ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Science Minister Fawad Ahmed Chaudhry said on Tuesday he had advised the country’s telecommunications regulator against blanket bans on social media apps and suggested regulations instead that would help the technology industry grow.
His comments came just hours after the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said it had banned the Singaporean live-streaming app Bigo over “immoral, obscene and vulgar content” and issued a “final warning” to Chinese video sharing platform Tiktok for "similar" reasons.
Earlier this month, PTA also banned the hugely popular online game, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, or PUBG, saying it was addictive, a waste of players’ time and was having an adverse effect on the mental and physical health of the country’s youth.
“I’ve already advised PTA that they should not slap such bans,” Chaudhry said in a phone interview. “All such one-sided bans, I think, won’t help the tech industry.”
“Regulation is something else, ban is something else,” he added. “Regulation? Yes. But, no bans.”
PTA has said it had issued several warnings to social media companies to moderate their content and bring it in line with Pakistani laws, but was not satisfied with the “response.”
Therefore, the regulator said, it had “decided to immediately block Bigo and issue final warning to TikTok to put in place a comprehensive mechanism to control obscenity, vulgarity and immorality through its social media application.”
But Chaudhry said such decisions were not “conducive” to helping Pakistan’s tech industry grow.
The information technology sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in Pakistan and contributes about one percent of GDP at about $3.5 billion, according to government data. IT exports were recorded to be the highest in Pakistan’s history at $1.067 billion in 2017-18, compared to $939 million registered the previous year.
In accordance with the digital policy of Pakistan, announced in 2018, the government aims to achieve an IT export target of $20 billion by 2025.
“Internet is like a library, it’s up to you which kind of book you want to choose,” the science minister said. “If you say the whole library should be shut down because it contains some vulgar books, it’ll obviously not really help Pakistan, especially when Pakistan is growing in the field of technology. Such bans are actually not conducive for the environment.”
Chaudhry also said he was against the ban on PUBG because while Pakistan was the world’s fourth largest software exporter, it was not a significant player in the gaming world.
“We need to take our share [in gaming] because our youth is good at it,” he said.
PTA did not respond to multiple calls and text messages for this story.
Pakistan’s science minister opposes telco regulator’s ban on social media apps
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Pakistan’s science minister opposes telco regulator’s ban on social media apps
- Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has banned Bigo over “obscene and vulgar content” and issued a “final warning” to Tiktok
- Fawad Chaudhry says such bans not "conducive" to helping the technology industry grow in Pakistan
Dallas-based Pakistani chef to feature in popular US culinary show
- Maryam Ishtiaq, 32, will feature in the latest season of ‘Next Level Chef’ set to premiere on Feb. 13
- Ishtiaq will feature as a contestant on show with celebrated British chef Gordon Ramsay as judge
ISLAMABAD: Dallas-based Pakistani chef Maryam Ishtiaq recently announced on Instagram that she will be part of the upcoming season of the popular American culinary reality TV show, “Next Level Chef,” saying she was proud to represent her community on the international stage.
Next Level Chef is an American culinary reality competition TV series featuring celebrated chefs Gordon Ramsay, Nyesha Arrington and Richard Blais. The three recruit talented chefs from around the world and take them under their wing, with the contestants facing unique cooking challenges.
Ishtiaq, 32, describes herself as a “self-taught” chef with years of experience cooking for large families, catering for intimate gatherings and hosting private parties. She is the co-founder of an American food company “Its Actually” which sells halal broth.
“I have consistently followed a unique career journey, and I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity to turn my dreams into reality while pursuing my passions,” she wrote on Instagram on Jan. 28, announcing that she will feature in season 4 of the culinary show.
“My world is about to get rocked, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to represent my community on such a prominent platform while doing what I love most! Let’s do this!“
The fourth season of the popular American reality show will kick off on Feb. 13 on Fox network.
Speaking to Dawn Images, Ishtiaq said she applied to be a contestant on Next Level Chef “years ago and totally forgot that I did.”
She told the publication that one day she randomly got a call from the show’s staff who were interested in her.
“You go through multiple rounds of interviews, auditions, background checks,” she said.
Last month, Ishtiaq was featured in an article on private chefs on Forbes. The Pakistani-American chef told the website she plans to open a cafe where halal food can coexist with other dietary restrictions on a varied menu.
