No respite amid sizzling heat as unannounced load-shedding grips Pakistan

Amid sizzling hot weather, Power outages have severely hit Pakistan during the holy month of Ramadan as Pakistanis have been suffering up to 14 hours of power load-shedding.

All urban centers, such as Karachi, Hyderabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, and Sialkot have been severely hit with up to 8 hours of load-shedding and rural areas with 12-14 hours.

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The Power Division said the country has been producing around 17,600 megawatts of electricity while the demand has increased up to 20,500 megawatts.

The prolonged load-shedding has continued to increase the miseries of the public, causing difficulties to perform daily chores, especially during sehri and iftar times.

Earlier in the month, newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired an urgent meeting regarding energy sector.

The meeting discussed steps to overcome electricity load shedding faced by the country and how to ensure provision of petroleum products.

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Russian forces are trying to storm Azovstal plant, Ukraine's military

Russian forces attempted to storm the Ukrainian-held Azovstal steel plant in the besieged southeastern city of Mariupol on Sunday (Apr 24), Ukrainian officials said, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin s comments last week that the complex did not need to be taken.

Ukraine s armed forces command wrote on Facebook that Russian forces were firing and performing "offensive operations" in the Azovstal area, as well as conducting air strikes on civilian infrastructure.

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Serhiy Volyna, commander of Ukraine s 36th Marine brigade forces in Mariupol, said in an interview with an opposition lawmaker that was shown on YouTube on Sunday that Russia was hitting the complex with air and artillery bombardments.

"We are taking casualties, the situation is critical ... we have very many wounded men, (some) are dying, it s a difficult (situation) with guns, ammunition, food, medicines ... the situation is rapidly worsening," Volyna said, speaking from his location at the plant.

Konstantin Ivaschenko, the official who has been designated mayor of Mariupol by Russia but not recognised as such by Ukraine, denied that any fighting was taking place in the city in comments reported by Russian news outlet TASS on Sunday.

Reuters could not independently verify the Ukrainian or Russian the accounts.

The Azovstal steel factory is the main remaining Ukrainian stronghold in Mariupol, a city that has seen sustained bombardment since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb 24.

Earlier on Sunday, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych wrote on Facebook that "Russian troops are trying to finish off the defenders of Azovstal and more than 1,000 civilians who are hiding at the plant".

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IMF mission expected to visit Islamabad in May, Miftah

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Miftah Ismail said Sunday that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had agreed to send its mission to Pakistan in middle of May 2022 for continuation of Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme.

Addressing a press conference in Washington, the federal minister said that he and his team had very good discussion with the fund, the World Bank and IFC. He said, when the IMF mission arrives in Pakistan, the government would try to have expedited staff level agreement with it.

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When agreement is reached, we would look forward receive another tranche under the EFF, he said adding that the fund had also been requested, which it agreed, to extend this program for another year. However, he added these details would be sorted out when the fund mission reaches Pakistan.

He said, the IMF had also been requested to enhance the funding available to Pakistan from $6 billion to more.

He said the cut in development expenditures would not have effect on ongoing projects saying that the previous government had allocated Rs900 billion for the program which was then cut to Rs700 billion while so far only Rs450 billion were utilized.

Miftah said the incumbent government would fulfill all sovereign commitments made by the previous government. He said, the commitments were not done by Imran Khan as an individual but these were made by the government of Pakistan.

We are responsible to commitments made with IMF, the loans taken by previous government and the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) commitment. We are not stepping back from the commitment, he resolved.

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Loyalists turn on Sri Lankan PM as protest pressure grows

Sri Lanka’s beleaguered prime minister came under increased pressure to step down on Satu­rday, as a cabinet minister and other senior party members backed street protests calling for resignations over a worsening economic crisis.

Media minister Nalaka Godahewa announced his support for the thousands outside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office who are demanding he and other members of his powerful family quit power.

Sri Lanka is suffering its most painful economic downturn since independence in 1948, with months of lengthy blackouts and acute shortages of food, fuel and other essentials. The crisis has sparked countrywide protests, with angry demonstrators camped outside Rajapaksa’s office for more than three weeks.

Under pressure, the president dropped two of his brothers — Chamal and Basil — and nephew Namal from the cabinet this month, but protesters rejected the changes as cosmetic.

Godahewa, previously a staunch Rajapaksa loyalist, said the president should sack his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa — the head of the family — and allow an all-party interim government to take over.

He said the government had lost its credibility after the police killing of a protester on Tuesday. Godahewa said he had offered his resignation but President Rajap­aksa had not accepted it. “We need to restore political stability to successfully meet the economic crisis,” Godahewa said in a statement on his Facebook page.

“The entire cabinet, including the prime minister, should resign and [there should be] an interim cabinet that can win the confidence of all.”

Police and the military stepped up security in the central town of Rambukkana on Saturday, ahead of the funeral of 42-year-old Chaminda Lakshan, who was shot dead when police broke up a protest against spiralling fuel prices.

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Names of PM Shehbaz, Nawaz removed from no-fly list: sources

The newly elected government has removed the names of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shahbaz, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz from the Exit Control List (ECL) under a new policy.

