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India declines to travel to Pakistan for Champions Trophy, ICC says

India declines to travel to Pakistan for Champions Trophy, ICC says
India's Shreyas Iyer shakes hands with Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan following India's win in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan in Ahmedabad, India, on October 14, 2023. (AP/File)
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Updated 10 November 2024
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India declines to travel to Pakistan for Champions Trophy, ICC says

India declines to travel to Pakistan for Champions Trophy, ICC says
  • Pakistan is scheduled to host the Champions Trophy cricket tournament from February 19 till March 9
  • Pakistan Cricket Board has forwarded the ICC’s email to the government of Pakistan for further advice
Updated 10 November 2024
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ISLAMABAD: The International Cricket Council informed Pakistan that India has declined to play any Champions Trophy games in the country next year, a Pakistan Cricket Board spokesperson confirmed on Sunday.
“We have received an email from the ICC in which they have said that India will not be coming to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy,” the PCB spokesperson said.
Pakistan is scheduled to host the Champions Trophy tournament Feb. 19-March 9.
The PCB has forwarded the ICC’s email to the government of Pakistan for further advice.
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said last Friday that he was not prepared to accept a shared hosting model and added that “no discussion” of any such proposal has taken place.
Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all of India’s games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid hosting model for the tournament. Several months later Pakistan traveled to India for the 50-over World Cup.
Political tensions between the countries have led to the India team avoiding travel to Pakistan since 2008 and the two have tended to only compete together in multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups. Pakistan also traveled to India in 2012 for a bilateral ODI series.
The PCB has spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi that are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi said that he hoped all three stadiums will be ready in the next two months.
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament though the schedule is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
 

Topics: Pakistan vs India Pakistan India Ties ICC Champions Trophy 2025

Pakistan will ‘soon’ set up commission for minority rights, says law minister

Pakistan will ‘soon’ set up commission for minority rights, says law minister
Updated 17 sec ago
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Pakistan will ‘soon’ set up commission for minority rights, says law minister

Pakistan will ‘soon’ set up commission for minority rights, says law minister
  • Non-Muslims, who make up around 3 percent of Pakistan’s population, often complain of discrimination
  • Azam Nazeer Tarar says the commission will help address minority grievances, promote inclusivity
Updated 17 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights, Azam Nazeer Tarar, has announced that Pakistan would “soon” establish the National Commission for the Rights of Minorities, Pakistani state media reported on Saturday.

Non-Muslims constitute about three percent of Pakistan’s estimated population of 240 million people. Pakistan’s minority communities complain of facing discrimination in nearly all walks of life and regularly come under attack by militant groups. They have also sometimes been accused of blasphemy, which is punishable by death in the South Asian nation.

Speaking at a Christmas celebration event in Islamabad, Tarar said the draft for the establishment of the commission had been formulated in consultation with minority representatives from Pakistan’s parliament and civil society, and approved by a cabinet committee, the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.

“The government wants to make the commission more independent which will serve [as] an effective platform for addressing grievances and promoting inclusivity,” the law minister was quoted as saying.

“We have ensured a balanced representation of all minorities and non-minorities in Pakistan.”

Tarar noted that the Constitution of Pakistan clearly stated that Pakistan “belongs to all of us while our identity and pride lie in being Pakistanis,” according to Radio Pakistan.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Adviser on Political Affairs and Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination, Rana Sanaullah, chaired a meeting in Islamabad to review the National Commission for Minorities Bill 2024.

“The commission will consist of 13 members, 9 of whom will be from minority communities,” the Pakistani ministry of religious affairs said in a statement.

A new interfaith harmony policy for promoting religious tolerance was also reviewed at the meeting, the ministry added.

Topics: Pakistan National Commission for the Rights of Minorities Azam Nazeer Tarar

Court issues warrants for several members of ex-PM Khan’s party in Pakistan Army headquarters attack case

Court issues warrants for several members of ex-PM Khan’s party in Pakistan Army headquarters attack case
Updated 07 December 2024
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Court issues warrants for several members of ex-PM Khan’s party in Pakistan Army headquarters attack case

Court issues warrants for several members of ex-PM Khan’s party in Pakistan Army headquarters attack case
  • Khan supporters attacked the army headquarters in Rawalpindi, other military installations on May 9, 2023, following his brief arrest in a land graft case
  • His PTI party says a commission should be formed under the senior-most judges of the Supreme Court to independently investigate the events of May 9, 2023
Updated 07 December 2024
KASHIF IMRAN

ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Pakistan’s Rawalpindi on Saturday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and other members of former prime minister Imran Khan’s party in a case pertaining to an attack on Pakistan Army’s General Head­quarters (GHQ) during violent protests on May 9, 2023.
Supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party attacked and damaged government and military installations on May 9, 2023, after his brief arrest that day. The attacks took place a little over a year after Khan fell out with Pakistan’s powerful military, blaming the institution for colluding with his rivals to oust him from office in a parliamentary vote in April 2022. The military rejects his allegations. 
Several cases against Khan and his party related to the May 9, 2023 violence were registered by the government, which also cracked down on his supporters allegedly involved in the riots. Khan’s party has chosen to distance itself from the protests and accused the country’s intelligence agencies of framing it for the violence. The military denies the accusation.
During a hearing on Saturday, Rawalpindi ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah ordered the city police chief to produce all 25 suspects, including PTI members Gandapur, Shibli Faraz, Shehryar Afridi, Zain Qureshi, Tahir Sadiq and Taimoor Masood, before the court on December 10.
“A commission should be formed under the senior-most judges of the Supreme Court to independently investigate the events of May 9 (2023),” the PTI reiterated on X. “Unjustly imprisoned political detainees should be released!“
CM Gandapur, who heads the government of Khan’s party in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has led multiple protests in recent months to demand Khan’s release from prison and to challenge results of the Feb. 8 national election.
On Thursday, Khan, along with several others, was indicted on charges of inciting his supporters to attack the GHQ in Rawalpindi last year, his party said.
“Indictment was announced within Adiala prison premises,” the PTI said, referring to the jail in Rawalpindi where Khan has been incarcerated since last year.
Nearly 2,000 people were arrested following the May 9 protests and at least eight were killed. The government had called in the army to help restore order.
Khan, who remains a popular figure in Pakistan despite several court cases against him, has led a campaign of unprecedented defiance against the country’s powerful military.
He has also accused the military of rigging the February 8 election in collusion with the election commission and his political rivals to keep him from returning to power. The military, election commission and Khan’s rivals deny the allegation.

Topics: May 9 protests PTI protest Imran Khan GHQ

Pakistan weekly inflation slows to 3.57 percent year on year

Pakistan weekly inflation slows to 3.57 percent year on year
Updated 07 December 2024
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Pakistan weekly inflation slows to 3.57 percent year on year

Pakistan weekly inflation slows to 3.57 percent year on year
  • Pakistan also slashed interest rates by 250 basis points in Nov. to help revive a sluggish economy amid drop in inflation
  • PM Shehbaz Sharif congratulates nation as inflation hits lowest level since Oct. 2018, promises to resolve public issues
Updated 07 December 2024
KASHIF IMRAN

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s weekly inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), has slowed to 3.57 percent on a year-on-year basis in the week ending on Dec. 5, the country’s statistics bureau said, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulating the nation over the drop.
The SPI, which comprises 51 essential items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities, is computed on a weekly basis to assess the price movement of essential commodities at shorter interval of time so as to review the price situation in the country.
Inflation for the week ending on Dec. 05 decreased by 0.34 percent as compared to the previou week, with a major decrease observed in prices of tomatoes, chicken, pulses wheat flour, rice and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
In a statement issued from his office, Sharif noted that inflation had fallen to its lowest level since October 2018, saying that his government was working tirelessly to resolve public issues.
“Further steps are being taken for employment generation, industrial development and promotion of foreign investment in the country,” he said on Saturday.
The prime minister said an increase in remittances and investment from friendly countries as well as stable diplomatic relations were a reflection of Pakistan’s development journey.
“All stakeholders are playing their role in the national development journey,” he added.
Pakistan’s annual consumer inflation slowed to 4.9 percent in November largely due to a high base a year earlier, the statistics bureau said this week, lower than the government’s forecast.
The finance ministry had projected inflation would slow to 5.8 percent-6.8 percent in November and ease to 5.6 percent-6.5 percent in December, it said in its monthly economic report published last week. Consumer inflation cooled from 7.2 percent in October, a sharp drop from a multi-decade high of nearly 40 percent in May 2023.
The South Asian country, which has been facing an economic slowdown, also slashed interest rates by 250 basis points earlier in November to help revive a sluggish economy amid a drop in the rate of inflation.
On Friday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) crossed 109,000 points as the bullish sentiment prevailed at the market, analysts said. The benchmark KSE-100 index surged by 814 points, or 0.75 percent, to hit a record high of 109,053 points as compared to the previous day’s close of 108,238 points.

