A Karachi-bound Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight from Lahore on Friday crashed a bit over a minute away from the port city’s airport, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) sources said.
The plane that crashed in Karachi’s Model Colony, was reportedly carrying 95 passengers.
A video available with The Current showed houses located in the locality’s Jinnah Bagh area on fire.
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Rescue teams are en route to the site of the crash, a cloud of thick black smoke can be seen over which.
The city at the centre of the coronavirus crisis — Wuhan — has banned the eating of wild animals and Chinese farmers are being offered cash to quit breeding exotic animals. Both moves come amid mounting pressure for China to crack down on the illegal wildlife trade blamed by many for the pandemic that has killed more than 330,000 people and left over 5 million infected.
The local administration in Wuhan, the city of about 11 million people in China’s central Hubei province where cases of the new coronavirus were first recorded late last year, announced that the eating of all wild animals was officially banned.
The city also banned virtually all hunting of wild animals within its limits, declaring Wuhan “a wildlife sanctuary,” with the exception of government-sanctioned hunting for “scientific research, population regulation, monitoring of epidemic diseases and other special circumstances”.
Wuhan also imposed strict new controls on the breeding of all wild animals, making it clear that none could be reared as food. City officials said the local administration would take part in the wider national scheme to buy wild animal breeders out.
The national plan is the first time Chinese authorities have pledged to buy out breeders in an attempt to curb exotic animal breeding, animal rights activists say.
China had already banned the sale of wild animals for food as the new coronavirus — COVID-19 — spread around the world, citing the risk of diseases spreading to humans, but the trade remains legal for other purposes, including research and traditional medicine.
The virus that causes COVID-19 is widely believed to have passed from bats to people, possibly via another species, before spreading worldwide.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many things around the globe including the education system. Students from around the globe and Pakistan have been taking online classes ever since the pandemic started.
Recently, a video of the Lahore School of Economics’ (LSE) Dean, Dr Sohail Zafar has gone viral on social media for allegedly berating a student who is from Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, for not buying a laptop and facing technical issues during the lockdown.
The student, who had returned home after the university cancelled ‘face to face’ classes, demanded the cancellation of online classes because the software for online exams would not work properly on his laptop.
In response to his complaint, the Dean can be heard saying: “You are a non-serious student, who does not pay attention to his studies.”
He asked the student to buy a new laptop for Rs 40,000 and if he cannot afford it, he should simply rent a laptop.
Since the video went viral, #BoycottLSE started trending on social media.
Meanwhile, the student involved in the incident, later made another video to clarify the incident and defend his professor. He said that whoever made the video had cropped it and the conversation between him and the professor was a friendly one that they had after the class was finished.
A 16-year-old boy from Indian state of Tamil Nadu has died of a cardiac arrest while playing popular online multiplayer game Player Unknown’s Battleground (PUBG).
The deceased, Sathish Kumar, was a second year textile designing student at a polytechnic college.
Reportedly, the cause of cardiac arrest was intensive involvement in the game for six long hours, after which he collapsed. He started shouting hysterically before collapsing and was taken to a local hospital where he was declared dead.
There is a common belief that the game causes undue stress and tension that has led to the death of Kumar and a few others. There is a lack of evidence in this regard but video games like these have been known to cause aggression and depression.
Multiple deaths of PUBG players have been reported previously and playing such games for too long is not recommended.
While no such incidents have been reported in Pakistan, the death comes days after the Lahore High Court (LHC) directed Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to decide whether PUBG should be banned in the country.
The court was hearing a petition filed by a citizen, Faizan Maqsood, against the online game, seeking its removal from the Google Play Store. The petition said that the game had a negative impact on children and their personalities leading to violent tendencies. The petition stated that the game also had a negative impact on decision making skills of children.
If PTA does go forward with the ban, Pakistan would not be the first country to take such action as some other countries have already banned the popular online game. Jordan is one of the countries which banned PUBG over its “negative effects”.
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has once again demanded the abolition of the Central Ruete Hilal [moon-sighting] Committee.
Fawad, while criticising the committee, argued that there was no need for such a committee in the modern era.