On April 22, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had announced the newly elected government had brought about changes in the rules for having an individual's name on the ECL, and through it, several thousands of people will have their names removed from the list.

Sources in the government say that the names of former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Ahsan Iqbal have also been removed from the ECL.

As per the sources, the process of removing names from the ECL under the new policy will continue for the next few days.

Earlier, the new federal cabinet, in its maiden session on Wednesday, had granted approval to remove Finance Minister Miftah Ismail’s name from the no-fly list.

Addressing a press conference, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Friday had said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had formed a committee to update the rules of including a person's name in the ECL.

"Therefore, with a quick pace, federal minister Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Asad Mehmood, Naveed Qamar, and Azam Nazeer Tarrar put forth their suggestions and the cabinet has approved it," Sanaullah had said.

The interior minister had said if a person's name has been on the exit list for more than 120 days, it would be automatically removed. "...a total of 4,863 are in the list, and with this intervention, around 3,000 people's names have been removed."

He had said the government could extend the duration of the cap by 90 days if it believes there is evidence against a person.

"The government will have to present the said evidence before the ECL committee, and once they approve it, the duration will be moved forward".

Sanaullah had said the following people would not be exempted:

Individuals involved in terrorism

People considered a threat to national security
If their names have been added to ECL by any court
People involved in large-scale public cheating.

Moving on, the interior minister had said 30,000 people were placed on the black list and the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL). He added that since the number of people on the lists is huge, there will be changes to them as well in the next few weeks.

Sanaullah had said that since 60-65% of the people have been removed from the ECL, a similar move would be made in regards to the other lists as well.

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Names of PM Shehbaz, Nawaz removed from no-fly list: sources

The newly elected government has removed the names of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shahbaz, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz from the Exit Control List (ECL) under a new policy.

On April 22, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had announced the newly elected government had brought about changes in the rules for having an individual's name on the ECL, and through it, several thousands of people will have their names removed from the list.

Sources in the government say that the names of former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Ahsan Iqbal have also been removed from the ECL.

As per the sources, the process of removing names from the ECL under the new policy will continue for the next few days.

Earlier, the new federal cabinet, in its maiden session on Wednesday, had granted approval to remove Finance Minister Miftah Ismail’s name from the no-fly list.

Addressing a press conference, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Friday had said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had formed a committee to update the rules of including a person's name in the ECL.

"Therefore, with a quick pace, federal minister Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Asad Mehmood, Naveed Qamar, and Azam Nazeer Tarrar put forth their suggestions and the cabinet has approved it," Sanaullah had said.

The interior minister had said if a person's name has been on the exit list for more than 120 days, it would be automatically removed. "...a total of 4,863 are in the list, and with this intervention, around 3,000 people's names have been removed."

He had said the government could extend the duration of the cap by 90 days if it believes there is evidence against a person.

"The government will have to present the said evidence before the ECL committee, and once they approve it, the duration will be moved forward".

Sanaullah had said the following people would not be exempted:

Individuals involved in terrorism

People considered a threat to national security
If their names have been added to ECL by any court
People involved in large-scale public cheating.

Moving on, the interior minister had said 30,000 people were placed on the black list and the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL). He added that since the number of people on the lists is huge, there will be changes to them as well in the next few weeks.

Sanaullah had said that since 60-65% of the people have been removed from the ECL, a similar move would be made in regards to the other lists as well.

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Punjab CM-elect Hamza Shahbaz's oath-taking deferred once again

The oath-taking of the newly elected chief minister of Punjab, PML-N's Hamza Shahbaz has been postponed for the second time despite all preparations.

Everything was done and dusted and Hamza was expected to be sworn in as Punjab CM with Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjarani administering the oath to him in a ceremony at Governor House, Lahore on Saturday night. However, the ceremony had to be deferred once again as the Senate chairman couldn't reach Lahore.

Emergency measures had been taken for the ceremony as per the orders of Lahore High Court. Sources within the Governor House said that all the preparations for the oath-taking had been made after receiving verbal instructions from the President' Office but no written order had been received.

After the cancellation of the ceremony, the PML-N has decided to approach the court again.

Meanwhile, PML-N Deputy General Secretary Ataullah Tarar said that Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema would be remembered in history as a violator of the Constitution.

"It has been decided to file a contempt of court petition against him," he added.

The statement came during a press conference flanked by Owais Leghari, Malik Ahmed Khan, Rana Mashood Ahmed, Khalil Tahir Sindhu and Khawaja Imran Nazir at the party's central secretariat.

Tarar said that the largest province in terms of the population had been without a chief minister and cabinet since April 1, 2022.

"If the Constitution is violated, a civilised citizen has no choice but to go to court," he said, adding the LHC in its judgment had ordered that the oath-taking could not be delayed.

"Omar Sarfraz Cheema has disrespected the post of governor. He has been admitted to the hospital. The order of the LHC had been received by the President of Pakistan at 6pm on Friday but despite the passage of the whole day, the President continued to consider it,” he maintained.

Owais Leghari said that the president was bound by the advice of the prime minister.

“Now President Alvi has written a letter to the Prime Minister's Office asking what we should do in the light of the decision of the LHC.”

He said that everything was stopped for the sake of one person.

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