Author: newsdesk

  • Mubasher Lucman ‘banned until he apologises to Fawad Chaudhry’

    Mubasher Lucman ‘banned until he apologises to Fawad Chaudhry’

    The Lahore Bar Association (LBA) has banned the entry of anchor Mubasher Lucman in its premises over “false reporting and accusations” made against Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry, who is also an advocate of the Supreme Court (SC) and an LBA member.

    Fawad made the revelation in a tweet, sharing a copy of the notification released by the LBA executive committee. The press statement condemned the journalist’s act and considered his action “blatant misuse of freedom of speech and information”.

    Fawad said that Lucman will not be allowed to enter the premises of LBA until he tendered an apology over his unjust accusations.

    The notification stated that the executive committee had expressed “distress and frustration” over the recent statements made by Lucman. The Bar has also sought a written and an on-air apology from the anchorperson. The executive committee warned Lucman for taking further legal actions against him within the parameters of law and constitution.

    On January 5, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry had slapped anchorperson Mubasher Lucman in a valima ceremony of Mohsin Leghari’s son.

    Several leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), including Jehangir Tareen, were present at the time of scuffle between the two. Reacting to the incident, Fawad in a Twitter message had criticised Lucman, saying that the anchorperson could not be considered a journalist.

  • Naya Pakistan: ‘Gas shortage to double’

    Naya Pakistan: ‘Gas shortage to double’

    With a projected shortfall of 477 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) and amid lack of new explorations, the shortage of gas is likely to be doubled next year, Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) has been informed.

    According to Profit, a meeting of the CCoE, chaired by Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, was informed on Wednesday that the demand of gas had risen by 5 per cent per annum during the past seven years.

    The heavy gas shortfall recorded last month (December 2019) was nearly 270 mmcfd.

    “One of the major reasons for this upsurge was the consumption of gas in the winter season by the domestic sector, which prefers to use heavily-subsidised gas as compared to other energy sources,” officials of the Ministry of Energy informed the CCoE.

    The committee was further told that work on adding 70 mmcfd gas in the Sui Southern Gas Company’s system and taking LNG supplies for Sui Northern Gas Pipeline up to 1,300 mmcfd had already started but its implementation was hampered by issues pertaining to the grant of ‘Right of Ways’ from the Sindh government, which had granted only one RoW so far while two more were still awaited since last summer.

    “With these measures, nearly 70 mmcfd gas is likely to be added to SSGC by the end of January.”

    According to the energy ministry, in view of 2020-21 projections showing a shortfall of 477 mmcfd, the government has decided to build additional terminals; five new private terminals were awarded in Nov 2019, while process for a dedicated pipeline of 1.2BCFD+, required to carry imported LNG from these terminals to north, would also begin soon.

    The CCoE noted that there was a need to work on contingency plans for 2020-21 to overcome the gas shortage. It stressed using energy produced through gas and electricity as a whole to provide more options to energy consumers and to bring efficiency in the system.

    Earlier, the Ministry of Energy briefed the CCoE on the current demand-supply situation of gas/RLNG, natural gas allocation and management, average gas supplies, winter load management, indigenous gas production, supplies and consumption in different regions, and LNG requirement by the SNGPL/SSGC.

    The CCoE asked the ministry to brief in the next meeting the current situation in the power sector so that the problems in both gas and power sectors could be properly analyzed and contextualized uniformly and a realistic and more efficient solution to bridge the demand and supply gap could be chalked out.

  • ‘InshAllah’ becomes part of German dictionary

    ‘InshAllah’ becomes part of German dictionary

    One of the most authoritative dictionaries of the German language Duden Dictionary recently included ‘Insha Allah’ (If Allah wills it) into the dictionary.

    The new entry is spelled as inschallah in the Duden dictionary, though as of now it is unclear whether the word will appear in the Duden’s digital version or published in a physical copy.

    The Duden is considered to be the most widely used dictionary of the German language. It has long been the prescriptive handbook for German grammar as well as spelling. The Duden dictionary has been issued since 1880 and is now in its 27th edition.

    The word ‘Insha’Allah‘ was included after the Turkish word ‘oha’ was added into the dictionary. Oha is used as an expression of surprise that is quite similar to the English word “whoa”.

