where he also reaffirmed his country’s commitment to the UN peacekeeping efforts.

Topics: Mohsin Naqvi

Pakistani Taliban deny plans to attack public places during Muharram amid security alerts

Pakistani Taliban deny plans to attack public places during Muharram amid security alerts
Updated 32 sec ago
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Pakistani Taliban deny plans to attack public places during Muharram amid security alerts

Pakistani Taliban deny plans to attack public places during Muharram amid security alerts
  • Spokesperson Mohammad Khorsani says striking public places neither permissible nor aligned with TTP’s objectives
  • The TTP claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks in the past, including the massacre of 134 school children
Updated 32 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A proscribed militant network, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), on Friday responded to recent security alerts issued by state agencies about its plans to launch attacks during Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, saying that targeting public places was neither permissible nor aligned with its objectives.

The TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for some of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan since its formation in 2007, including the massacre of 134 children in a school attack.

Pakistan has accused the interim Taliban administration in Kabul of providing sanctuary to TTP leaders and facilitating their attacks. Although the two groups are not directly affiliated, the Pakistani Taliban owe allegiance to their Afghan counterparts.

Pakistan has historically experienced sectarian violence during Muharram, a significant month for Shia Muslims who observe mourning rituals to commemorate the martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) grandson in the Battle of Karbala.

“We consider it necessary to clarify that not only during Muharram but at any time, we do not consider it permissible to attack public places nor is it among our goals,” TTP Spokesperson Mohammad Khorasani said in a statement on Friday.

“Such fake threats and statements attributed to us have nothing to do with us,” he added, referring to the security alerts circulated by Pakistani law enforcement agencies.

Khorasani blamed the state for spreading fear among people by saying the TTP wanted to launch attack in Muharram.

“Our objectives are clear and pre-announced, which do not include targeting any group, sect or individual based on religious and intellectual differences,” he added.

Since 2007, Pakistan has conducted multiple military operations against the TTP, yet the militant network continues its attacks, primarily targeting the two western provinces bordering Afghanistan.

These attacks have surged since November 2022, following the collapse of a fragile truce brokered by the Afghan Taliban between Islamabad and the TTP.

Topics: Muharram Pakistani Taliban

Pakistan flour millers’ strike over withholding tax enters second day, threatening shortages

Pakistan flour millers’ strike over withholding tax enters second day, threatening shortages
Updated 12 July 2024
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Pakistan flour millers’ strike over withholding tax enters second day, threatening shortages

Pakistan flour millers’ strike over withholding tax enters second day, threatening shortages
  • Budget for fiscal year 2024-25 imposed 5.5% withholding tax on sales of flour mills 
  • Around 1,600 flour mills employing some 4,000 workers are shut across Pakistan
Updated 12 July 2024
Aamir Saeed

ISLAMABAD: A strike by Pakistani flour millers due to a dispute with the government over the imposition of new taxes on sales entered its second day on Friday, threatening flour shortages in parts of the South Asian country.
Hundreds of mills across Pakistan went on strike on Thursday on a call by the Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA), which represents over 900 mills, against a new 5.5 percent withholding tax imposed on the sales of flour mills in the federal budget for fiscal year 2024-25, which came into effect on July 1. 
The PFMA says the government has also directed flour mills to collect another 2.5 percent withholding tax on the sale of essential commodities to retailers (non-filers) and 2 percent from wholesalers (non-filers). The association says millers also now have to collect 0.5 percent withholding tax on the sale of flour from retailers (filers) and 0.10 percent tax from wholesalers (filers).
“We are observing a nationwide strike against the government for imposing taxes and making flour millers tax collection agents,” Javed Yusuf, a former PFMA chairperson, told Arab News. 
“Our strike will continue till the government accepts our demand of withdrawal of all taxes levied in the budget.”
Yusuf said around 1,600 flour mills, which directly employed some 4,000 workers, were shut across Pakistan:
“We cannot collect taxes on behalf of the FBR, it’s not our job,” he added.
The strike takes place as Pakistan navigates a tricky path to economic recovery amid double-digit inflation and a deepening macroeconomic crisis. The South Asian country has been scrambling to secure foreign investment from friendly nations and a bailout from the IMF in a bid to keep its fragile $350 billion economy afloat. 
The tax-laden budget with a tax revenue target of Rs13 trillion ($46.66 billion) for the current fiscal year, up about 40 percent from the previous one, has been rejected by almost all major trade bodies and opposition parties. Pakistan’s government has taken the unpopular measures amid negotiations with the IMF, which has made tax reforms and increasing revenue a major precondition for a fresh loan program.
There are 1,725 flour mills in Pakistan and the daily national flour consumption stands at around 45,000 tons, according to the PFMA.
The ongoing strike has already halted flour supply to grocery stores across Punjab, the country’s most populous province, and market stocks are expected to last only one week.

