Shahid Khaqan Abbasi elected Pakistan PM by National Assembly

Agencies
August 1, 2017

Islamabad, Aug 1: Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a die-hard supporter of Nawaz Sharif, was today elected Prime Minister by Pakistan's National Assembly and put up a strong defence of the ousted leader saying that he may have been disqualified by the Supreme Court but remains the "people's premier".

Abbasi, 58, was elected after getting 221 votes in the House of 342, defeating his three rivals emphatically.

Naveed Qamar of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) got 47 votes, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, an Awami Muslim League leader who was Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's candidate, got 33 votes, while Jamaat-e-Islami's Sahibzada Tariqullah managed just four votes.

Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nominated Abbasi as interim Prime Minister until Sharif's brother Shehbaz is elected as a National Assembly member.

"Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has been declared as elected as Prime minister of Islamabad Republic of Pakistan," National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq announced amid sloganeering.

He then asked Abbasi to take the seat of the prime minister and address the House.

Abbasi, while addressing Parliament after the voting, said that his election was a victory for democracy.

He heavily criticised the Supreme Court judgement which disqualified Sharif.

"Sharif has been sent home but he is still people's premier," he said.

"Justice demands that 1,000 guilty are set free than one innocent is convicted," Abbasi said.
He also hailed his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party for standing united after Sharif was disqualified.

Abbasi also promised that there would be no power shortage in the country after December.
After the voting and counting process, many of the PML-N National Assembly members entered the House with posters of Sharif. The National Assembly Speaker objected to this and asked them to put away the placards and posters.

Abbasi will be sworn-in in later at a special ceremony at the President's House, where President Mamnoon Hussain will administer the oath to him.

He is a true loyalist of Sharif and stood with him when his government was toppled in 1999 by Musharraf. Abbasi was imprisoned after the coup and was kept in jail for two years.

The Supreme Court on Friday disqualified 67-year-old Prime Minister Sharif for dishonesty and ruled that corruption cases be filed against him and his children over the Panama Papers scandal, forcing him to resign.

Abbasi will remain premier till Shehbaz is elected to the House to take over as prime minister and lead the government till next year when the general election will take place.

Pakistan has seen such arrangements in the past too.

During former military dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf's time, politician Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was appointed as an interim prime minister until Shaukat Aziz, who was nominated by Musharraf, got elected by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q).

Earlier in the day, the opposition parties' meeting failed to result in agreement over a joint candidate.
Hours before the scheduled National Assembly session, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) announced to withdraw its candidate Kishwar Zehra in favour of Abbasi. The MQM's 24 MPs backed Abbasi.

Major political parties fielded their respective candidates for the premier's post.

The National Assembly's second biggest party in terms of numbers, the PPP, nominated Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah and Qamar. However, at the eleventh hour Shah withdrew from the election leaving Qamar as the sole PPP candidate.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf fielded Rashid as its nominee. Jamaat-e-Islami fielded Tariqullah as their candidate for the new prime minister.

The PML-N party holds 188 seats in the 342-member Parliament.

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News Network
May 17,2024

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Bengaluru: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday forecast heavy rainfall and thunderstorms in a few districts of Karnataka and said Bengaluru is likely to witness light to moderate rain and thunderstorms, with temperatures ranging from 30 degree Celsius to 22 degree Celsius in the next 24 hours.

Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu, Hassan, Mysuru, Mandya, Chamrajanagara, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts are likely to experience heavy to very heavy rainfalls between May 17 and 21, said C S Patil, Director of Meteorological Centre, India Meteorological Department, Bengaluru.

According to India Meteorological Department, some places in Kodagu, Hassan, Mysuru, Mandya and Tumukuru districts will also witness, gusty winds (40-50 kmph) on May 18.

Moderate rain and thundershowers are also likely in Chikkaballapura, Chitradurga, Davangere, Kolar, Ramanagara and Vijayanagara districts.

IMD also predicts light to moderate rain very likely at some places over Bagalkote, Belagavi, Bidar, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Kalaburgi, Koppal, Raichur and Yadgir districts.

