PM Imran Khan may go to China for Beijing Olympics 2022

Prime Minister Imran Khan could be one of the leading dignitaries to attend the Beijing Olympics 2022, which will start on February 4, well-placed.

The Chinese government and the China Sports Authority are keenly looking forward to the prime minister’s presence at the opening or the closing ceremony, or during the event, the sources told the publication.

When The News asked a Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) official whether the authorities had received such an invitation, he confirmed receiving one.

“Yes, we are in contact with the Chinese authorities and have received a communication. We have forwarded that to the foreign ministry through the official channel,” he said.

Pakistani prime minister’s presence would be of great significance as some major western countries have decided on the diplomatic boycott of the mega event.

The United States, Britain, Australia, and Canada have announced a diplomatic boycott of the event, while North Korea was the latest country to pull out, citing the pandemic.

Though athletes from around the world will travel to compete in the four-yearly event, no dignitaries from these western countries are expected to watch the games.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Khalid Mansoor, a couple of days back, had revealed the prime minister’s plan to visit Beijing early next month.

It is likely that during his visit, the PM would also witness Winter Olympics.

It is not clear yet whether the Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination (IPC) Dr Fahmida Mirza, who is in the USA for the last two weeks and is expected to return within the next couple of days, will go to China.

“Once she returns we will be in a position to say anything on that,” an official said.

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Love across the border, Haris Rauf thanks MS Dhoni for gifting him jersey

Pakistan's right arm pacer Haris Rauf on Friday thanked former Indian skipper, MS Dhoni, for sending him a signed Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) jersey.

Rauf, who has been a regular member of Pakistan's white-ball team ever since making his debut in 2020, took to his official Twitter account and expressed his joy and happiness upon receiving the signed jersey from one of the game's finest captains.

He tweeted: "The legend and captain cool MS Dhoni has honoured me with this beautiful gift his shirt. The '7' still winning hearts through his kind and goodwill gestures."

Pacer Rauf also thanked CSK team manager Russell Radhakrishnan for his support.

"@russcsk specially Thank you so much for kind support," he tweeted.

While reacting to Rauf's post, Russell on his Twitter account replied: "When our captain @msdhoni promises, he delivers, glad you love it champ."

It is pertinent to mention that Rauf has played 34 T20Is for Pakistan and has taken 41 wickets at an average of 24.60, while in eight ODIs, he has taken 14 scalps.

The legend & capt cool @msdhoni has honored me with this beautiful gift his shirt. The "7" still winning hearts through his kind & goodwill gestures. @russcsk specially Thank you so much for kind support. pic.twitter.com/XYpSNKj2Ia

— Haris Rauf (@HarisRauf14) January 7, 2022

 

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PM Khan orders inquiry into Murree tragedy

Prime Minister Imran Khan Saturday expressed shock over the death of 21 tourists as heavy snow trapped them in their vehicles as tens of thousands of visitors thronged Murree.

The federal government has deployed the personnel of the Pakistan Army, and other civil-armed forces for rescue operations following the catastrophic situation.

"Shocked and upset at tragic deaths of tourists on road to Murree," PM Imran Khan said, as he mentioned that "unprecedented snowfall and rush of people proceeding without checking weather conditions caught district administration unprepared".

The prime minister said he has ordered an inquiry into the matter and was putting in place a "strong regulation" to ensure the prevention of such tragedies in the future.

As the situation got out of hand, the administration blocked all the routes in Murree — leaving the tourists helpless on the roads. In a video message, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Saturday said Murree had "seen a huge number of tourists after 15-20 years", and due to that, a crisis took place.

The Punjab government has declared Murree as a calamity-hit area, with chief minister Usman Buzdar ordering to open the government’s offices and rest houses for the stranded tourists.

Geo News, citing officials, reported that an estimated 125,000 vehicles have entered the city so far, due to which severe traffic jam was witnessed on the roads.

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Shahid Afridi expressed sorrow over the situation in Murree

Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi on Saturday expressed sorrow over the situation in Murree, where more than 20 people died in their vehicles after being stranded on the road in deep snow.

The federal government has deployed personnel of the Pakistan Army and other civil-armed forces for rescue operations in Murree, with Prime Minister Imran Khan expressing "shock" over the incident.

"What happened in Murree was unfortunate. May God forgive those whose precious lives were lost," Afridi said in a tweet, lamenting over the government's "inadequate" arrangements.

However, he noted that despite the severity of the weather, people still visited the hill station, not taking warnings issued seriously.

All the routes in Murree were blocked for traffic after thousands of vehicles entered the city at a time when "unprecedented snowfall" took place, according to local administration.

Talking to Geo.tv, SHO Murree Police Station Raja Rasheed said: “Over four to four-and-a-half feet of snowfall has been witnessed in Murree. There has never been this much snow in this area.”

He said that most of the people who died in Murree did not die due to the cold, they died as they left their heaters on in the car and went to sleep.