He also claimed that the committee, which is headed by Mufti Muneebur Rehman, wants Eid to fall on Monday, May 25 instead of Sunday, announcing to reveal motives of the committee behind such a move during a press conference.
Last year, the minister had proposed that a scientific committee should replace the Central Ruete Hilal Committee for the sighting of the moon, which had led to the committee taking strong exception.
Chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman had asked Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan to “rein in” his ministers after Fawad had accused clerics of making lunar sighting for Islamic months a controversial affair every year as well as opposing the creation of Pakistan.
“Fawad Chaudhry’s statement against the opposition is his personal matter, but he should exercise restraint while commenting on religious scholars and not misquote history,” he said. “Who knows… one of them might also have a role in your [Fawad] appointment.”
He had urged the premier to “control his passionate ministers”, who “lack knowledge about the system”.
The Islamabad High Court has ordered the Islamabad Zoo to move all animals, including their famed elephant Kaavan, to an animal sanctuary within 30 days because it lacks the basic facilities for their proper care and upkeep.
In a judgement, they ordered wildlife officials to consult with Sri Lanka to find Kaavan a “suitable sanctuary” within 30 days.
The condition and treatment of Kaavan, an Asian elephant from Sri Lanka, who had spent nearly three decades without a female partner in a small cage in the zoo had gathered international outrage several years ago.
The elephant’s behaviour, including bobbing his head repeatedly, demonstrated “a kind of mental illness” and wildlife experts were of the opinion that he was depressed.
Apart from not having a partner, activists said he had insufficient shelter from Islamabad’s searing summer temperatures, which can rise to above 40 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit).
Asian elephants can roam thousands of kilometres through deep tropical and subtropical forests, according to the World Wildlife Fund. In contrast, Kaavan’s 90 by 140 metre (100 by 150 yard) pen had almost no foliage, and only limited shade was provided.
Read more – Leopard spotted near Islamabad’s hiking trails
It was also reported that food which was meant for Kaavan was being stolen by his caretakers. Last year, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry had also alleged that chickens meant to feed lions at the zoo were being cooked in the home of the zoo director.
Arriving as a one-year-old in 1985 from Sri Lanka, Kaavan was temporarily held in chains in 2002 because zookeepers were concerned about increasingly violent tendencies, but he was freed later that year after an outcry.
His mate Saheli, who arrived also from Sri Lanka in 1990, died in 2012, and in 2015 it emerged that Kaavan was regularly being chained once more — for several hours a day.
Kavaan’s misery caught the attention of American music icon and actor, Cher, who had long propagated for his release. After the news of Kavaan’s release emerged, she took to social media to express her joy and thank the Government of Pakistan.
Cher also referred to this as “one of the greatest moments of her life”.
IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, during the hearings, had blasted the Marghazar Zoo for lack of necessities and has asked that all the animals be moved to an animal sanctuary. The Islamabad Zoo will be allowed to keep animals only after they are capable of providing physical, psychological and emotional needs to the animals.
With the damning inquiry report into the sugar crisis being made public on Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s call, senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen has said he is “shocked at the false allegations levelled against him” as he has “always run a clean business”.
“Audit team of [Tareen-owned] JDW Sugar Mills found some additional information about ‘SATTA’ from interviews as well as forensic analysis of brokers of Punjab,” read the report, adding that during his interview with the investigation team, a broker named Aslam stated that in March 2020 he executed forward trades of around 11,135 trucks worth Rs10,292,219,000 with JDW and Ittehad Sugar Mills.
Tareen, in response to the report, also said the entire country knew that he “paid full price to sugarcane growers”.
“I do not maintain two sets of books. I pay all my taxes diligently. I will answer every allegation and be vindicated IA [sic],” he tweeted.
Earlier, the premier’s aide on accountability, Shahzad Akbar, declared the report public in a press briefing and said that it confirmed PM Imran’s long-held view that businessmen in politics would always put business first.
While on one hand stars are debating over whether Turkish series Diriliş: Ertuğrul should be aired in Pakistan or not, on the other hand, we are witnessing a heartwarming exchange between actors of both the countries.
