Author: newsdesk

  • Over 300 bodies of newly born babies found by Edhi Foundation in 2019

    Over 300 bodies of newly born babies found by Edhi Foundation in 2019

    The Edhi Foundation, in 2019, recovered over 300 bodies of newly born babies, mostly of girls, in different parts of Karachi. They were later buried properly in graveyards, according to officials of the Edhi Foundation.

    According to a report in Dawn, Saad Edhi said that as many as 375 bodies of newborn babies were found at open places or roadsides in Karachi last year. He said that compared to 2018, the figure of dead bodies of babies had doubled in 2019.

    Meanwhile, Head of Edhi Foundation Faisal Edhi told the publication that the main plausible reason was that some people did not want female children. He claimed that when during ultrasound it transpired that the mother had conceived a girl, the family got abortion as they preferred a male child due to societal pressure. However, abortions are only allowed on “solid medical grounds” such as saving the life of the mother.

    All the bodies were buried properly in Edhi graveyards.

  • Schools in Lahore to close early due to Pak vs Ban T20I series

    Schools in Lahore to close early due to Pak vs Ban T20I series

    The Punjab Education Department has announced that all schools in Lahore will close at 11 am on January 24 and 25 (Friday and Saturday) due to the Twenty20 series between Pakistan and Bangladesh scheduled to begin from Friday.

    According to reports, educational institutes have been directed to let the children leave early on Friday and Saturday.

    Meanwhile, the Lahore traffic police has also issued a traffic plan for the convenience of the citizens.

    After consensus with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), Pakistan will be hosting the Bangladesh Cricket team in three different phases.

    The Bangladesh cricket team arrived in Lahore Wednesday for the first phase which commences Friday as Pakistan and Bangladesh face each other at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. All three T20I matches in this phase will be played in Lahore on January 24, 25 and 27.

    ICC officials have also landed in Lahore for the series.

    Bangladesh team will return to play 1st Test on February 7-11 and after PSL, they will return to play one-off ODI and 2nd Test in Karachi’s National Stadium.

  • Pictures of Switzerland tagged as North Waziristan trending on Twitter

    Pictures of Switzerland tagged as North Waziristan trending on Twitter

    This tweet from Khalid Wazir, whose bio on the popular social platform says that he is a ‘Pushtun, Engineer-Photographer’ has gone viral.

    Viral tweet showing pictures of Switzerland with the caption “My cows, Razamk North Waziristan”

    Khalid tweeted pictures of Switzerland saying, ‘My cows, Razamk North Waziristan’. The tweet went viral and was misleading. Khalid tweeted the pictures and then, replying to his own tweet said:

    In an obvious jab at analyst Saleem Safi, Khalid seems to have meant that Safi is trying to say that all is perfect in Waziristan.

    His first tweet went viral and politicians retweeted the pictures, not realizing the context of the tweet.

    Khalid then clarified why he had posted the pictures.

    Despite his clarification, the pictures are still trending on Twitter.

  • VIDEO: ‘Mera Yeh Bharam Hai, Mere Paas Tum Ho,’ Farooq Sattar tells party workers

    VIDEO: ‘Mera Yeh Bharam Hai, Mere Paas Tum Ho,’ Farooq Sattar tells party workers

    As the finale of drama serial ‘Mere Paas Tum Ho’ approaches and its fever only heightens, politicians appear to have submitted themselves to the hit TV show’s popularity as well, which was proven by Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Bahali Committee leader Dr Farooq Sattar.

    “I was asked what I had with me now that I was neither an MNA nor a party head, to which with my hand on my chest I replied, ‘Mera Yeh Bharam Hai, Mere Paas Tum Ho’,” he can be heard as saying while addressing a public gathering in Karachi, in a video doing rounds over the internet.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    The video shows the ex-MQM-P leader quoting the lyrics of the hit drama serial’s OST as he points towards the crowd.

    Sattar, a former convener and leader of the MQM-P, was removed by the Rabita Committee in February 2018. The same day, he dissolved the committee and called for fresh intra-party election to elect new leader of the party. In March 2018, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) removed him as the convener of the party.

    A few days later, Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended the decision of the ECP and reinstated Sattar as the convener, but in June 2018, removed Sattar as the same. On November 9, 2018, for violating party discipline, his basic membership of MQM-P was revoked.

    In the 2018 general election, Sattar lost in both the constituencies he contested from: NA-245 Karachi East 4 and NA-247 Karachi South 2.

  • South African army officer wins right to wear hijab on duty

    South African army officer wins right to wear hijab on duty

    The South African army dropped charges against an officer who had been charged for wearing a Muslim headscarf under her military cap.

    Major Fatima Isaacs was criminally charged in June 2018 with deliberate disobedience and failing to obey a lawful instruction after her superior asked her to remove the hijab.

    The army removed all charges at a military court at the Castle of Good Hope near Cape Town. It said it would allow her to wear a hijab provided it is a tight headscarf that will not cover her ears and must be plain in color.

    “The withdrawal of charges is subject to her obedience with certain restrictions relating to the wearing the headscarf,” the officer´s lawyer, Amy-Leigh Payne, of the Legal Resource Centre told AFP.

    However, Isaacs is planning to challenge this in the equality court over regulations confining religious wear. Isaacs has served in the army for the past 10 years as a clinical forensic pathologist.

    “While there is some relief that the criminal charges have been withdrawn, this withdrawal does not address the unconstitutional religious dress policy, said Payne. In fact, the policy remains in force”.

