Author: newsdesk

  • Prime Minister Imran Khan breaks silence on Aurat March

    Days after it was held, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has broken silence on Aurat March 2020, saying that a “culture clash” was developing in the country due to different education systems and it was most visible in the mixed reactions drawn by women marching on International Women’s Day to demand basic rights.

    “We will, hopefully by next year, introduce a core syllabus for all schools that will be mandatory for students apart from the additional subjects each institution chooses to teach,” the premier said in a speech marking the groundbreaking ceremony of housing projects for low-income people.

    “This is how you create a nation. This is how you end rival cultures from developing,” he said. “The Aurat March that just happened… a different culture was visible in it… this is a cultural issue and this comes from the schooling system,” he added.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    https://twitter.com/mmnewsdottv/status/1237783284723179522

    PM Imran said that by adopting a uniform education system, Pakistan could bring an end to the societal divide that is perpetuated by different educational standards.

    In various cities across Pakistan, the Aurat March was held on Sunday to mark International Women’s Day. The marches were attended by women, children, men, transgender people and others.

    The first Aurat March was held in 2018 in Karachi. Last year, it was extended to more cities, including Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Larkana and Hyderabad. The Aurat March, as it has come to be known since its first iteration, was organised by Hum Aurtain — a feminist collective.

    It has a manifesto demanding basic rights for women in each field of life.

    Many people object to placards and demands of women marchers, saying that they are “un-Islamic” and “unconstitutional”.

  • ’25 LUMS students being tested for coronavirus’? Here’s what you need to know

    ’25 LUMS students being tested for coronavirus’? Here’s what you need to know

    With 20 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in Pakistan, the panic surrounding the pandemic has increased with people urging the government to take strict and timely actions to contain the virus. While all that is happening, fake news and misinformation regarding the spread of the virus is also circulating on social media, in particular, on Whatsapp.

    Below is a screenshot of a message that is widely being shared on social media.

    However, according to The Current’s sources, the information in the message is incorrect. To begin with, there were less than 25 students who went on the trip to Turkey. The students were individually screened and cleared by officials present at the airport when they returned to Pakistan. As a precautionary measure, all the students underwent further tests at the hospital to ensure that they don’t have the disease. According to the LUMS official Twitter account, all the results received so far are negative.

    While the rest of the results are yet to come, the students and administration is requesting the public to not spread misinformation and panic.

    It is also being reported that the university has extended its mid-semester break till April 7. The break will begin on March 16, as scheduled.

    COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a new virus that had not been previously identified in humans. The virus causes respiratory illness (like the flu) with symptoms such as a cough, fever and in more severe cases, pneumonia. You can protect yourself by washing your hands frequently and avoiding touching your face.

    It was discovered in mainland China in mid-December and has since spread globally despite efforts to contain it.

  • Pashtun singer spotted shooting TikTok video at KP CM’s official residence

    Pashtun singer spotted shooting TikTok video at KP CM’s official residence

    Months after heated debates regarding TikTok star Hareem Shah’s connections within the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) made headlines, a viral video has shown renowned Pashtun singer Sofia Kaif walking around what reports claim is the official residence of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister (CM) Mahmood Khan.

    According to reports, Sofia, who was present at the CM House in Peshawar for a ceremony held in one of its lawns, went inside to record the TikTok video shot in a hall of the provincial chief executive’s residence. In the video, the staff of the CM House can also be seen facilitating her.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    This is not the first time a TikTok video has shown an internet celebrity walking around an official building.

    Before Sofia, who had reportedly been invited as a singer to the ceremony at the CM House, Hareem Shah, who had become an internet sensation after her viral videos with influential political leaders took the country by storm, had also been spotted walking around the Foreign Ministry’s office in a TikTok video.

    An investigation had been launched into Hareem’s video, following which multiple controversies involving senior political figures had allegedly forced her to leave the country.

  • VIDEO: Senior journalist cracks netizens up by saying ‘coronavirus came from Italy’s corona city’

    VIDEO: Senior journalist cracks netizens up by saying ‘coronavirus came from Italy’s corona city’

    A senior journalist and analyst has left netizens in fits of laughter after claiming that the new coronavirus “probably originated in the corona city of Italy” that is the most affected by the global pandemic.