Four paramilitary soldiers killed by firing, IED blast in northwest Pakistan— police
- Levies personnel were in Dera Ismail Khan district from Balochistan to retrieve stolen vehicle, say police official
- Pakistan has suffered a surge in attacks in KP province since November 2022 after its truce with Pakistani Taliban ended
PESHAWR: Four soldiers of the paramilitary Levies force were killed after they were targeted by firing and an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in northwestern Pakistan’s Dera Ismail Khan district, a police officer said on Sunday.
According to D.I. Khan police officer Amer Khan, the four Levies personnel were in the district from southwestern Pakistan’s Khanozai area to retrieve a stolen truck.
Noor Ahmad Naib, Rasheed Zaman, Dawood Khan and Bilal Ahmad left for DI Khan on Feb. 1, the police officer said, adding that their vehicle was attacked in the district’s Daraban area.
“Upon initial reports, all embraced martyrdom due to firing followed by an IED blast,” Khan told Arab News.
So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack but suspicion is likely to fall on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or the Pakistani Taliban, who have launched attacks on Pakistan’s security forces and law enforcement personnel for over a decade-and-a-half.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militancy in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, since a fragile truce between the TTP and the state broke down in November 2022.
The TTP and other militant groups have stepped up their attacks against security forces, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials, in recent months.
Islamabad has frequently accused neighboring Afghanistan of sheltering anti-Pakistan groups that launch cross-border attacks. Afghan officials deny allowing the use of their soil against any country.
The latest casualties in the province come a day after the military said 18 Pakistani soldiers were killed in a militant attack in southwestern Balochistan province. The military said it had killed at least 23 militants in subsequent clearance operations.
Pakistan president approves judges’ transfer to Islamabad High Court amid judiciary row
- News reports say government aims to appoint one of the transferred judges as Islamabad High Court’s chief justice
- Islamabad Bar Council criticizes move as “affront to the independence of the judiciary,” undermines rights of legal fraternity
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari this week approved the transfer of three judges from the high courts of Sindh, Balochistan and Lahore to the Islamabad High Court (IHC), despite opposition from five IHC judges who had warned that the decision would not be in line with the constitution.
As per a notification from the Ministry of Law and Justice on Saturday, Zardari approved the transfers of Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar from the Lahore High Court (LHC), the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro and the Balochistan High Court’s (BHC) Justice Muhammad Asif to the IHC.
Local media reports had stated the government was considering transferring Justice Dogar as it wanted to elevate him to the post of IHC chief justice. Reports said incumbent IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq is expected to be elevated to the Supreme Court.
Five of the 10 IHC judges formally opposed Justice Dogar’s transfer on Friday. In a letter addressed to the chief justices of the Supreme Court, IHC, LHC and SHC, the judges said that if the decision to transfer the judge was to consider him as IHC chief justice, it would be “fraud on the constitution.”
In a notification released on Saturday, the Ministry of Law and Justice announced:
“In exercise of the powers conferred under clause I of Article 200 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is pleased to transfer:
Mr. Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, judge from the Lahore High Court to the Islamabad High Court, Mr. Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro judge from the Sindh High Court to the Islamabad High Court and Justice Muhammad Asif judge from the Balochistan High Court to the Islamabad High Court.”
Pakistan’s constitution empowers the president to transfer a judge from one high court to another after the concerned judge consents to the decision. The president can approve the transfer after consulting the chief justice of Pakistan and the chief justice of both high courts.
The Islamabad Bar Council unanimously rejected the president’s decision in a statement on Saturday.
“This decision is an affront to the independence of the judiciary and undermines the rights and representation of the legal fraternity in Islamabad,” the council wrote in a press release.
The council said it has convened an Emergent General House Session at 11:00 am on Sunday, along with the Cabinets of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association and the Islamabad District Bar Association, to deliberate on the “future course of action.”
“The Islamabad Bar Council urges the legal fraternity to unite in this critical time to uphold the sanctity of the judiciary and protect the interests of the Islamabad’s legal practitioners,” it added.
Pakistan’s FIA says key facilitator of Morocco boat tragedy arrested
- Several Pakistanis were on board migrant ship that sank off Morocco’s coast this month
- FIA says suspect Abdul Ghaffar involved in human smuggling in Mauritania, Burkina Faso
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) this week announced it had arrested a human smuggler who was the main facilitator of the Morocco boat tragedy in which several Pakistanis were killed this month.
Pakistan’s foreign office confirmed earlier this month that a migrant boat with several Pakistanis had capsized near the coast of Morocco en route to Spain. According to Moroccan authorities, 36 people were rescued from the vessel, which had departed Mauritania on Jan. 2. The boat had 86 migrants on board, including 66 Pakistanis, minority rights group Walking Borders said.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had instructed the government to take stern action against human smugglers involved in sending desperate Pakistani citizens on dangerous journeys to Europe via sea.
