Infinity Social Updates

The Balochistan government on Thursday imposed an emergency in Gwadar and declared it calamity-hit after heavy rains wreaked havoc in the city. Normal life and traffic remain suspended in Gwadar, Makran and northern and central parts of Balochistan as 30-hour-long showers triggered flash floods and submerged most of the areas. According to officials, Gwadar received around 180 millimetres of rainfall over the past two days, disrupting normal life and rendering hundreds of people homeless. Several dozens of human settlements and commercial establishments collapsed as floodwater entered houses, while roads were badly affected. “We have lost our precious households in the floodwater and our houses were not in a position to live in,” Hayatullah Baloch, a resident of Gwadar, told Dawn . In a press release issued today, Balochistan caretaker Minister for Information Jan Achakzai said the provincial government had decided to declare Gwadar calamity-hit and impose an emergency. He said

The Ministry of Finance has anticipated that inflation will experience a gradual decline from this month primarily due to a decrease in the prices of perishable items. Inflation is projected to hover around 24.5-25.5 per cent in February, with expectations of a further easing to 23.5-24.5pc in March, the ministry said in its Monthly Economic Update and Outlook for February. “Despite the upward adjustment in transportation expenses and gas prices, the inflation outlook for the upcoming month may have a downward trend, primarily due to a decrease in the prices of perishable items on the back of better crops and ease in supplies,” it said. The report further noted that the high base effect would contribute to keeping the inflationary pressure on the lower side. It added that the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s food price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 118.0 points in January 2024 down by 1.0pc from the December level. The report comes a da

President Vladimir Putin told Western countries on Thursday they risked provoking a nuclear war if they sent troops to fight in Ukraine, warning that Moscow had the weapons to strike targets in the West. The war in Ukraine has triggered the worst crisis in Moscow’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Putin has previously spoken of the dangers of a direct confrontation between Nato and Russia, but his nuclear warning on Thursday was one of his most explicit. Addressing lawmakers and other members of the country’s elite, Putin, 71, repeated his accusation that the West was bent on weakening Russia, and he suggested Western leaders did not understand how dangerous their meddling could be in what he cast as Russia’s internal affairs. He prefaced his nuclear warning with a specific reference to an idea, floated by French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, of European Nato members sending ground troops to Ukraine — a suggestion that was quickly rejected by the

Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah on Thursday imposed a rain emergency in the province and declared tomorrow to be half-day for all government and private offices in Karachi. On Wednesday, the Sindh Pakistan Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) had issued an urban flooding warning and directed the deputy commissioners and all officials concerned to take required measures. According to the advisory issued by the Met Department, rain/thunderstorms with few heavy falls are expected in northern parts of the province from Feb 29 till March 2. Similar weather conditions are likely to prevail in the rest of the province from March 1. “Heavy falls may generate urban flooding in low-lying areas. Fishermen of Balochistan are advised not to venture in deep sea till March 1 while those of Sindh are advised to remain careful during the forecast period,” it said. Today, the Sindh chief minister chaired a meeting regarding the situation at the CM House. During the meeting, CM Murad d

US President Joe Biden reported to a hospital on Wednesday for his last yearly medical examination before November’s election as scrutiny intensifies over the 81-year-old’s fitness and mental acuity for a second term. The White House said a summary of the test results from the Walter Reed military medical facility outside Washington would be released later in the day. It will be closely followed for details about the health of America’s oldest-ever leader. Biden, who is on course for a rematch with 77-year-old former president Donald Trump in November’s vote, took a short helicopter ride to the medical centre that is often used by US presidents. “I’m going to Walter Reed to get my physical,” Biden said as he left the White House and reporters shouted questions at him. Biden’s routine medical exam comes as voter concerns mount over the age of a leader who would be 86 at the end of a second term in office. The issue was thrust further into the spotlight this month when a brutal s

Taliban Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs Maulvi Abdul Kabir has said that the Afghan soil will not pose a threat to any country, it emerged on Wednesday. He passed these remarks during a meeting with Maulana Hamidul Haq — the chief of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) — in Kabul, according to Maulvi Kabir’s office. The JUI-S leader led a delegation of Pakistani religious scholars on a five-day visit to Afghanistan. Haq, son of Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, is the deputy head of Darul Uloom Haqqania in Akora Khattak, where several Afghan Taliban leaders have studied. JUI-S leader Israr Madni, who was a member of the delegation and heads the International Research Council for Religious Affairs, said the visit to the neighbouring country concluded today. He added that the visit was part of “religious diplomacy” which was welcomed by the Afghan side. During the meeting with the Pakistani delegation, Maulvi Kabir termed the role of scholars in improving relations between the two count