    There is no city called ‘corona’ in Italy, and even if there was, we doubt it could have anything to do with the outbreak of the COVID-19 that, since its discovery in Wuhan city of China, has claimed over 4,500 lives with at least 126,000 infections.

    “…it’s happening in Italy that is very much affected and corona[virus] probably originated from its corona area,” senior journalist Nazir Leghari can be heard as saying in a video doing rounds over the internet.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Here’s what Twitterati have to say about it:

    Some even went on to explain how COVID-19 — the new coronavirus — got its name.

    COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a new virus that had not been previously identified in humans. The virus causes respiratory illness (like the flu) with symptoms such as a cough, fever and in more severe cases, pneumonia. You can protect yourself by washing your hands frequently and avoiding touching your face.

    It was discovered in mainland China in mid-December and has since spread globally despite efforts to contain it.

  • Dua Mangi reveals the story behind her abduction

    Dua Mangi reveals the story behind her abduction

    Dua Mangi was kidnapped on November 30th, 2019. Though she was set free by her kidnappers after a few days, a lot of misinformation and conspiracy theories had spread on social media about the incident.

    Mangi recently took to social media to clear all assumptions that the media had spread.

    In a detailed post on Facebook she wrote, “I’m so tired of all the misinformation and conspiracy theories revolving around my case. I will address these questions once and for all and then I’d appreciate it if you all stop talking crap because all this emotionally and mentally drains me.”

    She answered all the questions everyone has been asking her.

    Why haven’t you been helping with the case?

    This is a high profile case and I’m not allowed to disclose any information. but I have been doing everything I can to make sure the perpetrators get caught.

    How were you able to come back home safe and unharmed?

    I was kidnapped for ransom. They let me go after the ransom exchange. This is literally what kidnapping for ransom is like.

    Why didn’t your family cooperate with the forces?

    My family did cooperate with them and is still cooperating. Please stop assuming and believing everything that’s said on sensationalist social media pages.

    Were you kidnapped for personal reasons?

    No, it was a random pick up. it could’ve happened to anyone.

    Here is the post:

  • GCU Lahore denies ‘terminating’ political science teacher ‘for being too political’

    Government College University (GCU) Lahore has denied “terminating” a contractual faculty member of the Department of Political Science, Zagum Abbas, “for being vocal about issues facing students, cultivating a culture of dialogue and encouraging his students to engage in political activities”.

    Zagum, in a Facebook post on Wednesday night, had said that his contract was not extended because he “taught his students to question everything that had been fed to them”.

    According to Zagum, he was “verbally” informed of the decision. “After four years of service to GCU, the administration didn’t even have the decency to provide written notice of termination.” He had further said that he was accused of being “political” and “vocal against the issues facing students and teachers on campus”.

    He had, however, not disclosed the nature of the issues.

    “I want to state proudly that I invited my students to be open, rational and taught them to engage in critical debates. I cultivated a culture of dialogue and engagement and taught my students to question everything which had been fed to them. These were the activities that the myopic men on campus could neither digest nor tolerate.”

    Highlighting his teaching career, Zagum had said he loved his job enough to live away from his family in Gilgit, believing that at least he was “contributing something meaningful to society and the country at large”.

    While support from colleagues and student activists is pouring in for the teacher, the varsity has clarified the termination and welcomed Zagum to apply for a regular appointment “since contractual appointments are subject to workload”.

    “Contractual appointments are subject to workload and classes, as determined by the head of the department. Currently, the workload at the political science department is complete,” a GCU spokesperson told The Current.

    “However, Zagum is welcome to apply for a regular appointment at GCU whenever a post is advertised. If he has any constructive suggestions towards improving the working conditions of contract employees, he is encouraged to provide his feedback directly to the GCU vice chancellor (VC). We wish him all the success in the future,” the spokesperson added.

  • WEF names Minister Hammad Azhar as one of ‘most promising young leaders’ in world

    In recognition of his services in the field of politics, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has named Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar as one of its ‘Young Global Leaders’ from South Asia.

    According to the details, WEF included Azhar’s name in the list of the world’s “most promising leaders under the age of 40” for the year 2020.

