Author: newsdesk

  • In a first, Sindh Assembly passes bill to reserve job quota for transgenders

    In a first, Sindh Assembly passes bill to reserve job quota for transgenders

    The Sindh Assembly has passed a bill reserving 0.5 per cent of positions in various provincial government offices for members of the transgender community.

    Mukesh Kumar Chawla, the Sindh Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, introduced the bill in the House. After the bill was approved, the Sindh government became the first in the nation to set aside a job quota for the underrepresented transgender minority.

    “The transgender people are a marginalised and vulnerable segment of our society. The history of transgender community in Pakistan is fraught with violence, socio-political exclusion, economic inequality and emotional insensitivity. In this respect, it is to empower and include such a vulnerable and weak community in the mainstream of the society. For this purpose, it has been decided to reserve a 0.5 per cent quota for transgenders.”

    There are 10,418 transgender people in Pakistan as of the most recent census, which was conducted in 2017. Of them, 24 per cent reside in Sindh. Approximately 206 of the 41,000 open positions across all government departments, according to government authorities, will be filled by transgender people.

  • Hyderabad will finally get Rescue 1122 service by 2023

    Hyderabad will finally get Rescue 1122 service by 2023

    Deputy Commissioner of Hyderabad Fuad Ghaffar Soomro, who also serves as acting Director-General of the Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA), revealed that Hyderabad would launch its 1122 emergency service by the following year.

    Additionally, Garbage disposal in the city will also become operational by the next month due to the recent contract that has been inked.

    He was addressing the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) members in this location on Tuesday night. The Site area filtration facility, he claimed, had been rendered operational and would shortly be turned over to the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa).

    According to him, Hyderabad’s water quality is superior to Karachi’s. He also noted that the city’s power outages had grown since the introduction of 1000 MW of energy. He claimed the water supply and drainage industries were being impacted.

    He committed to resolving the problems with marriage gardens and reception halls. Underpasses, he added, were also necessary for the metropolis. For the renovation and adornment of roundabouts and greenbelts, he requested the assistance of the business community.

    He gave the business community his word that problems with the fruit market would be taken care of within a timely manner.

    In his welcome speech, HCCI President Adeel Siddiqui noted that rising gas costs, electricity and gas prices, as well as unannounced power outages, were all contributing to a decline in production at small and medium-sized businesses.

    He claimed that industrialists were having difficulties as a result of administrative hurdles. He claimed that the city needed an effective firefighting apparatus. He said that several parts of Latifabad lacked access to even drinkable water.

  • Missing mountaineers Shehroze and Fazal located

    Missing mountaineers Shehroze and Fazal located

    Mountaineers Shehroze Kashif and Fazal Ali who had gone missing missing while descending the summit of Nanga Parbat have been traced, Shehroze’s father confirmed to Geo News.

    “Both Shehroze and Fazal are moving towards camp three,” he said. However, he said that no one had assisted his son and Fazal and they are returning on their own.

    Shehroze Kashif hails from Lahore and Fazal Ali from Shimshal of Gilgit-Baltistan’s Hunza district.

    The ninth-highest peak in the world, Nanga Parbat, was successfully ascended by the duo Tuesday. Shehroze took the honour of being the youngest mountaineer in the world to ascend Nanga Parbat, a mountain that is regarded as being the deadliest and fiercest.

  • Twitter sues Indian government over content removal directives

    Twitter sues Indian government over content removal directives

    Twitter has sued the Indian government to challenge some of its takedown orders, a source familiar with the matter revealed, further escalating the tension between the American social giant and India.

    In its lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Karnataka High Court, Twitter alleges that New Delhi has abused its power by ordering it to remove several tweets from its platform.

    The lawsuit follows a rough year and a half for Twitter in India, a key overseas market for the firm, where it has been asked to take down hundreds of accounts and tweets, many of which critics argue were objected because they denounced the Indian government’s policies and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    Twitter partially complied with the requests but sought to fight back against many challenges. Under India’s new IT rules, which went into effect last year, Twitter has little to no room left to individually challenge the takedown orders.

    The tension between the two was apparent on May 24 last year, when Delhi police, controlled by India’s central government, visited two offices of Twitter — in the national capital state of Delhi and Gurgaon, in the neighboring state of Haryana — to seek more information about Twitter’s rationale to label one of the tweets by ruling partly BJP spokesperson as “manipulated media.”

