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Pakistan condemns Israel’s ‘barbaric act’ of sending 88 decomposed bodies to Gaza

Pakistan condemns Israel’s ‘barbaric act’ of sending 88 decomposed bodies to Gaza
The sister of Palestinian Adel Al-ejla, who was killed in an Israeli strike, reacts over his body, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on September 25, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 27 min 51 sec ago
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Pakistan condemns Israel’s ‘barbaric act’ of sending 88 decomposed bodies to Gaza

Pakistan condemns Israel’s ‘barbaric act’ of sending 88 decomposed bodies to Gaza
  • Palestinian authorities refused to bury the unidentified bodies without knowing where and how they were killed
  • Pakistani delegation also participated in the meeting of OIC Contact Group on Kashmir on the sidelines of UNGA
Updated 27 min 51 sec ago
SAIMA SHABBIR
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office on Thursday condemned Israel’s “inexcusably barbaric act” of sending a container with 88 decomposed bodies of unidentified Palestinians, which Gaza Strip authorities refused to bury without information on where and how they were killed.
The bodies were brought to the Palestinian territory in a truck via an Israel-controlled crossing, with no details provided about the names, ages or locations of the victims.
Israel launched a military operation in Gaza following a surprise attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, which the group said was a response to worsening conditions faced by Palestinians under Israeli occupation.
Since then, the conflict has claimed over 43,000 lives, including a significant number of women and children, according to Palestinian health officials.
“This inexcusably barbaric act violates international humanitarian law, which requires the respectful handling and identification of the deceased,” foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said during a weekly news briefing.
“Israel must disclose the identities of the deceased and ensure the dignified return of the mortal remains to their families,” she added.
Baloch said Israeli occupation forces denied the victims their dignity and added to their families’ suffering by withholding the gender and names of the deceased Palestinians.
She emphasized that no family should be deprived of the right to bury their loved ones and urged the global community to hold Israel accountable for its “war crimes.”
The spokesperson also expressed Pakistan’s growing concerns over the evolving security situation in the Middle East following Israel’s “dangerous escalation” in Lebanon, saying it threatened peace in an already volatile region.
“Pakistan condemns this aggression and reaffirms its unwavering support for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” she added.
OIC KASHMIR CONTACT GROUP MEETING
Baloch informed reporters that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir met on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly Session in New York, where Defense Minister Khawaja Asif led Pakistan’s delegation.
“Member states of the contact group emphasized the importance of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute on the OIC’s agenda and expressed support for the Kashmiri people and their rights and freedoms,” she said.
“The meeting concluded with the adoption of a comprehensive joint communique, reaffirming the OIC’s consistent support for the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiri people to realize their inalienable right to self-determination.”
Baloch said Pakistan will continue to extend political, diplomatic, and moral support to Kashmiris for the just and peaceful settlement of the lingering dispute.

Topics: Israeli war on Gaza

Pakistan warns of dengue outbreak in October in 10 major cities 

Pakistan warns of dengue outbreak in October in 10 major cities 
Updated 4 sec ago
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Pakistan warns of dengue outbreak in October in 10 major cities 

Pakistan warns of dengue outbreak in October in 10 major cities 
  • Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Larkana, Multan at risk
  • Dengue fever is endemic to Pakistan, which experiences year-round transmission with seasonal peaks
Updated 4 sec ago
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Thursday warned that at least 10 Pakistani cities could face a dengue outbreak in October, advising all stakeholders to take “preemptive measures.”

Dengue is an illness that spreads through vectors, carried by the bite of an infected mosquito. There is currently no cure or vaccine for dengue fever, which in its most severe form can lead to fatalities.

People affected by dengue go through intense flu-like symptoms including high fever, intense headache, muscle and joint pain, and nausea and vomiting, typically persisting for approximately a week.

“Based on the analysis, the environment has become conducive from mid of September 2024 for dengue onset and it is predicted that it may outbreak in October 2024, particularly in ten major cities of Pakistan i.e., Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Larkana and Multan as well as in post monsoon rainfall affected areas of Pakistan,” PMD said in an advisory.

“It is advised to all stakeholders to take preemptive measures for the dengue outbreak in the districts. National Health agencies and Dengue control centers are advised to keep themselves updated on the PMD website.” 

The PMD said dengue outbreaks occured in the post-monsoon season, which usually falls between Sept. 20 and Dec. 5 if conditions are favorable. 

It said the active period for dengue attacks was two hours after sunrise and two hours before sunset, while breeding stopped once the temperature fell below 16°C. 

Dengue fever is endemic to Pakistan, which experiences year-round transmission with seasonal peaks. 