Topics: Pakistan Wheat Scandal

Pakistan says ‘deeply values’ cooperation with Afghanistan as ties sour over deportations, militancy 

Pakistan says ‘deeply values’ cooperation with Afghanistan as ties sour over deportations, militancy 
Updated 12 July 2024
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Pakistan says ‘deeply values’ cooperation with Afghanistan as ties sour over deportations, militancy 

Pakistan says ‘deeply values’ cooperation with Afghanistan as ties sour over deportations, militancy 
  • Pakistan says Kabul not doing enough to tackle militant groups using Afghan territory to target Pakistan, which it denies
  • Over 600,000 Afghans expelled since November last year when Islamabad launched deportation drive against illegal foreigners 
Updated 12 July 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions, Amir Muqam, on Friday discussed bilateral ties with Charge d’Affaires of Afghanistan, Sardar Ahmed Khan Shakib, and said Pakistan “deeply valued” its cooperation with the neighbor on addressing the issue of Afghan refugees. 
Relations between Islamabad and Kabul have soured in recent months amid a surge in militant attacks that Pakistan blames on Afghanistan, saying its Taliban rulers were not doing enough to tackle militant groups using its territory to target Pakistan, which they deny. 
The Pakistani Taliban have stepped up attacks against Pakistan security forces in recent months, with daily assaults on army and paramilitary posts and targeted killings of police and government officials.
“Pakistan deeply values its longstanding friendship and cooperation with Afghanistan particularly in addressing issues concerning Afghan refugees,” Radio Pakistan reported Muqam as telling Shakib who called on him in Islamabad. 
The statement said Shakib thanked Pakistan for extending the deadline of UNHCR-issued Proof of Registration (PoR) cards for almost 1.5 million Afghan refugees for one year.
Islamabad launched a deportation drive last year against illegal foreigners residing in the country after a spate of suicide bombings which the Pakistan government, without providing evidence, said were carried out by Afghan nationals. Islamabad has also blamed them for smuggling, militant violence and other crimes. 
A cash-strapped Pakistan navigating record inflation, alongside a tough International Monetary Fund bailout program last year, had also said undocumented migrants had drained its resources for decades.
Until the government initiated the expulsion drive last year, Pakistan was home to over four million Afghan migrants and refugees out of which around 1.7 million were undocumented, as per government figures. 
Afghans make up the largest portion of migrants, many of whom came after the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021, but a large number have been present since the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Islamabad insists the deportation drive is not aimed specifically at Afghans but at all those living illegally in Pakistan. 
In October 2023, Pakistan announced phase one of the “Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan” with a 30-day deadline for “undocumented” aliens to leave the country or be subject to deportation, putting 1.4 million Afghan refugees at risk. Over 600,000 Afghans have been expelled under this phase.
In phase two, Afghans holding Pakistan-issued Afghan citizenship cards (ACCs) will be expelled while phase three is expected to target those with UNHCR-issued PoR cards.

Topics: Pakistan Afghanistan Afghan Refugees in pakistan

Major victory for ex-PM Khan as Pakistan top court rules party eligible for reserved seats

Major victory for ex-PM Khan as Pakistan top court rules party eligible for reserved seats
Updated 12 July 2024
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Major victory for ex-PM Khan as Pakistan top court rules party eligible for reserved seats

Major victory for ex-PM Khan as Pakistan top court rules party eligible for reserved seats
  • Khan’s PTI was denied its share of 70 reserved seats which were allotted to parties part of PM Sharif-led ruling coalition
  • Supreme Court says the PTI was and is a political party and eligible for reserved seats for women and minorities
Updated 12 July 2024
Aamir Saeed