“The main facilitator of the Morocco boat accident, Abdul Ghaffar, was arrested at Islamabad Airport yesterday,” a statement from the FIA said on Saturday, adding that it has traced the gang of human smugglers involved in the incident.
The investigation agency said Ghaffar had been living in Mauritania since 2023 and had facilitated sending several Pakistanis to Europe. It said the accused’s father, Muhammad Sarfraz and close relative Munir Ahmed are also involved in human trafficking in Mauritania since 2018.
FIA said it had nabbed Ghaffar when he arrived in Islamabad on Friday with seven passengers. After being identified by the passengers, he was taken into custody and shifted to Faisalabad.
“Important evidence was recovered from Adul Ghaffar, the agent involved in human trafficking,” the FIA said.
The agency said it has evidence Ghaffar was in contact with an African human smuggler named Abu Bakar. It said upon initial investigation the FIA found out that Ghaffar and his accomplices were actively involved in human smuggling in the African countries of Mauritania and Burkina Faso.
“The suspects helped Pakistanis onto boats by luring them with promises of sending them to Europe, which resulted in the deaths of several Pakistanis,” the agency said.
The FIA said a case has been registered against Ghaffar and further investigations are underway. The agency said it expected more arrests after extracting information from the suspect.
“Strict legal action will be taken against smugglers who play with innocent lives,” the FIA vowed.
The Morocco boat tragedy highlighted the perilous journeys many migrants, particularly Pakistanis, undertake due to conflict and economic instability in their home country.
In 2023, hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek town of Pylos.
It was among the deadliest boat disasters ever recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.
Pakistan anti-graft body files reference against property tycoon over illegal transfer of Karachi land
- Malik Riaz Hussain and others are accused of having over 7,000 acres of government land transferred illegally to Bahria Town Karachi
- The development comes days after National Accountability Bureau said it had initiated process to seek Hussain’s extradition from UAE
KARACHI: Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has filed a reference against real estate tycoon, Malik Riaz Hussain, and 32 other individuals over illegal transfer of government lands for a mega project in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, a NAB spokesperson said on Saturday.
Hussain, who currently lives in Dubai, is one of Pakistan’s wealthiest and most influential businessmen and the country’s largest private employers. He is best known as the chairman of M/s Bahria Town, which claims to be Asia’s largest private real estate developer and has projects in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and other cities.
NAB filed the reference in an accountability court in Karachi nominating Hussain, his son Ahmed Ali Riaz, former Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Sharjeel Inaam Memon, then local body minister and now information minister of Sindh, among 33 people for illegally transferring government land to M/s Bahria Town for its Bahria Town Karachi project in 2013 and 2014.
“Accused persons in connivance with each other illegally transferred the government land, initialy admeasuring 7220 acres, to M/s Bahria Town,” the anti-graft body said in the reference. “The said illegal transfer of government land to Bahria Town was made under the garb of adjustment/exchange/consolidation.”
It said the accused persons acted as an “organized syndicate” to cause cumulative losses of Rs700 billion ($2.5 billion) to the national exchequer, requesting the court to try them for committing the “offenses of corruption and corrupt practices.”
The development came days after NAB said it had initiated the process to seek Hussain’s extradition from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who was also charged in another land corruption case involving former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife.
A Pakistani court last month sentenced Khan to 14 years in prison and his wife, Bushra, to seven years, in the case in which they are accused of receiving land as a bribe from Hussain through the Al-Qadir charitable trust in exchange for illegal favors during Khan’s premiership from 2018 to 2022. Khan says he and his wife were trustees and did not benefit from the land transaction. Hussain too denies any wrongdoing relating to the case.
“We have written to the Federal Investigation Agency for the extradition,” a NAB spokesman told Arab News on Wednesday, adding that the FIA would now pursue the case.
Prior to that, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed that Pakistan would use its extradition treaty with the UAE to bring Hussain back.
Last month, NAB also cautioned people against investing in Hussain’s new real estate venture to build luxury apartments in Dubai.
“If the general public at large invests in the stated project, their actions would be tantamount to money laundering, for which they may face criminal and legal proceedings,” it said.
Hussain responded to NAB in a post on X, saying that “fake cases, blackmailing and greed of officers” had forced him to relocate from Pakistan because he was not willing to be a “political pawn.”