An advisory published by Pakistan’s National Institute of Health in 2023 said a total of 52,929 cases and 224 deaths from dengue were reported in the country in 2021, while there were approximately 79,007 confirmed cases of dengue with 149 deaths in 2022, with a surge in cases following unprecedented flooding that began in mid-June 2022. 

In 2023, Pakistan reported 3,019 suspected cases and eight deaths from dengue. 

The virus has been surging worldwide, aided by climate change. 

Dengue cases substantially increased in the Americas this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in May, which indicates the mosquito-borne viral illness remains a high-risk threat to public health.

The UN agency said the number of cases in the Americas exceeded 7 million by the end of April, already surpassing the annual high of 4.6 million in 2023.
In comparison, over 7.6 million dengue cases and about 3,000 deaths were reported globally during the same period.

Topics: Dengue Outbreak

Pakistan signs contract to sell JF-17 Block-III fighter jets to Azerbaijan 

Pakistan signs contract to sell JF-17 Block-III fighter jets to Azerbaijan 
Updated 16 min 29 sec ago
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Pakistan signs contract to sell JF-17 Block-III fighter jets to Azerbaijan 

Pakistan signs contract to sell JF-17 Block-III fighter jets to Azerbaijan 
  • Pakistan Air Force is mostly reliant on Chinese JF-17 Thunder jets, French Mirages and aging US F-16s 
  • In 2022, Pakistan announced the addition to its fleet of next-generation Chinese J-10 C fighter jets
Updated 16 min 29 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan army said on Thursday it had signed an agreement with Azerbaijan for the sale of JF-17 Block-III fighter aircraft “to bolster the airpower capabilities” of the Western Asian nation. 

The PakistanAir Force (PAF) is mostly reliant on Chinese JF-17 Thunder jets, French Mirages and aging US F-16s but in 2022 announced the addition to its fleet of next-generation Chinese J-10 C fighter jets also. 

“President of Azerbaijan expressed that the support extended by Pakistan would go a long way in consolidating the existing military cooperation between Pakistan and Azerbaijan, fostering closer defense collaboration and strengthening the warm brotherly ties between the two nations,” the Pakistan army’s media wing, ISPR, said in a statement, announcing the sale agreement. 

The army did not disclose how many jets it would sell to Azerbaijan and at what price or any other details of the deal. 

“JF-17 Thunder Block-III is an AESA [active electronically scanned array] Radar and Long Range BVR [beyond-visual-range] equipped 4.5 generation Multi-Role fighter aircraft which is capable of undertaking wide array of combat missions providing contemporary airpower employment options, thus strengthening the National Security Paradigm of Azerbaijan.” the military said. 

Giving background on the deal, ISPR said during his visit to Pakistan in July this year, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev was briefed on the combat capabilities and employment options of the JF-17 Block-III fighter aircraft.

“Pursuant to President Aliyev’s visit and on request of Government of Azerbaijan, Pakistan deployed PAF contingent at Baku to participate in ADEX-2024 showcasing the aerial prowess and static display of Pride of Pakistan JF-17 Thunder Block-III,” ISPR said. 

“During deployment, JF-17 carried out Air to Air Refueling from PAF Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft deploying in a single hop to Baku, Azerbaijan, demonstrating long haul capability and reach of the PAF’s fighter jet.”

Aliyev visited the static display of JF-17 Block-III and witnessed an aerial demonstration of the planes, ISPR added, “showcasing the agility and maneuverability of the fighter jet alongside the professional competence of PAF pilots.”

Topics: pakistan azerbaijan ties JF-17 Block-III fighter jets

World Bank president acknowledges Pakistan reforms as IMF approves $7 billion bailout 

World Bank president acknowledges Pakistan reforms as IMF approves $7 billion bailout 
Updated 43 min 16 sec ago
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World Bank president acknowledges Pakistan reforms as IMF approves $7 billion bailout 

World Bank president acknowledges Pakistan reforms as IMF approves $7 billion bailout 
  • Ajay Banga meets Pakistani prime minister and finance minister on sidelines of UN General Assembly 
  • IMF approved loan as Pakistan committed to strengthen macroeconomic stability, address structural challenges
Updated 43 min 16 sec ago
Hasaan Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: World Bank President Ajay Banga on Thursday acknowledged steps taken by Pakistan to strengthen macroeconomic stability and address structural challenges, hours after the International Monetary Fund’s executive board approved a long-awaited $7 billion bailout deal for the struggling economy.

The IMF approved the 37-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) late on Wednesday after Pakistan agreed to strengthen fiscal and monetary policy and implement reforms to broaden the tax base, secure a level playing field for investment and enhance human capital. 