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top court on Friday delivered a landmark verdict saying the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan was eligible for reserved seats in parliament, mounting pressure on the fragile ruling coalition of premier Shehbaz Sharif.
PTI candidates contested the Feb. 8 general elections as independents after the party was barred from the polls and though these independents won the most seats, 93, the election commission ruled they were not entitled to their share of 70 seats reserved for women and minorities since these were meant for political parties only. The seats were then allotted to other parties, mostly from those in Sharif’s ruling coalition.
In Pakistan, parties are allocated 70 reserved seats — 60 for women, 10 for non-Muslims — in proportion to the number of seats won in general elections. This completes the National Assembly’s total 336 seats. A simple majority in Pakistan’s parliament is 169 out of 336 seats.
In March, both the ECP and Peshawar High Court in separate rulings said the independents were not eligible for the reserved seats, dealing a blow to the embattled PTI’s governing prospects and proving to be a major setback for Khan, who has been in jail since last August. The verdicts were subsequently overruled by the Supreme Court, which has since last month been hearing a set of petitions on the issue.
On Friday, the Supreme Court set aside the Peshawar High Court verdict and said the ECP order declaring the PTI ineligible for reserved seats was “ultra vires of the constitution, without lawful authority and of no legal effect.”
“PTI shall be eligible for women and ministries reserved seats in parliament,” Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa said as he read the verdict in one of the petitions filed by the PTI-backed bloc, calling on the ECP to recalculate the number of reserved seats Khan’s party was entitled to.
PTI’s Syed Shibli Faraz, currently serving as the leader of the opposition in the Senate, said this was a “historic” day in Pakistani politics.
“Heartiest congratulations firstly to the Pakistani public and their leader Imran Khan,” Faraz told reporters after the court ruling was announced.
The PTI is currently entitled to around 23 reserved seats, which does not affect the parliamentary majority of the Sharif-led coalition government.
The verdict also bolsters the political position of Khan’s supporters, whose rallying cry has been that the election commission and a pro-military caretaker government that oversaw the polls indulged in electoral fraud to deprive it of a victory. The ECP denies this.
“PTI WAS AND IS A PARTY”
All candidates from Khan’s PTI party were forced to contest the February polls as independents after the party was stripped of its election symbol of the cricket bat by the ECP on the technical grounds that it did not hold intra-party elections, a prerequisite for any party to take part in polls.
After the election, the PTI-backed candidates were forced to join Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) party to claim a share of 70 reserved seats as independents are not eligible for the extra seats.
“It is declared that lack of denial of an election symbol does not in any way affect the right of a political party to participate in an election,” said the court order in one of the PTI petitions, which was supported by eight judges and opposed by five of the 13-member full court bench. “The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, PTI, was and is a party.”
The order said elected members of the PTI could not be declared independents or candidates of the SIC and gave the PTI 15 days to submit its list of candidates entitled for reserved seats to the election commission.
Addressing a press conference, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the government would wait for the detailed judgment to decide on its course of action, but pointed out that the petitions had been filed by the SIC but “relief” had been given by the court to the PTI, which did not file the pleas.


“A lot of confusion and questions has been born from this judgment,” he told reporters. “A situation has been created in which there is little clarity.”
In a statement sent to media, the PTI said 86 PTI-backed returned candidates in the National Assembly and 107 in the Punjab Assembly, 91 in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and 9 in the Sindh Assembly “are entitled to be counted for the purpose of election to the reserved seats on the basis of proportional representation.” It is expected that the PTI could get up to 23 reserved seats after Friday’s judgment.
PM Sharif formed a weak coalition with other parties after the Feb. 8 general elections produced a hung parliament.
Sharif’s PML-N party’s 79 and the PPP’s 54 seats together made a simple majority in parliament to form a government at the center and also roped in smaller parties in the coalition.

Topics: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party Imran Khan Sunni Ittehad Council Pakistan elections 2024 Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)

PM calls for restructuring Pakistan wheat board weeks after import crisis protests

PM calls for restructuring Pakistan wheat board weeks after import crisis protests
Updated 12 July 2024
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PM calls for restructuring Pakistan wheat board weeks after import crisis protests

PM calls for restructuring Pakistan wheat board weeks after import crisis protests
  • Wheat has nine percent share in Pakistan’s agriculture sector and contributes 2.2 percent of GDP 
  • Pakistan saw weeks of protests by farmers demanding government stop wheat imports that had flooded market
Updated 12 July 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called for the restructuring of the country’s wheat board and steps to enhance production of wheat and other crops, his office said on Friday, weeks after farmer protests over wheat imports. 
Pakistan saw weeks of protests this year by farmers in Punjab, the country’s largest province and “bread basket,” who demanded the government stop wheat imports that had flooded the market at a time when they expected bumper crops.
Pakistan’s wheat production during 2023-24 stood at 31.4 million tons as compared to 28.2 million tons last year, posting a growth of 11.6 percent. According to official data, the country had over 36 million tons of wheat stock by June, including carry-forward stock.
Wheat has a 9 percent share in Pakistan’s agriculture and contributes 2.2 percent of the GDP and is harvested in Pakistan from April to June, with peak vegetation development occurring between late March and early February.
Sharif, while presiding over a meeting of officials of the national food security ministry and other bodies, issued directives to include representatives of the Land Information and Management System and the Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) in the wheat board.
“Farmer representatives should be included in the wheat board,” Sharif was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his office.
The prime minister urged authorities to devise an alternate strategy to purchase wheat and consult Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and provincial governments in this regard.
During earlier protests, farmers had said the import of wheat in the second half of 2023 and the first three months of this year had resulted in excess amounts of the commodity in the country, leading to reduced prices. 
Official data shows Pakistan spent over $1 billion to import 3.5 million tons of wheat from July 2023 till May 2024.
Agriculture is one of the most significant income sectors in Pakistan, making up nearly 23 percent of the GDP of the country.

Topics: Prime Minsiter Shehbaz Sharif Pakistan Wheat Scandal

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