India will only finalise new deals at a World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting if the United States stops blocking an agreement on a dispute settlement mechanism, New Delhi’s trade minister said on Wednesday. Delegates are hoping for progress on issues such as fisheries and agriculture at the WTO’s 13th ministerial meeting, underway in Abu Dhabi. But Indian minister Piyush Goyal told AFP on the sidelines of the talks his country would not “finalise” any new agreements without progress on the dispute-settlement system. “It’s important that the first issue we should settle is that there should be an appellate body and some countries are not allowing that to happen,” he said. Washington brought a WTO dispute settlement to a grinding halt in 2019 after blocking for years the appointment of new judges to the WTO’s appeals court. Goyal said that “the entire working of WTO currently has come to a little bit of a standstill”. New agreements require full consensus between t

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir on Wednesday lauded Lahore Gulberg Circle Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Syeda Shehrbano Naqvi for her “selfless devotion to duty and professionalism in diffusing a volatile situation”. On Sunday afternoon, a mob had gathered outside a shop in Lahore’s crowded Ichra Bazaar after someone alleged that a woman’s shirt had Quranic verses printed on it, insisting on a “blasphemy” charge. A video clip on social media showed the girl hiding in a shop and shivering with fear. Sensing the sensitivity of the issue, some police officials present at the site called in their higher-ups. Subsequently, a police team led by ASP Shehrbano engaged the crowd, took the woman into protective custody and shifted her to the police station amid heightened security measures. Later in the day, a video had emerged showing the woman apologising alongside religious scholars. On Monday, the Punjab police chief had recommended ASP Naqvi for the Quaid-i

Sindh police on Tuesday said a “foolproof” security plan had been prepared for the Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) upcoming matches in Karachi. After completing its Lahore leg, the marquee event will now move to Karachi where matches will be played from February 20 to March 18 at the National Bank Stadium. In a statement issued today, the spokesperson of Sindh’s Special Security Unit said that around 1,000 commandos along with policemen from several districts, traffic police personnel, Rapid Response Force, Rangers and other law enforcement agencies would perform security duties at the stadium, practice grounds, airports, routes and hotels. He said sharpshooters will also be deployed at sensitive points across the city while a specialised command and control bus will be stationed at the stadium to monitor the law and order situation in the surroundings of the stadium. “Moreover, the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team comprising highly trained and well-equipped commandos includin

A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced top human rights campaigner Oleg Orlov to two and a half years in jail for denouncing Russia’s assault on Ukraine. The 70-year-old, a key figure of the Nobel Prize-winning Memorial group, is the latest target of Kremlin repression, which has intensified since the offensive in Ukraine. “The court has determined Orlov’s guilt and orders a sentence of two years and six months […] in a general regime penal colony,” the judge said. Orlov was accused of discrediting the Russian army in a column written for the French online publication Mediapart , and fined in October after a first trial. The fine was a relatively lenient punishment and prosecutors called for a new trial. As the judge read the verdict, the bespectacled, white-haired activist winked at his wife, fellow activist Tatyana Kosatkina. He was taken into custody in the courtroom and asked Kosatkina to come over. “You promised me!” he told her as she appeared to tear up. ‘Keep working’ Hav

PTI leader Omer Ayub on Tuesday said party founder Imran Khan had nominated Amir Dogar for the position of National Assembly speaker while Junaid Khan was picked for the slot of deputy speaker. The announcement was made after Ayub and other party leaders held a string of meetings with the imprisoned PTI chief at Adiala Jail. Dogar served as the chief whip in the NA during the PTI government. He also served as the special assistant to the prime minister on political affairs during Imran’s tenure. Dogar was also among the several PTI leaders who were arrested in the aftermath of the May 9 riots. Dogar won the February 8 general elections from Multan’s NA-149 constituency. He has been once again appointed as the PTI chief whip in the lower house of the Parliament. Meanwhile, Junaid Khan — Imran’s nominee for the NA deputy speaker — had emerged victorious in the polls from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Malakand district. In his media talk today, Ayub stated that Junaid was one of the oldest me