  • Information Ministry celebrates Pakistan’s inclusion in Forbes list by tweeting a picture of Armenia

    Information Ministry celebrates Pakistan’s inclusion in Forbes list by tweeting a picture of Armenia

    In case you missed it, Pakistan was included on the Forbes list of ‘Best under-the-radar’ tourist spots in 2020. Needless to say, Pakistanis were overjoyed at this.

    The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting celebrated the news by sharing a picture of the 7th-century Zvartnots Cathedral in Armenia.

    https://twitter.com/MoIB_Official/status/1214783303255023616?s=20

    Here are some more pictures of the cathedral. Built in the middle of the 7th century CE, under the instructions of the Catholicos Nerses III, Zvartnots is the oldest and largest aisled tetraconch church in historical Armenia.

    The tweet was later retweeted by Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry and has close to 1000 likes.

  • More than 2,500 govt officers were taking benefits from the Benazir Income Support Programme

    More than 2,500 govt officers were taking benefits from the Benazir Income Support Programme

    PTI government decided to delete over 800,000 names from the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) last month as it had come to their notice that some government officers and their families were also BISP beneficiaries. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Welfare and Poverty Alleviation Sania Nishtar explained that they did this by utilising forensic data as these people were ‘undeserving’.

    The more astounding part is that over two thousand top officials of provincial and federal governments were also BISP beneficiaries. According to details shared by ARY News, 2,543 government officials of Grade-17 to Grade-21 were receiving the BISP income support tri-monthly handouts, meant for the poor segments of society.

    Sania Nishtar confirmed the news on Twitter.

    Some officers were receiving money in the name of their wives and other members of families, which were registered in the list of the people entitled for income support.

    The highest number of undeserving beneficiaries were in Balochistan where 741 registered officials were registered.

    In Sindh, 342 officials of grade-18 gained profit from the scheme.

    The decision to exclude more than 800,000 people from BISP list was criticised by the PPP. Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto had demanded the government to retract from the decision.

  • Pakistani passport now ranks at fourth-worst for international travel

    Pakistani passport now ranks at fourth-worst for international travel

    The Pakistani passport has been ranked as the fourth worst passport for international travel, according to the Henley Passport Index.

    The Henley Passport Index is a ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. It has placed Pakistan on the 104th position. 

    Last year the Pakistani passport had been rated as the
    fifth-worst passport to hold.

    It shares the fourth spot with Somalia followed by Syria,
    Iraq and Afghanistan. Pakistani passport holders still enjoy visa-free access
    to 32 countries.

    Japan came at the top spot as the world’s most powerful
    passport. Other Asian countries on the list are Singapore, which is in the
    second spot, and South Korea with Germany is in third place.

    European countries also performed well with Finland on
    fourth and Spain, Luxembourg and Denmark coming fifth. Sweden and France took
    the sixth spot on the list.

    The United States fell two places down coming on eighth,
    sharing the spot with United Kingdom, Norway, Green and Belgium. Canada ranked
    ninth.

    The United Arab Emirates also climbed up 47 places to sit
    in 18th place, with a visa-free or visa-on-arrival score of 171.

    Here are the 10 most powerful passports in the world:

    1. Japan (191 destinations)

    2. Singapore (190)

    3. South Korea, Germany (189)

    4. Italy, Finland (188)

    5. Spain, Luxembourg, Denmark (187)

    6. Sweden, France (186)

    7. Switzerland, Portugal, Netherlands, Ireland, Austria
    (185)

    8. United States, United Kingdom, Norway, Greece, Belgium
    (184)

    9. New Zealand, Malta, Czech Republic, Canada, Australia
    (183)

    10. Slovakia, Lithuania, Hungary (181)

    Here are the five least powerful passports in the world:

    1. Afghanistan (26)

    2. Iraq (28)

    3. Syria (29)

    4. Pakistan, Somalia (32)

    5. Yemen

  • Mawra Hocane says she is no longer embarrassed by her anxiety

    Mawra Hocane says she is no longer embarrassed by her anxiety

    In a bid to promote mental health awareness, celebrities have started coming forward with their own stories of battling with depression and anxiety.

    Mawra Hocane is the latest celebrity to open up about her struggle with anxiety. Though Mawra had earlier talked about dealing with it, she shed light on it again in a recent Instagram post.

