Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flew its plane from Islamabad to Manchester with only one passenger on board. According to reports, the plane which had a capacity of 371 passengers carried only one passenger to the destination.
While Geo News has reported that the flight took off from Islamabad, journalist Murtaza Ali Shah said that the plane flew from Manchester to Islamabad.
In the video posted by Shah, a PIA’s staffer, while pointing towards other empty 370 passenger seat, remarks that the passenger on board is the “lucky” one. The only passenger on the flight was a native of Gujrat.
Meanwhile prominent aviation journalist Tahir Imran Mian said PIA’s flight was not the only one that flew empty.
Most of the flights these days are dead. On 22nd December only 2 passengers travelled on Virgin Atlantic flight from Manchester VS362. I wonder why they don’t cancel it. https://t.co/yjnWfdyKzc
Amid the second wave of coronavirus, the government has decided to open educational institutions in phases from January 18.
Inter provincial Education Ministers meeting held today. Health situation was carefully considered and it was decided that classes appearing for Board and Cambridge exam that is 9,10,11,12, O and A level, will reopen on Jan 18. Classes pre school to 8 will reopen on Jan 25. 1/2
2/2 All higher education institutions/ universities will reopen on Feb 1. However online classes will start for them on Jan 11. Similarly all schools will reopen in January 11 for Administrators and teachers to prepare for arrival of students.
Soon after the news was announced, memes started doing rounds on social media adding to the popularity of Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood.
Mahmood’s memes also went viral earlier after he announced that educational institutions would be closed till January 11 due to rising COVID-19 cases. In an exclusive interview with The Current, the minister talked about the memes and which ones were his favourite.
In a bid to save money, the Punjab government has decided to shut down the free WiFi service in public spaces for an indefinite period.
The decision was taken by the provincial government led by Chief Minister Usman Buzdar to save Rs190 million that the project was costing.
The WiFi service launched by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government in 2017 was available in several cities of Punjab, such as Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan. The government had created at last 200 hotspots to provide free internet to the residents. It was also available at airports, railway stations, metro stations, colleges, and universities.
Chief Minister’s aide Firdous Ashiq Awan was reported as saying that the service has been shut down temporarily and it will be resumed soon. However, she didn’t give any specific date.
In 2019, the government had halted the free internet service due to a lack of funds. According to a report in Dawn, the service was stopped after the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) failed to pay Rs150m to the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL).
Ayesha Omar gave a befitting reply to a troll who criticised her for her choice of outfit.
Commenting under a post which talked about how Omar promoted women empowerment by wearing a local label run by two women to the Lux Style Awards, a social media user commented: “If she is promoting women to expose of their body (via such clothes), then that surely is not ‘women empowerment’.”
“Such a misquoted term,” they added.
Responding to the comment, Ayesha wrote: “I’m definitely not promoting/ asking/urging women to expose their bodies. That is their own choice as wearing this dress was mine. As wearing whatever you want is yours.”
Talking about the outfit, Ayesha said: “This dress was sent to me as it is. I had no input in the design, length, structure or type of dress they were making for me. They only asked for my size. They contacted me themselves and sent me this outfit in June.”
The actor continued: “I wasn’t paid to wear or promote it either and was waiting for an appropriate opportunity to wear it. I’m promoting and showcasing their work/talent: the beautiful beaded hand embellishments.”
“If you could look beyond a bit of my limbs showing, it would be nice to appreciate someone’s hard work without being judgmental. Try it. It uplifts both parties.”
Ayesha concluded her note by sharing the meaning of the word empowerment.
In another comment, when a user remarked that such outfits provoke rape cases, Ayesha hit back saying: “Oh so that explains 4-month-old babies, 5-year-olds and 7-year-old girls and being raped?”
Later, in an Instagram post, Ayesha said that 2020 was a crazy year and she saw many people suffer physically, emotionally and financially which is why she decided to would try and help as many people as she could in whatever capacity.
“One of those ways was to use my social media platforms to promote social causes, NGOs, public service messages and small businesses throughout the year. (completely free of charge),” said the actor. “Every day I would receive quite a few packages, messages and queries and I tried to promote as many products and services as I could.”
Karachi has been listed among the world’s most polluted cities ranking sixth on the global Air Quality Index on Monday.
As per details, the number of polluted particles in the air in the provincial capital was recorded at 186 particulate matter.
The capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek was on the top of the list while India’s Kolkata ranked second among the world’s most polluted cities.
According to the classification, pollution from 151 to 200 degrees is harmful to health, pollution from 201 to 300 degrees is extremely harmful to health, while more than 301 degrees indicates hazardous pollution.
The Lahore High Court has declared “two finger test and hymen test carried out for the purposes of ascertaining the virginity of a female victim of rape or sexual abuse” discriminatory and against the constitution of Pakistan.
In a ruling issued in response to a plea filed by women activists seeking a ban on the discriminatory practice, the court said: “It is declared that two finger test and the hymen test carried out for the purposes of ascertaining the virginity of a female victim of rape or sexual abuse is unscientific having no medical basis, therefore it has no forensic value in cases of sexual violence.”