In a recent Instagram post, Neelam Muneer discussed how watching the series is “like reading a book which is full of great history of Muslims”.
“Even though I respect views of everyone in my fraternity but I feel it’s not the matter of Turkish content or Pakistani content,” wrote Neelam. “We should look beyond and understand that its Islamic content, which has so much wisdom and teaches us the history and the values of Muslims.”
She added, “Let’s just feel proud of our Islamic heritage and get motivated and also create content in Pakistan which we should also be proud of.”
Neelam’s post caught the attention of Gülsim Ali, who plays Aslıhan Hatun, younger sister of Ural Bey and Aliyar Bey, in the super hit series.
“Thank you for the nice compliments,” replied Ali. “Love you and your heart is so beautiful, wish you all the best.”
Read more – Halime Sultan sends her love to Pakistan
The exchange did not end there. Neelam responded and hoped that Gülsim will be able to visit Pakistan one day, who said she would love to.
Set in 13th century Anatolia and based on the struggle of Ertuğrul Gazi, father of Osman I – the founder of the Ottoman dynasty, Diriliş: Ertuğrul has been trending in the country ever since its first episode aired on PTV Home. Pakistanis are loving the drama series and it has become a sensation in the country. According to PTV, 133.38 million people have watched the drama series from April 25- May 14. PTV’s YouTube channel has also registered an exponential rise in its viewership with 3.5 million subscribers and episodes trending every day on the social media platform.
In an exclusive interview with The Current, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Javed Khan revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had gifted the drama series to Pakistan as a goodwill gesture.
To honour those fighting on the frontlines against the COVID-19 pandemic, producer (Naqsh Shany) Haider has released a rendition of Mehdi Hassan’s Ye Watan Tumhara Hai.
The song features a plethora of celebrities including Adnan Siddiqui, Imran Abbas, Zara Noor Abbas, Faysal Qureshi, Ahsan Khan, Asma Abbas, Zhalay Sarhadi, Asad Siddiqui, Anoushey Abbasi and Gohar Rasheed among others.
According to the song’s producer, “Tum Se Hai Yeh Watan is a symphonic tribute to the sovereignty of Pakistan featuring silver screen artists as singers. This song is dedicated to our nation’s unsung heroes during COVID-19 pandemic and a salute to the armed forces, doctors, engineer’s, scientists, artists and our overseas Pakistanis and the entire nation.”
The song has been recorded and produced over social media apps in a completely virtual environment.
“It is a special effort to uplift nationalism within our hearts”, says the producer.
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Two studies conducted on Wednesday offer some hope that humans can develop protective immunity against the novel coronavirus — COVID-19.
The study was published in a journal of science, after a prototype vaccine was tested whether infection with SARS-CoV-2 — the strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 — provides immunity against re-exposure.
Two experiments were conducted on rhesus macaque monkeys to see whether they develop immunity against natural infection or from a vaccine.
In the first experiment, carried out by the researchers, nine adult rhesus macaque monkeys were infected with the virus. The monkeys developed COVID-19 symptoms but created protective antibodies and recovered after a few days.
To test their newly developed immunity, they were re-exposed after 35 days, what is called a “re-challenge”, and the monkeys showed no symptoms.
The researchers of this experiment cautioned that further research is needed because of the great difference between humans and monkeys.
“Rigorous clinical studies will be required to determine whether SARS-CoV-2 infection effectively protects against SARS-CoV-2 re-exposure in humans,” they said.
The second study, involving many of the same researchers and led by Jingyou Yu, involved vaccinating 35 adult macaques with DNA vaccine candidates designed to generate protective antibodies.
They were exposed to coronavirus six weeks later and had developed levels of antibodies in the blood which are sufficient to neutralise it, the study found.
The levels of antibodies were similar to those seen in humans recovering from the virus, providing hope that an effective human vaccine can be developed.
“Further research will need to address the important questions of the durability of protective immunity and the optimal vaccine platforms for a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine for humans,” the authors of the study said.