    Delhi police said it had received a complaint about the classification of the spokesperson’s tweet and visited the offices to serve Twitter India’s head a notice of the inquiry. In a statement, the police said Twitter India’s managing director’s replies on the subject had been “very ambiguous.”

    Twitter at the time described the episode as “intimidation.”

    The company has “concerns with regards to the use of intimidation tactics by the police in response to enforcement of our global Terms of Service, as well as with core elements of the new IT Rules,” it said.

    Twitter India managing director resigned from the firm last year.

    Twitter is not the first tech giant to sue the Indian government. WhatsApp sued New Delhi last year, challenging new regulations that could allow authorities to make people’s private messages “traceable,” and conduct mass surveillance.

    It’s unclear if the new lawsuit will impact Twitter’s proposed acquisition by Elon Musk.

  • Anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan arrested, court summons IG Islamabad at 10am today

    Anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan arrested, court summons IG Islamabad at 10am today

    Anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan was arrested on Tuesday night near Islamabad toll plaza by the Attock police.

    Seventeen treason cases have been registered against Imran Riaz Khan across Punjab, while he was also filing a contempt of court case against the police, reports Dawn.

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry took to Twitter and said that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has taken notice of the issue and has summoned IG Islamabad at 10am today.

    In a recent video on his Youtube channel, Riaz directly addressed Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and alleged that he was threatened after asking questions from military sources about the country’s current political and economic situation.

    PTI Chairperson Imran Khan condemned the arrest and tweeted, “The country is descending into fascism just to make our nation accept an Imported Govt comprising of mega crooks. It is time for everyone, esp the media, to unite & stand up against this fascism.”

    PTI Secretary General Asad Umar tweeted, “Expression of opinions are met with counterarguments and not through arrests.”

    Fawad Chaudhry tweeted, “Fascist government in the country is using third-grade tactics to stifle critical voices against it.”

    PTI’s central secretary information Farrukh Habib shared a video of Riaz after being arrested.

  • Anti-corruption department summons Bushra Bibi’s brother

    Anti-corruption department summons Bushra Bibi’s brother

    Former Prime Minister (PM) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi’s brother Ahmed Mujtaba has been summoned by the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab over his alleged involvement in a corruption case, reports Geo News.

    The former first lady’s brother illegally occupied government land in Depalpur, which is in Okara District. He is accused of “illegally leasing government land earmarked for a market and seizing government land through the chairman of market committee Tahir Zahoor”. Later, he had shops constructed there.

    ACE has asked Mujtaba, secretary Tahir Tanveer and eight others to appear before the Sahiwal office of the anti-corruption department on July 6 (tomorrow).

    The investigation has been opened following Bushra Bibi’s audio leak in which she directed PTI digital media head Dr Arslan Khalid to accuse the former Opposition parties of “treason”.

    Last month, ACE registered cases against former Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar and his brothers for the illegal transfer of state-owned 900 kanals of land. However, the land was transferred by Buzdar’s father to his sons when they were all minors in 1982.

  • Rise in Covid cases: NCOC issues Eid-ul-Azha guidelines

    Rise in Covid cases: NCOC issues Eid-ul-Azha guidelines

    The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Tuesday released new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the public to abide by on Eid-ul-Azha amid a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases.

    Protocols for Eid-ul-Azha Prayers:
    • Eid-ul-Azha prayers should be conducted in open spaces under the strict rules of Covid-19.
    • Two to Three Eid prayers should be arranged at one venue.
    • Eid prayer sermons should be kept short.
    • A face mask is compulsory at the place of prayer.
    • The venue should have multiple entrances and exits.
    • The availability of hand sanitisers at the point of entry must be ensured by venue organisers.
    • Social distance protocols should be ensured by properly marking the distance.
    • Efforts should be made to prevent people from greeting and shaking hands after prayers.
    Protocols for Qurbani:
    • Efforts will be made to encourage and promote central/collective sacrifice ensuring compliance with Covid-19 rules on wearing masks, social distance, and avoiding large crowds.
    • The provinces will launch awareness campaigns to inform the public about the possible spread of Covid-19 during meat distribution, so caution should be exercised in the handling/distribution of meat.
    • A limited number of people will be allowed at the collective sacrifice venue.
  • ‘KU bombing planned by BLF and BLA, neighbouring country had a role’: Sharjeel Memon

    ‘KU bombing planned by BLF and BLA, neighbouring country had a role’: Sharjeel Memon

    Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon on Tuesday (July 5) said that the Karachi University (KU) suicide bombing on April 26 was a joint plan by the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF).