    The army’s spokesman in Western Cape province, Colonel Louis Kirstein, said the armed forces had held meetings with the Muslim Judicial Council, a group of Islamic clerics, over the dress code.

    The group’s deputy president Abdul Khaliq Ebrahim Allie said the council is calling for the “recognition of the wearing of the scarf by Muslim women” in the military.

  • Ending of ‘Meray Paas Tum Ho’ still undecided

    Ending of ‘Meray Paas Tum Ho’ still undecided

    With days left to the final mega episode of the blockbuster drama Meray Paas Tum Ho, anticipation levels are high and conspiracy theories regarding the ending are being widely circulated.

    In midst of all that, it is being reported that three endings of the drama have been shot and the drama’s makers are yet to decide the final ending.

    CEO ARY Digital Network Jerjees Seja confirmed the news by sharing the story.

    This is not the first time that the ending of a drama is being changed to suit audience preferences. Previously, the ending of Mahira Khan, Fawad Khan’s Humsafar was also changed from a tragic one to a happy one following the phenomenal success of the show.

    The finale episode of MPTH airs this Saturday on TV screens and in cinemas across the country. You can also watch it on ARY’s newly introduced app, ARY Zap. However, the final episode will not be available on YouTube.

  • Businesses in Saudi Arabia will no longer shut down during namaz

    Businesses in Saudi Arabia will no longer shut down during namaz

    The Saudis, known for their strict adherence to Shariah laws, have recently progressed in technology and societal aspects as they attempt to rebrand themselves as a modern state. Keeping that in mind, concerned authorities have decided not to close businesses during prayer time because they want to create a 24 hours business environment and a promising economy.

    Dr Al Gaith, a member of Saudi Arabia’s Shoura Council, expressed “There is no legal base for closing shops for prayer after amending the bylaws of the authority. Forcing shops to close their doors and people to pray right at the beginning of prayer time, and to do this in a mosque, stands no ground – neither in Shariah nor in law.”

    “Rather is rather a breach of both of them, and an infringement on people’s religious rights (right of Ijtihad freedom to follow a reference) and worldly rights (freedom of movement, shopping, benefiting of services round the clock without being forced to abide by judicial matters subject to conflict and differences.” 

    Saudi Arabia is now aiming to become tourist-friendly. Non-Muslims are allowed to visit the country and last year the government granted permanent residence to a foreigner. A few years back, it was near to impossible.

  • Groom gifts 100 books as haq mahr to his bride

    Groom gifts 100 books as haq mahr to his bride

    A man from Kerala Ijas Hakim has given 100 books as ‘Haq Mahr’ to his wife. This Kerala couple and their mahr went viral on the internet.

    The bride Ajna Nizam got 100 books that she wanted to read. Ijas knew her favorite ones because she gave him a list of 100 books that she wants to read. The books included the Quran, Bible and Bhagavad Gita, Constitution of India and Khaled Hosseini’s books and some from Murakami (Murakami is a Japanese writer. His books and stories have been bestsellers in Japan as well as internationally).

    Normally mahr is either a large sum of money or valuables or property that a Muslim man gives to his bride at the time of the nikkah.

    Soon the couple and their story started doing rounds on the internet. Neither Ijas nor Ajna wanted to end up as a viral couple goal but their friends made that happen.

  • Woman accuses interviewer of ‘trying to seduce PM Imran’, gets called out

    Woman accuses interviewer of ‘trying to seduce PM Imran’, gets called out

    A woman has accused CNBC journalist Hadley Gamble, who interviewed Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, of wearing a short dress “to seduce” the Pakistani premier.

    “Could her dress have been any shorter? In Davos no less where it’s -6 degrees. Is she interviewing him or trying to seduce him? [sic]” Doreen Kiani tweeted along with a clip of PM Imran’s interview to the American media outlet.

    https://twitter.com/DoreenKiani/status/1220249781580247040

    It wasn’t later that the journalist called Kiani out and said that the premier was “a bit old” for her.

    THE INTERVIEW:

    Earlier, PM Imran roundly rejected the notion being projected by US officials that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was some sort of a debt trap for Pakistan.

    Speaking to Gamble during the interview, he said Pakistan was grateful to China as it had helped the country in difficult times by making investments. “We were at rock bottom when the Chinese [government] came and rescued us,” the PM said.

    Responding to a question, the premier rejected the impression that CPEC had made Pakistan ‘indebted’ to China and pointed out that Chinese loans accounted for only 5-6 per cent of Pakistan’s total loan portfolio.

    “CPEC envisages cooperation in different sectors, including technology transfer in the agriculture sector,” he said.

    The premier also spoke of the Kashmir issue, his meeting with United States (US) President Donald Trump, Pak-US ties and tensions that continue to soar between Washington and Tehran.

  • Mercury in Karachi to drop further next week

    Mercury in Karachi to drop further next week

    The temperature in Karachi is going to fall down to 9 degrees Celsius next week as cold winds have started to blow in the port city, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has said.

    The weather in the metropolis is expected to get colder from January 27 to January 29, the department said.

    “It will get colder as wind speed will increase from 42 km [kilometres] per hour to 48 km per hour,” a spokesperson of the Met Office was quoted as saying.

    “The temperature in Karachi has for now been recorded at 18 degrees [Celsius] and is expected to drop to as low as 12 [Celsius] degrees today,” the spokesperson added.

    Moisture in the air was recorded at 43% and visibility level was 3 km.