The plea had argued that the virginity tests are “neither necessary nor reliable or relevant for the purpose of investigation into the incident of rape or sexual abuse”.
The court said the test “offends the personal dignity of the female victim and therefore is against the right to life and right to dignity enshrined in Article 9 and 14 of the constitution”. It further said the hymen test also discriminates against women as it is carried out on the basis of gender.
The judgement written by Justice Ayesha Malik noted that the hymen test can be carried if it is “warranted medically or for treatment purposes” and the medical officer must “stipulate the reasons” for carrying out this test.
In a reference to a recent anti-rape ordinance by the federal government, the court said: “Notwithstanding the promulgation of 2020 Ordinance which specifically prohibits the two finger test by way of Section 13, the federal government has taken no steps to enforce the requirements of the 2020 Ordinance or any steps to create awareness and training in order to change the habits of the medico-legal officers in carrying out the virginity test.”
It said the practice is ingrained in the processes of the medico-legal examination which cannot be ended without proper training and awareness. According to the LHC, the federation and provincial government should take necessary steps to ensure that virginity tests are not carried out in medicolegal examination of the victims of rape and sexual abuse.
Amid the second wave of coronavirus, the Punjab government has decided to open educational institutions in phases from Jan 18.
According to provincial education minister Murad Raas, the government has decided to open schools and universities in three phases. In the first phase on Jan 18, schools will resume classes for students of matric and intermediate. In the second phase, the primary and middle schools will resume class on Jan 25.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Opening of Educational Institutions in Punjab. Classes 9,10,11,12 to open on January 18th 2021. Classes ECE through 8th to open on January 25th, 2021. Universities to open on February 1st, 2021. All institutions will have 50% students on alternate days as before.
In the third phase, the government will reopen universities on Feb 1. The minister said the educational institutions “will have 50 per cent students on alternate days as before”.
Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood had announced in November that all schools across the country will close down from 26th to January 10, 2021, to control the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
Before this, the schools remained closed from March till September amid the first wave of coronavirus. But due to an increase in the infections in the students, the schools were shut down again.
The comment which has now been deleted read criticised the actor for posting about her work, not long after the death of her father.
“You are worried about Moosa and Zohra! And your father? He hasn’t been gone a week and here you are posting about dramas. Oh, God. What is this world of showbiz!” it read,
In response, Sarah hit back saying: “Would my pain have lessened if I posted after a month? Does that even make sense?”
Sarah’s father passed away in December 2020. The actor had earlier posted a heartfelt note for her late parents.
Islamic State, aka Daesh, has claimed responsibility for an attack on Sunday that killed 11 miners from minority Shia Hazaras in Balochistan.
Reuters reported that the attack took place early in the morning in the Mach area of Bolan district, killing the miners who were in a shared residential room near the coal mine where they worked.
“The throats of all coal miners have been slit after their hands were tied behind their backs and (they were) blindfolded,” a security official told Reuters. A video clip of the victims making the rounds on social media showed three bodies lying outside the room and the rest inside in pools of blood.
The incident that shook the country drew criticism from all quarters. Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the killings, calling them “a cowardly inhuman act of terrorism”. “Have asked Frontier Constabulary to use all resources to apprehend these killers and bring them to justice,” he said in a tweet.
The condemnable killing of 11 innocent coal miners in Machh Balochistan is yet another cowardly inhumane act of terrorism. Have asked the FC to use all resources to apprehend these killers & bring them to justice. The families of the victims will not be left abandoned by the govt
Following the attack, the members of the Hazara community held a protest in Quetta. The protesters blocked the western bypass and burnt tyres to protest the killings.
It is not the first time that the minority community has faced attacks from radical Islamist outfits, such as the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. In April, a market suicide bombing killed 18 people, half of whom were Hazaras. In 2013, three bombings killed more than 200 people in Hazara neighbourhoods in Quetta.
Contrary to what the rumour mills have been churning, Sanam Jung is not getting divorced and is all set to celebrate her sixth wedding anniversary next week.
In a note posted to social media, Sanam trashed the rumours saying that she was not planning to post a clarification but concerned phone calls from family member prompted her to do so.
“I would just like to clarify that there is no truth to these rumours about Qassam and I splitting up,” stated the actor. “This rumour started from a fan comment on my Instagram post and it’s completely ridiculous.”
“I didn’t plan on posting any kind of clarification or explanation but Qassam and my family have been getting concerned phone calls almost daily about this pressing issue” she continued.
Sanam further said: “Qassam and I are happily married and are about to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary next week. I would really appreciate it if people stop posting these false rumours.”
“We look forward to spending the rest of our lives together,” she added.
Sanam also requested her followers to not “instigate such rumours and claim their truth without any factual knowledge.”
“This is a very serious accusation at someone’s family, and we have all been very distressed because of this silly rumour. Please have some empathy for our families as we are real people too!”, she concluded.
