Tag premier

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday sought recommendations from parliamentarians over the government’s proposal to grant citizenship to all Afghan and Bengali children born in the country.

Taking to the floor of the House, the premier said, “A final decision has not yet been made in this regard and the proposal is up for discussion.”

“Everyone should present their recommendations,” he said while adding that the government will seek recommendations from all parliamentarians and consult them before taking a decision.

“I will keep asking this question that these people who are living here what is their future?” he said. “Children born in Pakistan have the right to be called Pakistani,” the premier asserted.

PM Imran asserted, “As per the 1951 law, all those born in the country have the right to its citizenship. This law is followed in various countries, including Europe.”

“Several people have been living in Karachi for decades without any nationality,” he lamented.

The premier said that the laws are different for temporary immigrants. “But those Bengalis who have been residing here for 45 to 50 years are being wasted. They are neither granted citizenship nor do they move back,” he upheld.

Upholding that he is saying all this on the basis of humanity, PM Imran questioned, “If we do not take a decision on migrants then when will we?”

“Immigrants are also humans,” PM Imran said. “If we do not take a decision regarding immigrants then we will have to face severe problems.”

PM Imran further said that in accordance with international laws refugees cannot be forced to leave the country. “We will have to draft a police for immigrant children born in the country,” he maintained.

“This is a human rights issue and at some point a decision will need to be made in this regard,” he continued.

PM Imran further explained that the reason for rising street crime in Karachi is that immigrant children are not granted citizenship owing to which they are refused jobs. “Immigrant children cannot go to school and this problem is about to enter all out societies,” he upheld.
x
Advertisement

SLAMABAD: As overseas Pakistanis have assured support for the construction of Diamer-Bhasha dam, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leadership is expecting the required funds to be collected in a year.

While speaking on Geo News show Naya Pakistan, PTI leader Iftikhar Durrani said the target would be met if it is considered a challenge that Pakistanis can also achieve something.

Present on the same show, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Muhammad Zubair said a market strategy needs to be devised to raise funds for the dam. However, he added, assistance from international donors would be required to gather 85% of the amount for dam.
Sheikh Rashid announces Rs10 ‘dam tax’ on railway tickets

A number of overseas Pakistanis have promised to donate funds for the construction of Diamer-Bhasha dam, after Prime Minister Imran Khan requested for their assistance for the purpose in his televised addressed to the nation on September 7.

Some were of the view that the premier should personally meet overseas Pakistanis to collect funds, saying it would gather him more support.

On the other hand, Minister for Railway Sheikh Rasheed announced a new tax worth Rs1-10 on different train tickets.

The additional money generated through the ‘dam tax’, which Rasheed estimated to be valued at Rs100 million annually, would be handed over to the dam-building fund, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar.

KARACHI/OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday met Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, he said on his official Twitter account.

“Great to catch up with @malala today in Ottawa,” he wrote, alongside a picture of the two conversing during their meeting.

Trudeau and Yousafzai “talked about the important work of the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council and our commitment to making sure more women & girls around the world get to go to school”.

In response, the Pakistani rights activist thanked the Canadian premier “for your time and your commitment to education for every child”.

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s sons reached Islamabad on Saturday morning.

PM Khan’s two sons, Sulaiman Isa Khan and Qasim Khan, have come from London — where they reside with their mother, the premier’s former wife Jemima Goldsmith — and will stay in Pakistan for four days.

According to sources, Sulaiman and Qasim will stay at Imran’s Bani Gala residence.

It is their first visit after their father took oath as the country’s premier.

The two boys did not attend their father’s oath-taking ceremony as the prime minister of Pakistan over his direction.
Imran was adamant sons don’t attend oath-taking ceremony: Jemima

On August 18, before the cricketer-turned-politician assumed office, Goldsmith had said: “The boys are very sad not to be there but IK was adamant that they should not come.”

In response to criticism that the two junior Khans were vacationing in Scotland instead of attending the oath-taking ceremony, the premier’s ex-spouse clarified: “They wanted to be there. Their father asked them not to come.”

“May the sons be proud of their father’s work as the prime minister of a country that needs lots of dedication and work”, she had added.

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s information minister laid out two scenarios to the media on Tuesday regarding one of the most happening debates in the country: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s use of helicopters.

“There are two options: either the roads are closed off, people are inconvenienced, and a multitude of cars pass through the city as part of Imran Khan’s convoy, or the prime minister uses a helicopter for the public’s convenience,” Fawad Chaudhry said in his defense.

PM Imran uses the services of Princely Jets, a private company that owns three small — but new — single-engine helicopters, which are offered at a per-hour rent of $4,000. This translates to $66.66 a minute.

Bear with us.
Doing some maths

According to some aviation experts, a single-engine helicopter covers almost three kilometres per minute, which leads to the cost-per-kilometre of such an aircraft equaling Rs2,670.

The distance from the Prime Minister House to Bani Gala, Khan’s private residence, is almost 15 kilometres, and so, a round trip means 30 kilometres in total. A one-way trip, therefore, costs around Rs80,100 — the expense incurred for a small single-engine, six-seater helicopter.

However, Khan uses double-engine, 15-seater state helicopter named AW139. Experts believe that this particular chopper’s per-kilometre cost is Rs6,666.
Who pays?

But Chaudhry says it is Rs55 per kilometre.

It is, regardless, noteworthy that it is PTI leader Jahangir Tareen who pays the rent whether Khan uses Princely Jets’ chartered aeroplanes or helicopters.

According to aviation sources, Tareen is an investor in Princely Jets and a shareholder in the company’s helicopter project.
‘VIP culture?’

Earlier, in his press conference, Chaudhry stressed: “Imran Khan is the prime minister; he is not just the chairman of PTI. He is the prime minister of Pakistan.”

He then asked, rhetorically, if people would like the premier to travel in taxis.

In what turned out to be a not-so-wise comment in hindsight, the minister explained that he had “used Google to calculate” the per-kilometre cost of Khan’s commute between his official accommodation and the private Bani Gala residence.

Chaudhry was responding to a journalist who had asked him for his comment on whether Khan’s use of a helicopter warranted being called a part of “the VIP culture”.

In an earlier appearance on a TV show, Chaudhry had gone on to defend the premier’s choice of commute by saying travelling via a helicopter cost Rs55 per kilometre. Needless to say, the statement drew massive derision on social media.

PM Imran Khan addresses the nation at his residence in Islamabad a day after the general election on July 26, 2018. Photo: AFP

The newly elected premier will be addressing the nation today evening, the sources said.

On Saturday, Khan assumed charge of the office after taking oath as 22nd prime minister of Pakistan. He was administered the oath by President Mamnoon Hussain.

The prime minister has also approved a 20-member federal cabinet, which will be sworn in on Monday, a spokesman for the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) confirmed on Saturday.

The cabinet will comprise 15 federal ministers and five advisers, PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said on Twitter.