Author: newsdesk

  • ‘TTP may be considered for general amnesty, provided they follow constitution of Pakistan’: Arif Alvi

    ‘TTP may be considered for general amnesty, provided they follow constitution of Pakistan’: Arif Alvi

    President Dr Arif Alvi has said that if anyone wants to leave the ideology of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and work as per the Constitution of Pakistan, the government may consider a general amnesty.

    Speaking on Dawn News programme, ‘Khabar se Khabar’, President Alvi said, “The TTP is a threat to us. We have been told that they will stay with them [Afghan Taliban] but do nothing against Pakistan.”

    “It’s one step, Pakistan will consider general amnesty, if anyone surrenders,” further added Alvi.

    Earlier, Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid had said in an interview that TTP is not a problem of Afghanistan but of Pakistan, so it is Pakistan’s job to formulate a strategy in this regard.

    “If TTP believes in our followers and our Amir-ul-Mominin, then they [TTP] will have to follow them as well,” added Mujahid.

    The detailed interview of the president is yet to be aired on Dawn News. A short teaser of the show was aired by the channel on Wednesday.

    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    Australia warns of cancelling Afghanistan Test if Taliban ban women’s cricket
    
			
    Australia warns of cancelling Afghanistan Test if Taliban ban women’s cricket
    
			
    Cricket Australia (CA) warned to cancel the Test match against Afghanistan in November if women are not allowed to play the sport under the Taliban regime.
    

    The updated stance from CA follows the developments on Wednesday where the Taliban indicated that women would not be able to participate in sport, including cricket.
    

    

    


    

    

    

    In a statement released on Thursday, Cricket Australia confirmed it would be unable to proceed with the planned Test at Hobart’s Blundstone Arena from November 27 if news reports of Taliban views on the women’s game were true.
    

    “Driving the growth of women’s cricket globally is incredibly important to Cricket Australia,” the statement said.
    

    “Our vision for cricket is that it is a sport for all and we support the game unequivocally for women at every level.”
    

    “If recent media reports that women’s cricket will not be supported in Afghanistan are substantiated, Cricket Australia would have no alternative but to not host Afghanistan for the proposed Test Match due to be played in Hobart,” it added.
    

    The ICC has said that Afghanistan’s status in the international game will be discussed at their next board meeting but that is not scheduled until November, which raises further questions about their participation in the T20 World Cup.
    

    Afghanistan is the only Full Member to have received that status without having an operational women’s team in place. Last year, the Afghanistan Cricket Board had announced their first contracts for women as they looked to build a team.
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    ‘Not necessary,’ Afghan women to be banned from playing sports by Taliban
    
			
    The Taliban spokesperson has said that the Afghan women, including the country’s women’s cricket team, will be prohibited from participating in sports under the new Taliban regime, The Gurdian has reported. 
    

    Ahmadullah Wasiq, the deputy chairman of the Taliban’s culture commission, claimed in an interview with Australian network SBS that women’s sport was neither appropriate nor required.
    

    “I don’t think women will be allowed to play cricket because it is not necessary that women should play cricket,” Wasiq said. “In cricket, they might face a situation where their face and body will not be covered. Islam does not allow women to be seen like this”.
    

    “It is the media era, and there will be photos and videos, and then people watch it. Islam and the Islamic Emirate [Afghanistan] do not allow women to play cricket or play the kind of sports where they get exposed.”
    

    On September 7, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid announced members of the new interim government in Afghanistan. Afghanistan will be led by Mohammad Hasan Akhund while the group’s co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar will be the deputy Afghan leader.
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    12-year-old girl killed after rape in Bahawalnagar
    
			
    12-year-old girl killed after rape in Bahawalnagar
    
			
    A 12-year-old girl was murdered after the alleged rape in Manchinabad area of Punjab’s Bahawalnagar district, ARY News reported on Thursday.
    

    According to details, a 12-year-old girl was killed after being raped in Manchinabad. The police detained the two suspects in the case after it was reported.
    

    Taking notice of the incident, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has also asked for a report from IG Punjab and ordered strict action against the persons involved in the crime.
    

    CM Punjab Usman Buzdar also assured the victim’s family that justice will be served.
    