The bailout deal was reached in July. 

“Your prime minister laid out a very clear set of ideas of what he wants to prioritize. He used the words that he wants to prioritize things that help his people,” Banga told reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. 

“Already in these six months, you [Pakistan] are already making a whole series of steps on macro stability and reforms. I think that is something I appreciate.”

The IMF said the new program would require “sound policies and reforms” to strengthen macroeconomic stability and address structural challenges alongside “continued strong financial support from Pakistan’s development and bilateral partners.”

An immediate disbursement of about $1 billion will take place, an IMF statement said.

Pakistan’s stock benchmark index rose in early trade to a record high of 82,905.73 points, before reversing those gains later in the day to close 0.7 percent down at 81,657.

After the bailout approval, PM Sharif thanked the IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, and said the country would continue to implement the tough economic reform agenda, he told reporters in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly on Wednesday.

Georgieva also congratulated Pakistan for moving forward with “home-defined” reforms.

“The economy is on the sound path,” she told reporters after the board meeting. “Growth is up and inflation is down.”

“LAST IMF PROGRAM”

Islamabad had been working on implementing conditions, which Sharif had previously called “strict,” including getting additional external financing, which the country was struggling to do.

The IMF said in its statement that Pakistan had taken key steps to restore economic stability with consistent policy implementation under the 2023-24 standby arrangement.

It added that growth had rebounded to 2.4 percent and inflation has receded significantly, falling to single digits, amid appropriately tight fiscal and monetary policies.

A contained current account and calm foreign exchange market conditions have allowed the rebuilding of reserve buffers, and the central bank of Pakistan has been able to cut the policy rate by a total of 450 bps since June, the statement said.

Despite this progress, it said, Pakistan’s vulnerabilities and structural challenges remain formidable, adding that the tax base remained too narrow.

“Without a concerted adjustment and reform effort, Pakistan risks falling further behind its peers,” it warned.

The South Asian country is the IMF’s fifth-largest debtor, owing the Fund $6.28 billion as of July 11, according to the lender’s data.

Pakistan has been struggling with boom-and-bust economic cycles for decades, leading to more than 20 IMF bailouts since 1958.

Speaking to reporters on the UNGA sidelines, Pakistan Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb vowed to make this the country’s last IMF program.

“So we will have to undertake structural reforms,” he said. 

With inputs from Reuters

Topics: The World Bank International Monetary Fund

IMF’s $7 billion bailout sends Pakistan stocks to life-time high

IMF’s $7 billion bailout sends Pakistan stocks to life-time high
Updated 59 min 19 sec ago
Reuters
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IMF’s $7 billion bailout sends Pakistan stocks to life-time high

IMF’s $7 billion bailout sends Pakistan stocks to life-time high
  • Pakistan’s stock index hits record high of 82,905.73
  • PM Sharif and IMF’s Georgieva emphasize need for reforms
Updated 59 min 19 sec ago
Reuters

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s benchmark share index hit a life-time high in opening trade on Thursday, hours after the International Monetary Fund’s board approved a long-awaited $7 billion bailout deal for the struggling economy.
The IMF said the new program will require “sound policies and reforms” to strengthen macroeconomic stability and address structural challenges alongside “continued strong financial support from Pakistan’s development and bilateral partners.”
An immediate disbursement of about $1 billion will take place, an IMF statement said.
Pakistan’s stock benchmark index rose in early trade to a record high of 82,905.73 points, before reversing those gains later in the day to close 0.7 percent down at 81,657.
“We will need to take difficult decisions if we want to make it our last program with the IMF,” Pakistan’s junior finance minister, Ali Pervaiz Malik, told local Geo News TV on Thursday.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked the IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva and said the country would continue to implement the tough economic reform agenda, he told reporters in New York on the sidelines of United Nations general assembly on Wednesday.
Georgieva congratulated Pakistan for moving forward with “home-defined” reforms.
“The economy is on the sound path,” she told reporters after the board meeting. “Growth is up and inflation is down,” she said.
Islamabad had been working on implementing conditions, which Sharif had previously called “strict” to secure the 37-month loan program agreed in July. One condition was to secure additional external financing, which the country was struggling to do.
Local media reported that Islamabad recently signed its most expensive commercial loan ever for $600 million at 11 percent interest as a last-ditch bid to cover the financing gap and secure board approval.
However, an IMF spokesperson said on Friday that the lender was unaware of a loan at this rate and that it was not necessary for the purposes of the program’s financing assurances.