    On Monday, a 13-member Chinese delegation, led by a Chinese counterterrorism official, called on Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah and discussed with him security measures for Chinese nationals working in Sindh and the progress of the probe into the KU attack.

    An intelligence team of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) revealed in the meeting that an “important accused” had been arrested.

    Addressing a press conference today, Memon said that the suspect, a terrorist, had revealed that the KU attack was the joint work of the BLF and the BLA.

    “During the investigation process, the suspect made important revelations. He said that he was the commander of a BLF sleeper cell in Karachi.”

    Memon further said that the suspect met the husband of the female suicide bomber (Shari Baloch), Dr Haibastan Bashir, and another “important terrorist” named “Zeb” in Karachi, and helped to carry out the KU attack.

    The minister further added that the suspect revealed that “Zeb was the KU attack mastermind”, who entered Pakistan from a “neighbouring country” and had been staying in Karachi with Shari Baloch and her husband.

    Shari Baloch, a 30-year-old woman, committed a suicide bombing near the Confucius Institute of Karachi University on April 26. In the suicide attack, she targeted four people, including Chinese nationals and a van driver.

    She was an educated woman who belonged from Kech, Balochistan. She had been with Balochistan Students Organisation-Azad (BSO Azad) since college. She later joined the separatist movement of the Majeed Brigade of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). She completed her master’s degree in education from Allama Iqbal Open University in 2014.

  • The Minor’s father files new petition in Sindh High Court for recovery of his daughter

    The Minor’s father files new petition in Sindh High Court for recovery of his daughter

    Minor Girl father Mehdi Kazmi has filed a new case in the Sindh High Court for the recovery of his daughter. He has alleged that Zaheer Ahmed had kidnapped his daughter.

    The petition submitted by The Minor’s father stated that his daughter was 13 years, 11 months, and 19 days old when she was kidnapped by Zaheer Ahmed.

    It also stated that all NADRA documents, educational certificates, passports, and birth certificates are available as evidence.

    The petition asserts that her marriage with Zaheer is a violation of the 2016 Punjab Restoration Marriage Act. According to a new report by a six-member medical board, which established the adolescent’s age to be between 15 and 16. The petition sought The Minor’s recovery.

    Previously, The Minor’s age had been established by a medical board to be between 16 and 17, but the findings of the board had been challenged on a technicality.

  • Meta, PTA launch educational series ‘Chai Chats’ to promote digital literacy

    Meta, PTA launch educational series ‘Chai Chats’ to promote digital literacy

    In order to raise awareness of digital literacy and social cohesion among young Facebook users in Pakistan, Meta has created the educational series “Chai Chats” in partnership with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

    According to DAWN, the series follows a close-knit group of college friends who face challenging online situations and overcome them with grace, friendship, and humour. Its goal is to encourage and persuade young people to adopt positive and responsible online behaviour.

    Through the web series and local community training, the programme hopes to reach millions of young Pakistanis online as well as 180 secondary school teachers and more than 1,000 secondary school students. It will also train educators in at-risk communities to address these issues with at-risk communities.

    The focus of the webisode series “Chai Chats” focuses on the daily online activities of five university buddies and how they support one another in navigating their online and offline lives while also taking into account their varied socio-cultural and behavioural tendencies.

    By connecting with the young audiences, the characters and their story should function as positive role models.

    Chairman PTA Maj. Gen (R) Amir Azeem Bajwa praised Meta’s efforts in a statement about the programme. “This effort will improve Pakistani youth’s capacity to utilise social media platforms in a beneficial, productive, and legal manner for both individual and group well-being.

    Through better digital experiences, Meta has been at the forefront of fostering digital literacy.

    The government of Pakistan is dedicated to using digital technology to hasten socio-economic development across the country, and I believe that this initiative will prove to be a significant first step in that direction, he continued.

    “The programme furthers Meta’s long-term commitment to developing digital literacy in Pakistan and assisting all users to harness the benefits of technology innovation for their growth and socioeconomic success,” stated Ruici Tio, Policy Program Manager, APAC- Meta.

    Its objective, according to him, was to improve the digital and critical thinking abilities of over 1,000 children and 180 teachers in these areas.