On May 16, Channagiri in Davanagere district received the highest rainfall of 6 cm. 

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News Network
May 17,2024

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Hubballi, May 17: Karnataka Police have arrested the killer, Vishwa, also known as Girish, in the sensational Anjali Ambigera murder case, police said on Friday.

Preliminary investigations reveal that Vishwa was a habitual thief who exploited innocent young women. The accused is also a drunkard and was caught while attempting to commit theft. He was also part of a gang which stole bikes.

The accused targeted gullible young women, enacting a drama of love and playing the emotional card to forcefully extort gold, silver, and cash from them. When Anjali did not agree to any of his attempts to rob her and outrightly rejected his offer to go with him to Mysuru city, he brutally killed her.

The police had formed two teams to hunt down the killer. One of the teams was searching in the south Karnataka region, and another team, which launched a hunt in Davanagere, nabbed him. The accused was arrested by the police on Thursday.

The police could not catch him sooner as the killer did not carry a mobile phone and did not use his phone for 15 days, before murdering Anjali. The jurisdictional Bendigeri Police were aware of the killer's history, but even after the complaint by the girl’s family, they showed "utter negligence".

The 24-year-old Vishwa entered Anjali Ambigera's (20) residence at 5.30 A.M. on Wednesday and stabbed the young woman multiple times before she could react. Vishwa dragged Anjali Ambigera all over the house, kicking and stabbing her. Later, he pushed her into the kitchen where he stabbed her repeatedly.

Despite efforts by Anjali’s grandmother and two sisters to stop the attacker, he killed her and managed to flee. The incident occurred in the Veerapura Oni area within the jurisdiction of the Bendigeri Police Station.

Vishwa had been blackmailing Anjali and pressurising her to accompany him to Mysuru without informing her parents. The incident which took place close on the heels of MCA student Neha Hiremath’s brutal murder by the jilted lover has raised concern over the safety of women all across the state.

The BJP had demanded the resignation of Home Minister G. Parameshwara while the Congress leaders have also demanded that the Hubballi-Dharwad Police Commissioner Renuka Sukumar should be transferred for failing to sensitise the police force regarding issues of women’s safety.

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News Network
May 4,2024

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Canadian Police said they have arrested three Indians they suspect were part of the alleged hit squad that had killed Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader involved with the Khalistan movement, which calls for an independent Sikh state.

Nijjar's killing had become the epicentre of a diplomatic row between India and Canada last year after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged the role of "Indian agents" in the murder. India had rejected the charge as "absurd" and "motivated".

The three arrested Indians - Karan Brar, 22, Kamalpreet Singh, 22, Karanpreet Singh, 28 - were living as non-permanent residents in Alberta for three to five years, said Superintendent Mandeep Mooker, who leads the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team. The police have also released their photos.

They have been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, showed court documents.

Police said that none of the suspects were known to them earlier and they were investigating their possible ties to the Indian government.

The murder remains "very much under active investigation," Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Assistant Commissioner David Teboul told a press conference on Friday.

"There are separate and distinct investigations ongoing into these matters, certainly not limited to the involvement of the people arrested today, and these efforts include investigating connections to the government of India," CTV News quoted him as saying.

Nijjar, a Canadian citizen who was wanted in India on various terror charges, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Surrey on June 18, 2023. Trudeau's charge against India sparked a massive row later that year with both countries expelling diplomats of the other country.

A fresh row erupted earlier this week after separatist slogans on 'Khalistan' were raised at an event addressed by Trudeau, prompting New Delhi to summon their Deputy High Commissioner and lodge a strong protest.

On the sidelines of the event, Trudeau told reporters that Nijjar's killing had created a "problem" that he could not have ignored.

India rejected his comment and said it once again showed Canada provides political space given to separatism, extremism, and violence. "This not only impacts India-Canada relations but also encourages a climate of violence and criminality in Canada to the detriment of its own citizens," foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

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