REFORMS AND RISKS

The IMF said in its statement that Pakistan had taken key steps to restore economic stability with consistent policy implementation under the 2023-24 standby arrangement.
It added that growth had rebounded to 2.4 percent and inflation has receded significantly, falling to single digits, amid appropriately tight fiscal and monetary policies.
A contained current account and calm foreign exchange market conditions have allowed the rebuilding of reserve buffers, and the central bank of Pakistan has been able to cut the policy rate by a total of 450 bps since June, the statement said.
Despite this progress, it said, Pakistan’s vulnerabilities and structural challenges remain formidable, adding that the tax base remains too narrow.
“Without a concerted adjustment and reform effort, Pakistan risks falling further behind its peers,” it warned.
Pakistan has been struggling with boom-and-bust economic cycles for decades, leading to more than 20 IMF bailouts since 1958.
The South Asian country is the IMF’s fifth-largest debtor, owing the Fund $6.28 billion as of July 11, according to the lender’s data.

Topics: Pakistan Stock Exchange IMF

Pakistan opposition party moves court against ordinance seen as curtailing senior judiciary’s powers 

Pakistan opposition party moves court against ordinance seen as curtailing senior judiciary’s powers 
Updated 26 September 2024
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Pakistan opposition party moves court against ordinance seen as curtailing senior judiciary’s powers 

Pakistan opposition party moves court against ordinance seen as curtailing senior judiciary’s powers 
  • Under new ordinance, top court cases to be heard by bench comprising CJ, next most senior judge and SC judge nominated by CJ
  • PTI party has filed petition against the ordinance calling for it to be declared unconstitutional, threat to separation of powers
Updated 26 September 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) opposition party on Thursday moved the top court against a new ordinance passed by the coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and which is widely seen as a tool to curtail the powers of the country’s senior judiciary.

The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023 was passed in the last days of Sharif’s first term in government, which ended last year. However, before the law could be enacted on April 21, 2023, an eight-member bench constituted by then Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial issued a stay order on it on April 13, 2023.

Last Friday, however, President Asif Ali Zardari signed the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Amendment Ordinance 2024 into law.

PTI Chairman Gohar Khan on Thursday filed a petition against the ordinance, requesting that it be declared “unconstitutional” and all decisions of the Practice and Procedure Committee, which assigns judges to Supreme Court cases, taken after the approval of the ordinance be declared “illegal” and “annulled.”

The plea calls on the court to suspend the newly constituted Practice and Procedure Committee as long as the constitutional petition was pending. 

“Further, the committee purportedly re-constituted pursuant to the Impugned Ordinance may kindly be restrained from constituting benches and fixing any cases before them and the lawfully constituted Committee under Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 consisting of the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the two next senior most judges may be allowed to continue functioning,” the plea said. 

The new ordinance reads:

“Every cause, appeal, or matter before the Supreme Court shall be heard and disposed of by a Bench comprising the Chief Justice of Pakistan, the next most senior judge of the Supreme Court and a Judge of the Supreme Court nominated by the Chief Justice of Pakistan from time to time.”

One provision, which is widely seen as limiting the power of Supreme Court judges to initiate cases of public importance or fundamental laws on their own through suo moto proceedings, said a bench hearing a matter under Article 184(3) of the constitution would decide and identify through a “reasoned and speaking order” the question of public importance in the case and what fundamental right it was seeking to enforce.

Article 184 of the constitution confers original jurisdiction, the authority to hear a case at its initiation, often referred to as Public Interest Litigation, in the form of judicial review to Pakistan’s Supreme Court. Clause (3) of Article 184 is cited as the source of suo motu powers. In essence, it gives the apex court the extraordinary power to assume jurisdiction over any “question of public importance with reference to the enforcement of any fundamental right”.

Under the new law, each case would be heard in turn, that is the cases filed first will be heard first, and a reason furnished for taking up cases out of turn. All hearings will be recorded and transcripts publicly available. 

The PTI petition says the ordinance violates the principles of separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.

“Therefore, it is liable to be struck down,” it said. 

“The rights of access to justice and fair trial also require a judiciary that is separate and independent of the Executive. The Impugned Ordinance is a direct attempt to interfere, alter, and control the inner working of the Supreme Court and is thus unconstitutional and liable to be struck down.”

The plea stated that if the ordinance was upheld or accepted as valid law, it would amount to accepting that whenever the government was particularly interested in a case fixed before the SC, it would have the power to alter and amend how and when the case was fixed and before whom through the exercise of its temporary or permanent legislative power.

“This is a gross violation of the independence of judiciary, and guarantee of fair trial, and is clearly unconstitutional,” the PTI plea says. 

Topics: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023

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