A Rawalpindi accountability court on Tuesday indicted former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the £190 million corruption case. Judge Nasir Javed Rana, who has rep­laced Judge Mohammad Bashir as he is retiring in a few weeks, presided over the hearing in Adiala Jail, where the PTI founder is currently incarcerated. In December, the National Accou­n­t­a­bility Bureau (NAB) had filed a corruption reference against Imran and seven others, including his wife, in connection with the Al-Qadir University. The case alleges that Imran and Bushra Bibi obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town Ltd for legalising Rs50 billion that was identified and returned to the country by the UK during the previous PTI government. The reference filed by NAB alleged that Imran, who is currently in jail, played a “pivotal role in the illicit transfer of funds meant for the state of Pakistan into an account designated for the payment of land by Ba

PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz made history on Monday after being elected the first female chief minister of Pakistan from Punjab. Maryam — who made her parliamentary debut this year after winning the Feb 8 polls from PP-159 — achieved a landslide victory against the opposition’s Rana Aftab Ahmad, securing all of the 220 votes. In a lengthy victory speech, Maryam noted that there were many expectations from her and vowed to go “above and beyond”. She further said that her party had developed an “extensive and comprehensive” agenda for the province, which would be implemented from today. Dawn.com takes a look at some of the many promises Maryam made in her victory speech. Transforming Punjab into an ‘economic hub’ Maryam said that she plans to transform Punjab into an “economic hub” by creating an enabling environment for businessmen. She said the government’s job was to create policies, incentivise businessmen, and to remove bureaucratic hurdles and “red-tapism”. She

“I will prove myself to be my father’s strength, not his weakness,” announced Maryam as she exited the Federal Judicial Academy (FJA) in July 2017, after recording her statement before the joint investigation team probing the Sharif family’s business dealings abroad. She appeared composed, her focused gaze speaking louder than her words. For the last several months, Maryam and her family had found themselves besieged by a fortitude of corruption allegations, which would ultimately land her a short stint in prison and force her father, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, into yet another self-imposed exile. But all of that was yet to come. On that fateful Wednesday in the federal capital, by the time her short speech ended, Maryam Nawaz had announced herself as a major force in Pakistan’s shifting political landscape — and the world had noticed. Race to the top This was hardly Maryam’s first foray into the country’s political arena. She had been actively involved in the party’s election c

Amid boycotts and delays, the Punjab Assembly on Monday elected PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz as the first female chief minister of the province and Pakistan. Maryam clinched an overwhelming victory with 220 votes against rival Rana Aftab Ahmed Khan of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC). Initially, the SIC — which is now home to the PTI-backed independent candidates who won the general election — had nominated Mian Aslam Iqbal, MPA-elect from Lahore, for the slot. However, it later replaced him with Aftab from Faisalabad, a former PPP jiyala, as Iqbal had not come to the House to take oath as MPA, fearing his arrest by the Punjab police. Ahead of the session today, Maryam first visited her mother’s grave and then arrived at the Punjab Assembly, which was scheduled to convene at 11am. However, the session began almost two hours later than scheduled as the SIC alleged its MPAs were not allowed to enter the assembly premises. When the ball finally got rolling at 1pm, 103 SIC lawmakers staged a wa

Members of the Sindh Assembly through a secret ballot on Sunday elected PPP’s Owais Qadir Shah and Anthony Naveed as speaker and deputy speaker, respectively. Out of a total of 147 votes cast on Sunday, Shah secured 111 votes while MQM-P’s Sofia Shah clinched 36. Meanwhile, Naveed also secured 111 votes while MQM-P’s Advocate Rashid Khan won 36. The development comes a day after as many as 147 legislators-elect of the PPP and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) were sworn in as members of the 16th provincial assembly. Outgoing Sindh Assembly speaker, Agha Siraj Durrani, administered the oath to 111 PPP members and 36 from the MQM-P on Saturday. Notably absent were nine PTI-backed independent candidates, three from the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) and two from Jamaat-i-Islami, all protesting the election outcome. Today’s session, which was scheduled to begin at 11am, began with a delay of 18 minutes with outgoing speaker Durrani in the chair. Following the recitation of