Topics: Pakistan economy inflation in Pakistan Pakistan inflation

Pakistan forms five-member panel to draft rules for appointment of judges

Pakistan forms five-member panel to draft rules for appointment of judges
Updated 07 December 2024
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Pakistan forms five-member panel to draft rules for appointment of judges

Pakistan forms five-member panel to draft rules for appointment of judges
  • The committee will comprise Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Attorney-General Mansoor Usman Awan, Senators Ali Zafar and Farooq H. Naek, and Akhtar Hussain
  • The Judicial Commission of Pakistan says it accords highest priority to procedure and criteria for assessment, evaluation and fitness for appointment of judges
Updated 07 December 2024
KASHIF IMRAN

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi has constituted a five-member committee for drafting rules to regulate procedure and criteria for the appointment of judges, the Supreme Court of Pakistan said on Friday.
The development came after Chief Justice Afridi presided over meetings of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan to consider constitution of the committee to draft rules for judges’ appointment, nomination of Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan as eighth judge of the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, and the appointment of additional judges in Sindh and Peshawar high courts.
The committee to draft rules will be led by Supreme Court judge, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, and comprise Attorney-General of Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan, Senators Ali Zafar and Farooq H. Naek, and lawyer Akhtar Hussain, according to a Supreme Court statement. The panel will draft rules and share them with the Judicial Commission of Pakistan secretariat by December 15.
“The Judicial Commission of Pakistan unanimously decided to accord highest priority toward framing of rules relating to regulating its procedure including the procedure and criteria for assessment, evaluation and fitness for appointment of Judges,” the Supreme Court of Pakistan said in a statement.
The commission also approved the nomination of Justice Hassan, a judge of the Supreme Court, for the constitutional bench of the apex court.
In its maiden session on Nov. 5, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan, reconstituted under the 26th constitutional amendment, appointed Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan as head of the seven-judge constitutional bench to take up constitutional cases. The bench includes Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha Malik, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Musarrat Hilali and Naeem Akhtar Afghan, and high-profile cases with political implications will now be brought before it to adjudicate such matters.
The Judicial Commission of Pakistan nominated Justices Adnan-ul-Karim Memon and Agha Faisal as judges of constitutional benches of the Sindh High Court by a majority vote, according to the Supreme Court statement. The agenda for appointment of additional judges to the Sindh and Peshawar high courts was deferred till December 21.

Topics: pakistan supreme court Supreme Court of Pakistan PAKISTAN CHIEF JUSTICE chief justice Yahya Afridi

Six Pakistani soldiers, 22 militants killed in restive northwest

Six Pakistani soldiers, 22 militants killed in restive northwest
Updated 07 December 2024
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Six Pakistani soldiers, 22 militants killed in restive northwest

Six Pakistani soldiers, 22 militants killed in restive northwest
  • The soldiers died in an attack in Kurram district where fierce sectarian fighting has killed at least 130 people in past few weeks
  • Pakistan has blamed a surge in militancy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on militants operating out of Afghanistan, Kabul denies the allegation
Updated 07 December 2024
REHMAT MEHSUD

ISLAMABAD: Six Pakistani soldiers and 22 militants were killed in three separate gunfights in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the Pakistani military said on Saturday.
Nine militants were killed and six injured in a gunfight during an intelligence-based operation in KP’s Tank district, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.
Ten militants were killed in another operation in the North Waziristan district, while six Pakistani soldiers were killed while repulsing a militant attack, which left three assailants dead, on a check-post in the Kurram district.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Kharji [militant] found in the area,” the ISPR said in a statement. “Security Forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe-out the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve.”
The attack targeted the check-post near Bagan, a populated locality in Kurram district where fierce sectarian fighting has killed at least 130 people during the past few weeks. However, a ceasefire between the area’s Sunni and Shia communities is holding and the attack on the security check-post was not connected to the recent clashes.
“Kurram is calm but tense amid acute shortage of medicines and edibles,” Kurram police spokesman Riaz Hussain told Arab News.
A jirga, a council of tribal elders, which announced an indefinite ceasefire in Kurram on Friday, was meeting rival Shia and Sunni tribes for a solution to their differences stemming from land disputes.
Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan, has witnessed a number of attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups that targeted security forces convoys and check posts, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials in recent months.
Last week, an army captain among two Pakistani soldiers and eight militants were killed in two separate operations in KP’s Bannu and Khyber districts, the Pakistani military said.
Pakistan has frequently accused neighboring Afghanistan of sheltering and supporting militant groups, urging the Taliban administration in Kabul to prevent its territory from being used by armed factions to launch cross-border attacks.
Afghan officials, however, deny involvement, insisting Pakistan’s security issues are an internal matter of Islamabad.

Topics: militancy in Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Pakistan Army

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