Bharat Rakshak

In 2016, when the Honda motor company publicly alleged that petroleum marketing companies — including Pakistan State Oil — were selling adulterated petrol, petrol companies denied it, but HDIP later confirmed the allegations.

A parliamentary body on Tuesday criticised the manner in which the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) management had dismissed seven pilots and 73 cabin crew for possessing fake degrees, saying rules were not followed for dismissal of services.

He argued that instead of terminating the service of staff possessing fake degrees, other disciplinary action should have been taken, such as demotion or stopping increments.

The chairman instructed the committee’s secretary to invite employees who had been removed from service and members of the PIA union to know their views on the matter.

Peregrine wrote: MBS visit: Everything you need to know

Salient Points :

1. Crown prince will leave country on Monday to travel to India, China, Malaysia and Indonesia

2. Expenses of visit to be borne by Saudi government

Cheers

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday said Saudi Arabia has signed investment agreements worth $20 billion during his high-profile visit to Pakistan, where tensions were flaring up with nuclear-armed rival India.

Kicking off his tour of South Asia and China with a far higher Pakistan investment than expected, the crown prince said the $20 billion figure represents only the start of an economic tie-up that would bring the historic Muslim allies even closer.

"It’s big for phase 1, and definitely it will grow every month and every year, and it will be beneficial to both countries," said the crown prince.

"We have been a brotherly country, a friendly country to Pakistan. We’ve walked together in tough and good times, and we (will) continue."

But Prince Mohammed's visit is at risk of being overshadowed by Pakistan's growing tensions with India. Earlier this week a suicide bomber killed 44 Indian paramilitary police in the disputed Kashmir region. New Delhi has accused Pakistan of having a hand in the bombing and vowed to punish Islamabad, which denies involvement.

Cash-strapped and in need of friends, Pakistan welcomed the crown prince with open arms and in grandiose fashion, including sending fighter jets to guide his incoming plane once it entered Pakistani airspace.

Prime Minister Imran Khan and Pakistan's army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa greeted Prince Mohammed on the red carpet of a military airport in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, before Khan personally drove the crown prince to the capital Islamabad.

"Saudi Arabia has always been a friend in need, which is why we value it so much," said Khan, while seated next to Prince Mohammed. "I want to thank you for the way you helped us when we were in bad situation."

Saudi Arabia has in recent months helped keep Pakistan's economy afloat by propping up its rapidly dwindling foreign exchange reserves with a $6 billion loan, giving Islamabad breathing room as it negotiates a bailout with the International Monetary Fund.

Islamabad has shown appreciation by treating Prince Mohammed's trip as the biggest state visit since Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2015, soon after Beijing announced plans to invest tens of billions of dollars on infrastructure in Pakistan as part of China's global Belt and Road initiative.

The tour is seen as a attempt by the crown prince to rebuild his reputation after the murder of Saudi critic and journalist Jamal Khashoggi, analysts say. Many in the West blamed Prince Mohammed for the killing, which triggered the kingdom's biggest political crisis for a generation. He has denied being involved.

He had also planned to visit Indonesia and Malaysia during the tour, but those trips have been postponed, according to Malaysian and Indonesian officials.

In Pakistan, most of the agreements signed focused on energy projects, including a $10 billion refinery and petrochemicals complex in the coastal city of Gwadar, where China is building a port. Memorandums of understanding were also signed for investments in minerals and agriculture, Khan said.

The two nations' relationship has in the past centered on oil-rich Saudi Arabia backing Pakistan's economy during difficult periods, and in return Pakistan's powerful army lending support to Saudi Arabia and its royal family.

As the guardians of most holy sites in the birthplace of Islam, the Saudi royal family carries vast religious clout in Pakistan, a staunchly conservative and mainly Muslim nation of 208 million people.

"What is happening in this relationship is a renewal of Pakistan's commitment to help protect the royal family and the order as it exists in Saudi Arabia," said Mosharraf Zaidi, Senior Fellow at Tabadlab, a Pakistani think tank focused on global and local public policy.

"On the flip side, there is reassurance that Saudi Arabia will not only continue to serve as a strategic friend who will help shore up Pakistan's finances when needed, but it's also going to become a participant in the wider investment in Pakistan."

Prince Mohammed was also set to meet representatives of the Afghan Taliban militant group to discuss peace negotiations to end the 17-year civil war in Afghanistan, Pakistani government and militant sources said.

But that was unlikely after the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the group's planned meetings with Khan and U.S. officials in Islamabad were called off.

On July 21, 2018, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui told the Islamabad bar that the army was dictating terms to the judiciary and that the current activism was nothing but a kind of “indirect” conduct of justice. He told the lawyers: “The ISI had approached Islamabad Chief Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi and said: We don’t want Nawaz Sharif and his daughter to be allowed to come out of the prison until the July 25 elections. Do not include Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui on the bench hearing Sharifs’ appeals.” Siddiqui stated in public that both the high and supreme courts were taking orders from the army. Needless to say, he was quickly dismissed from service through the Supreme Judicial Council.

The highly-regarded Justice Faez Isa, sitting on a Supreme Court bench with his boss, objected to the overly “activist” nature of the case they were hearing. Chief Justice Nisar lost his cool, walked out of the bench, and announced its “re-composition” by removing Justice Isa from it. Silent while this was happening, the other judge on the bench, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, declared in writing that the chief justice was wrong in breaking the bench in mid-hearing.

Snehashis wrote:Why India is anxious to have a war with Pak? Anchor Faisal Qureshi unveils the reality. Ulanbatori, you will love this one.

UlanBatori wrote:^^Assume u r referring to UB, Doctor saab?
Will some mullah pls post whiyar to send our comments as specified by the mullah on PakTube on this deep analysis?
Also a summary of the transcript. Web access for us is not what it used to be... since ISI and Chinese Loyalty Troops took away our Mobile Phones after Balakot-Chakote-Moobad (BCM).

Sheikh Rashid Ahmad
@ShkhRasheed
لوگ کہتے ہیں بلاول بچہ ہے،بلاول اگر بچ کر کھیلے تو اچھا ہے ورنہ سیاست میں مارا جائےگا