    Mawra elaborated on how she came to terms with her anxiety and decided to tackle it head-on. She shared that she is no longer embarrassed of it and that “it’s a part of me like the sky is blue but I’m definitely better equipped to deal with it as I’m growing with it and beginning to understand it.”

    The actor also shared that her ongoing drama Daasi has “been a very very special project” for her as “I’ve been able to channelise my inner fears and pain as Sunehri.”

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B6-1-tGgE75/

    Earlier, when a social media user asked the 26-year-old actor if she has social anxiety disorder, she replied, “Yes. I developed anxiety recently and I’ve been battling with it one day at a time. For everyone who is reading it and has suffered anxiety we are all in this together.”

  • Quetta Civil hospital doctors perform surgery with cell phone light

    Quetta Civil hospital doctors perform surgery with cell phone light

    Doctors at Civil Hospital Quetta were forced to perform surgery under cell phone light because of the constant power outage due to heavy rain and snowfall in the provincial capital. The hospital had no backup power as there was no generator in place either.

    According to a statement issued by Balochistan Young Doctors’ Association (YDA), the trauma and emergency centre in the hospital was in terrible condition due to the incompetence of its managing director.

    YDA spokesperson Rahim Khan Babar revealed that there was a lack of equipment and medicines. The operation theatre did not have slippers for the patients and the x-ray machines and other apparatus automatically shut down due to power breakdown.

    He added that Balochistan CM Jam Kamal, Balochistan Assembly Speaker Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Jamal Mandokhail and provincial Health Secretary Muddasir Waheed have visited the hospital but no development and improvement was witnessed.

    Earlier, the CM promised to ensure facilities for poor citizens in the hospital during his visit.

    Babar urged the CM to take notice of the situation and resolve it as soon as possible because precious lives were put at risk. He also stressed the management to make contractual staff permanent employees to improve the situation of the hospital.

  • Video: PM Khan loses his way in Parliament

    Video: PM Khan loses his way in Parliament

    Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday lost his way in Parliament House.

    After attending a meeting of the PTI parliamentary committee, PM Khan started walking towards his chamber in the Assembly. PM Khan was so busy talking to Interior Minister Ijaz Shah that he suddenly found himself in unknown territory.

    He asked his security official where he was. “Where are you taking me?” asked a perplexed prime minister in a corridor. His security officer then told him that this secret passage will also take him to the Assembly Hall.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pobhe8BLIw

    Meanwhile, Pakistani Twitter did not leave a chance to troll the PM.

    Meanwhile, this is not the first time, PM Imran got lost in the National Assembly.

    Interestingly, PM Imran wasn’t the only one who lost his way in parliament yesterday. PML-N MNA Maiza Hameed went to the room where PTI parliamentary committee was being held instead of PML-N meeting.

    Twitter didn’t even spare Hameed.

  • DG ISPR Gen Asif Ghafoor praises Deepika for being ‘a brave person’

    DG ISPR Gen Asif Ghafoor praises Deepika for being ‘a brave person’

    DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor praised #DeepikaPadukone for being a brave person and “standing both with youth and the truth.”

    However, later he deleted his tweet for reasons unknown.

    Deepika won the appreciation of the public after she visited Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to stand in solidarity with the students who were protesting after masked assailants wielding batons and iron rods attacked the university leaving more than two dozen injured.

    According to an Indian journalist, the masked mob was linked to a BJP linked student group. They barged into hostel rooms and assaulted left-wing students and also beat up visually impaired people. There were reports that they were carrying acid as well.

    Deepika’s presence at the protest signifies that she is most likely standing with them in protest of these BJP-linked attacks and not the tuition fees hike protests that had been happening at the university earlier. The hostel fee hike is an ongoing issue and protests were held against it previously.

    Read more: ‘Mad respect’ for Deepika Padukone after she stands in solidarity with JNU students attacked by BJP supporters

    Previously, in a media interaction when asked about the ongoing protests, Deepika had said that she is proud that the students are not scared of expressing themselves.

    “I feel proud about it that people are coming out – be it on the streets or wherever they are – they are raising their voice and expressing themselves as it is important. If we want to see change in life and society, it is important that a point of view be put forward,” Deepika had said.

    Meanwhile, several other Bollywood personalities including Vishal Bharadwaj, Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dia Mirza, Rahul Bose, Richa Chadha and Taapsee Pannu led hundreds of people in a peaceful protest against the violence.