    Earlier, a girl in Gujrat died after three men allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped her. Three men abducted a girl from Chak Ghazi in Gujrat district on September 1. The accused gave a tranquilliser to the girl and then raped her.
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    Arrest warrants issued for Iffat Omar and Ali Gul Pir
    
			
    Arrest warrants issued for Iffat Omar and Ali Gul Pir
    
			
    Judicial Magistrate Yousuf Abdul Rehman has rejected the plea of Iffat Omar’s exemption from appearance and has issued arrest warrants. The court has also issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Ali Gul Pir.
    

    Earlier singer Ali Zafar filed for a defamation case against Iffat Omar and Ali Gul Pir in context of Meesha Shafi’s harassment allegations.
    

    The Dour diva has opened up on the matter:
    

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is WhatsApp-Image-2021-09-09-at-2.57.48-AM-702x1024.jpeg
    

    

    The court has also summoned singer Meesha Shafi on the next hearing and dismissed the pleas of co-accused Leena Ghani, Fariha Ayub, Faizan Raza and Haseemuz Zaman for permanent exemption from appearance. The court adjourned the case till October 6.
    

    According to the FIA, Meesha Shafi and Iffat Omar made allegations of sexual harassment against the Madhubala singer on Twitter.
    

    The Federal Investigation Agency last year registered the case on the complaint of Zafar. He had accused Meesha Shafi, Leena Ghani, Iffat Omer, Fariha Ayub, Faizan Raza, Haseemuz Zaman, Ali Gul Pir and Maham Javed of running a coordinated vilification campaign against him on social media.
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    Afghan journalist confuses Aamir Liaquat as dead Pak Army soldier in Panjshir
    
			
    Afghan journalist confuses Aamir Liaquat as dead Pak Army soldier in Panjshir
    
			
    An Afghan journalist, Noor Quraishi, claimed that Pakistani commando Colonel Adil was killed in Panjshir Valley and shared a picture of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Aamir Liaquat.
    

    He shared the picture on his Twitter account, claiming that he [Amir Liaqat] was killed in the clashes with anti-Taliban forces. His tweet translated to, “The first casualty of Pakistani commandos: Colonel Adil died during the fighting in Panjshir.”
    


     
    

    Shortly after the tweet, netizens started mocking the journalist for a faux pas.
    


     
    


     
    


     
    

    Fake and misleading news regarding Pakistan’s involvement in Taliban takeover in Afghanistan has been making rounds on social media.
    

    Earlier, a Twitter user had shared a picture of a fighter jet, claiming that a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) plane was shot down in Afghanistan’s Panjshir valley. Later, a fact check by Dawn showed that the picture is actually from 2018 in the United States.
    

    Apart from this, Indian News Channels, Republic TV and Zee Hindustan, ran footage from a video game Arma-3 as visuals stating that it was the PAF attacking the anti-Taliban fighters.
    

    

    


    

    

    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    48 per cent Pakistanis happy with PTI’s performance
    
			
    48 per cent Pakistanis happy with PTI’s performance
    
			
    Seven in 10 Pakistanis believe that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will complete its five-year term, according to a survey.
    

    

    A survey, ‘Gallup Pakistan’ was conducted with over 1200 respondents across urban and rural areas, covering over 100 districts in the country. The sample comprised a cross-section of age and socio-economic classes.
    

    The survey conducted was based to evaluate the performance of the PTI government.
    

    Performance of PTI:
    

    Public opinion is split on the issue of performance of the PTI government with slightly more than 48 per cent saying performance is good over the past three years. A sizeable 45 percent believe the performance has been bad.
    

    

    In the largest province of Punjab, a majority are unhappy and say that Imran Khan’s government’s performance isn’t good. Highest support in Balochistan at 74 per cent rating positively and KP where 62 per cent rated Imran Khan’s performance positively.
    

    Who is better Imran Khan vs Nawaz Sharif:
    

    When the survey crafted a comparison between Khan’s Rule vs Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif rule?
    

    Public Opinion split equally with 37 per cent each saying Imran Khan rule is better and 37 per cent saying Nawaz Sharif rule was better. 18 per cent of people believe that the performance of PM Khan’s government is the same as that of Nawaz’s.
    