مری میں جو ہوا انتہائی افسوس ناک ہے قیمتی جانوں کا ضیاع؛ خدا مغفرت فرمائے؛ انتظامیہ کے ناکافی انتظامات؛ لوگوں کی آمد و رفت مانیٹر کرنے ضرورت تھی۔ دوسری طرف موسم کی شدت لیکن عوام کو رویہ تبدیل کرنے کی ضرورت ہے۔ الرٹ اور وارننگ کو سنجیدگی سے نہیں لیا جاتا۔ خدا سب پر رحم کرے!

— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) January 8, 2022

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PM Khan orders inquiry into Murree tragedy

Prime Minister Imran Khan Saturday expressed shock over the death of 21 tourists as heavy snow trapped them in their vehicles as tens of thousands of visitors thronged Murree.

The federal government has deployed the personnel of the Pakistan Army, and other civil-armed forces for rescue operations following the catastrophic situation.

"Shocked and upset at tragic deaths of tourists on road to Murree," PM Imran Khan said, as he mentioned that "unprecedented snowfall and rush of people proceeding without checking weather conditions caught district administration unprepared".

The prime minister said he has ordered an inquiry into the matter and was putting in place a "strong regulation" to ensure the prevention of such tragedies in the future.

As the situation got out of hand, the administration blocked all the routes in Murree — leaving the tourists helpless on the roads. In a video message, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Saturday said Murree had "seen a huge number of tourists after 15-20 years", and due to that, a crisis took place.

The Punjab government has declared Murree as a calamity-hit area, with chief minister Usman Buzdar ordering to open the government’s offices and rest houses for the stranded tourists.

Geo News, citing officials, reported that an estimated 125,000 vehicles have entered the city so far, due to which severe traffic jam was witnessed on the roads.

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Qureshi appointed PTI vice-chairman

The PTI has confirmed the appointment of Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qurehi’s as the party’s vice-chairman.a notification issued by the PTI Secretariat said on Thursday.

Premier Imran Khan, who is the chairman of PTI, confirmed the minister’s appointment to the post, a notification issued by the PTI Secretariat said on Thursday.

Qureshi said that it was an “Honour for him to hold the post of the party's vice-chairman”.

He expressed his gratitude towards the premier for “reposing trust on him”, saying that as PTI vice-chairman he would continue his services to strengthen the party.

Meanwhile, the PTI appointed 20-member Central Advisory Committee (CAC) of the party.

According to the notification, the PTI chairman had made the appointments to the CAC.The members of the CAC include PTI Asad Umar, Aamir Mahmood Kiani, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, Pervez Khattak, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Shafqat Mahmood, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Imran Ismail, Qasim Khan Suri, Ali Amin Gandapur, Asad Qaiser, Ali Haider Zaidi, Hammad Azhar, Mahmood Khan, Shireen Mazari, Saifullah Niazi, Usman Buzdar, Chaudry Muhammad Sarwar, Murad Saeed and Khan Muhammad Jamali.

Last year, the prime minister had dissolved the party's organisational structure following a setback in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa local bodies elections.

A day after the dissolving party structure, a new organisational structure was announced by Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry.

According to the new party set up, Umar had been given the post of secretary general while Pervez Khattak, Ali Haider Zaidi, Qasim Suri, Shafqat Mahmood and Khusro Bakhtiar are appointed as new provincial heads of the party in K-P, Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and Southern Punjab, respectively.

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High court orders demolition of Navy Sailing Club in three weeks

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) announced on Friday its reserved judgment on the construction of the Navy Sailing Club, declaring it illegal and ordering its demolition within three weeks. The court further ordered to initiate criminal and misconduct proceedings against former naval chief Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, who inaugurated the club, as well as other officials.

Announcing the verdict on the petition of a citizen, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah also sought a report on the implementation of the order.

The IHC CJ ruled that "the navy did not have the authority to engage in any real estate projects", adding that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) did not have the authority to issue no-objection certificates (NOCs) to naval farms.

The court further ordered to initiate criminal and misconduct proceedings against former naval chief Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, who inaugurated the club, as well as other officials.

The CJ maintained that "Pakistan's armed forces had an important status and their mandate has been defined in the Constitution". He added that the navy did not have the authority to undertake real estate ventures and that the name of the entity cannot be used for real estate business.

A day earlier, Justice Minallah heard identical cases pertaining to the construction of the sailing club and naval farms and reserved the judgment after listening to arguments.

At the outset of the hearing, the chief justice asked the CDA member that the court wanted to clarify two points before announcing its verdict.

He asked whether the civic body issued a no-objection certificate to anyone despite there being no such provision in the law. The court further asked whether the constructions in Zone-IV could be made in 1994.

The CDA member planning adopted the stance that “at that time farmhouses had such permission”.

He further informed the court that the Naval Sailing Club was still sealed, adding that any building could be demolished if it violated the law.

To a query by the bench, the CDA member responded that if the NOC of a society was cancelled the authority used to take over the housing society and seal its offices.

The court then asked why any action was not taken against the constructions around Rawal Lake.

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