    He has been selected for being Pakistan’s youngest state minister and for his services in the field of politics.

    Last year in July, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, following his successful visit to the United States (US), had become the 8th most popular leader of the world on Twitter.

    The number of his Twitter followers had increased to over 10 million that had landed the premier on number 8 in the ranking of world’s most famous leaders over the social network.

    Get to know Hammad Azhar better:

  • Senate HR Committee takes notice of ban on ‘Zindagi Tamasha’

    Senate HR Committee takes notice of ban on ‘Zindagi Tamasha’

    Two months on, the fate of Sarmad Khoosat’s Zindagi Tamasha still hangs in limbo as the government is yet to decide whether the film can be released or not. The film, which was scheduled to hit screens on January 25, was stopped from being released days before its release after the federal and provincial governments feared public unrest.

    While the Federal Government had said that the film will be reviewed by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), the Punjab Government directed the filmmaker to hold a screening on February 3 so that the film can be reviewed again. However, the screening has not taken place as yet. It is pertinent to mention here that the provincial and central censor boards had earlier cleared the film for release with a few cuts.

    Read more – Council of Islamic Ideology to ‘critically review’ ‘Zindagi Tamasha’

    As governing bodies are still to decide the future of the film, Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokar took to social media to announce that the Human Rights Committee has taken notice of the matter and will be reviewing the film.

    Earlier, Sarmad had also appealed to the Prime Minister, President, Chief of Army Staff and the Chief Justice of Pakistan to facilitate the release of the film.

    https://twitter.com/KhoosatSarmad/status/1217818381149229062?s=20

    Written by Nirmal Bano and directed by Sarmad Khoosat, Zindagi Tamasha starres Arif Hassan, Samiya Mumtaz, Eman Suleman and Ali Qureshi in the lead. The film is centred around a naat khwan Rahat Khawaja (played by Hassan) and his family who are outcast from the society when a secret of Khawaja’s is leaked.

    The official synopsis states: “The film is an intimate portrait of a family as well as a scorching political commentary on little gods on this earth who police our private passions.”

    Read more – Sarmad Khoosat says the ‘film/TV fraternity’ is a joke

    The film premiered at the Busan International Film Festival held in October 2019 where it also won the prestigious Kim Ji Seok Award.

    Watch trailer:

  • Saudi oil giant slammed for dressing migrant worker as a sanitiser

    Oil giant Saudi Aramco has come under fire after photos, showing one of its migrant workers wearing a surgical mask and a large hand-sanitiser dispenser, went viral on social media.

    Twitter users labelled the act by the oil company as “racist” and “classist” as the worker appeared to be walking around distributing sanitiser to staff members inside and outside one of its buildings in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

    Following the backlash, the company released an official statement in which it expressed its “strong dissatisfaction with this abusive behaviour that was used to emphasise the importance of sanitization, without the approval of the company’s concerned party,” Al Jazeera reported.

    “The company immediately stopped this act and took strict measures to prevent it from happening again,” the statement said.

    However, Twitter users did not buy the company’s apology and demanded them to apologise to the “person himself” and not to the public.

  • Coronavirus: PIA suffers Rs2 billion loss

    Coronavirus: PIA suffers Rs2 billion loss

    The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has suffered a loss of Rs2 billion following the suspension of flights to Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of the coronavirus-triggered temporary ban on Umrah.

    PIA officials told reporters on Tuesday that the airlines’ schedule had been seriously disturbed as tickets of 50,000 passengers had been cancelled so far. They further said that 34 flights to Medina and 13 to Mecca were scheduled weekly for business visa and iqama holders despite fewer passengers.

    Meanwhile, after Iran and Qatar, PIA has decided to temporarily suspend flight operations to Italy to keep a check on coronavirus.

    PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez said in a press release that the national carrier had temporarily suspended its flight operation to and from Milan till March 31. However, he said the passengers having the nationality of any European country could travel to Paris by PIA flights.

    He said on reaching Paris, the passengers would have to manage their onward journey on their own.  The passengers, who had reserved their seats for Pakistan from Milan, would have to travel to Paris on their own to catch a PIA flight.