    

    Economy:
    

    When it came to the economy, 45 per cent said they were satisfied with where it stands, whereas 44 per cent expressed dissatisfaction.
    

    

    Prevention of corruption:
    

    In efforts to prevent corruption, 48 per cent were of the view that the government has been successful, whereas 40 per cent were of the view it has failed.
    

    

    Performance on Foreign Affairs:
    

    A majority of Pakistanis, 58 per cent, have also indicated they are satisfied with the government’s foreign policy efforts. Of these, 18 per cent said the performance has been “very good”, while 40 per cent said it has been “good”.
    

    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    ‘Shehbaz makes a decision, his party says it’s personal’, Bilawal slams PMLN
    
			
    ‘Shehbaz makes a decision, his party says it’s personal’, Bilawal slams PMLN
    
			
    Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, while addressing his party workers in Multan said that “ [Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz President] Shehbaz Sharif is the party president, his decision should be final.”
    

    According to the chairman, whenever Sharif makes a statement, party members say that it is his own “personal decision”, reports Geo.
    

    Furthermore, he argued that “If Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) had stayed, it could hold a long march, and before reaching Lahore, they could have made [Chief Minister of Punjab] Usman Buzdar resign, and [Prime Minister] Imran Khan would have resigned before the march reached Islamabad. Shehbaz  was aware of all the formulas.”
    

    Bilawal, adding that his party had sincerely wanted to oust the government through PDM said that “The PDM leadership started talking about our resignations instead of the Punjab chief minister and the prime minister’s resignations.”
    

    Earlier this month Sharif suggested the formation of a national government. He said, “It needs collective wisdom and requires collective efforts to fix [the problems of Pakistan]. That’s why I think we should have a national government in place to sort out these huge tasks. Even if we [PML-N] win a majority, we can’t fix it alone.”
    

    Upon this Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi made his comment while talking to The News by saying that, “There is no option for ‘national govt’ in Constitution. 
    

    “Our party has already made it clear that Shehbaz did not talk about it [national government] and he was misquoted by some circles”, he added.
    

    Moreover during the rally Bilawal taunted the government by saying that the Centre was proposing to roll out electronic voting machines when there is persistent load shedding in the country.
    

    In early June both PPP and Awami National Party (ANP) left PDM by saying that the leaders of the fragmented anti-government alliance appear to be “confused and divided”.
    

    

    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    Yasir Nawaz responds to the controversy, recreates Nida’s ‘Formula 1’ viral video
    
			
    Yasir Nawaz responds to the controversy, recreates Nida’s ‘Formula 1’ viral video
    
			
    Pakistani actor and director Yasir Nawaz has recreated his wife Nida Yasir’s viral video.
    

    The Nadaniyaan actor took to Instagram to share the hilarious video.
    

    


    

     
    

    In the video, he can be seen in two getups. One was of Nida and the other was of one the guests.
    

    The Morning Show host recently trended on social media due to a blunder regarding Formula cars that she made on live television.
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    ‘And this is the lesson we are teaching our children,’ Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy criticises Single National Curriculum
    
			
    ‘And this is the lesson we are teaching our children,’ Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy criticises Single National Curriculum
    
			
    Oscar-winner filmmaker, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy recently took to social media and criticised the Single National Curriculum (SNC). She shared pictures of English textbooks of grade one and five.
    

    Sharmeen shared a picture of a grade five English textbook on her Instagram stories and wrote, “And this is the lesson we are teaching our children: What do you see?”
    

    

    

    

    Sharing another picture of the English book of grade one, she wrote, “Grade 1 is a 4-5-year-old. What are we telling our girls? Cover up at that age? Those who designed these textbooks should be held responsible. #Ziapartdeux”
    

    

    

    

    “And this is the physics being taught. Proponents of SNC, have you even read the books you are endorsing,” the Oscar winner wrote, posting an image of a page of a physics book.
    

    

    

    

    Single National Curriculum is a ‘uniform’ system of education, which means the same curriculum for everyone. Single National Curriculum has been started to be implemented in madressahs and from grades one to five in both public and private schools in Punjab.