Author: newsdesk

  • ‘Saudi Arabia telling a nuclear-power what to do’; Twitter react to PM Imran’s Malaysia decision

    ‘Saudi Arabia telling a nuclear-power what to do’; Twitter react to PM Imran’s Malaysia decision

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has cancelled his scheduled visit to Malaysia reportedly after succumbing to pressure from Saudi Arabia and Twitter is not happy about it.

    According to reports, Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mahmood Qureshi will represent Pakistan in the premier’s place at the Kuala Lumpur Summit scheduled for December 18-20, after a meeting between PM Imran with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman in Riyadh, during which matters related to bilateral relations were discussed.

    The Kingdom has reportedly raised serious concerns over the statement of Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohammad, who had recently said that the Muslim countries at Kuala Lumpur Summit would form a new platform to replace the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that he said had failed to deliver on issues faced by the Muslims across the world.

    Here’s what politicians and journalists among other Twitterati have to say about PM’s Malaysia decision.

    And many have termed the move “a failure of Pakistan’s foriegn policy”.

    Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has said that after his Bahrain visit, the premier will travel to Geneva and return to Pakistan Thursday, following which a final decision regarding his Malaysia trip would be taken.

  • You’re invited! Iqra & Yasir reveal their wedding card

    You’re invited! Iqra & Yasir reveal their wedding card

    After the proposal of the year, Iqra Aziz and Yasir Hussain are all set to have the wedding of the year.

    According to the very fun and quirky wedding card shared by the couple on their respective social media handles, the two will be tying the knot on December 28 in an afternoon wedding. The official wedding hashtag is #IqYasirDaViyah.

    Though we have no information about who is going to be on the guest list, but we’re assuming there are going to be A LOT of people from the industry.

    Read More: Everything we know about Yasir Hussain and Iqra Aziz’s engagement

    Iqra and Yasir have been very public about their affection for one another and have almost always been spotted together. The two will also be appearing in two projects together: drama serial Jhooti and a feature film expected to release on Eid-ul-Fitr 2020.

  • Treason case: Gen (r) Musharraf handed death sentence

    Former military dictator General (r) Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday was handed death sentence in the high treason case against him.

    The case was being heard by a a special bench comprising Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Waqar Ahmad Seth Akbar and Justice Shahid Karim of the Lahore High Court (LHC). The bench was formed on the orders of the Supreme Court (SC).

    According to reports, the court, in its short order, said that it analysed complaints, records, arguments and facts in the case for three months, adding that it found Musharraf guilty of high treason according to Article 6 of the constitution.

    It was a majority verdict.

    TREASON CASE:

    The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had in 2013 filed the treason case against Musharraf over the president’s imposition of extra-constitutional emergency in November 2007.

    Earlier this year, head of the prosecution, Mohammad Akram Sheikh, tendered his resignation. In his resignation letter sent to the interior secretary, Sheikh expressed his inability to proceed with the case after the imminent change of government at the centre.

    Akram was appointed as the head of the prosecution in the case in November 2013, by the then ruling PML-N.

    Musharraf was indicted in the case in March 2014 after he appeared before the court and rejected all charges.

    On March 18, 2016, the former president left the country for Dubai for medical treatment after his name was removed from the exit control list (ECL) on the orders of the Supreme Court (SC).

    A few months later, the special court had declared him a proclaimed offender and ordered the confiscation of his property owing to his continuous inability to appear.

    Later, his passport and identity card were also cancelled on orders of the apex court.

  • Saudi Arabia ‘forces’ PM Imran to cancel Malaysia trip

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has cancelled his scheduled visit to Malaysia following his meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman in Riyadh, The News reported.

    According to reports, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will be representing Pakistan in the premier’s place at the Kuala Lumpur Summit scheduled for December 18-20, which will also be attended by notable Muslim leaders, including Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Hamad Al Thani, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

    “Saudi Arabia raised serious concerns over the statement of Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohammad who had recently said that the Muslim countries at Kuala Lumpur Summit would form a new platform to replace the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which he said had failed to deliver on issues faced by the Muslims across the world,” the report quoted sources as saying.

    Saudi Arabia and its allies, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait and Bahrain are perturbed over the expected presence of Qatari emir, Turkish president and Iranian president at the summit and fear a new but parallel leadership forum is being developed to undermine Saudi Arabia and its allies, it said.

    The report further claimed that the UAE has also raised its concerns over Mahathir’s statement and has requested Pakistan to avoid the Kuala Lumpur Summit that “may trigger a new controversy among the Muslim Ummah”.

    “PM Imran was also conveyed concerns by Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa over the intentions of the Kuala Lumpur Summit. The premier assured the royals of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain that he would not be a partof any scheme being planned to undermine the Gulf leadership,” sources were quoted as saying.

    They said that UAE’s Emir Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan had raised his concerns with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa three days ago on December 14 as well.

    Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has said decision about Imran Khan’s visit to Malaysia to attend the Kuala Lumpur Summit will be taken according to national interest.

    She noted that after his Bahrain visit, the premier will travel to Geneva and return to Pakistan Wednesday, following which a final decision regarding his Malaysia trip would be taken.

  • Women’s museum to be set up in Islamabad

    The National Commission on Status of Women (NCSW) and Higher Education Commission (HEC) have signed a principal agreement to set up a women’s museum in Islamabad.

    According to reports, the aim of establishing this museum is to preserve women movements throughout history and to provide a resource for newly enfranchised women to enter public life.

    The museum will support and protect education, research and training on the roles and contributions of women.

    NCSW is striving for the development of women’s libraries, museums and archives.

  • Kashmir Markhor trophy-hunted in Chitral

    Kashmir Markhor trophy-hunted in Chitral

    American hunter Joe Lawrence Walreven hunted a 48-inch long Kashmir Markhor in Toshi Conservancy in Lower Chitral.

    According to reports, the hunt was done after a permit worth $140,000 was obtained from the wildlife department.

    The divisional forest officer of wildlife division, Mohammad Idrees, shared that the 82-year-old hunter faced no difficulty in finding an animal for hunting as he spotted and earmarked a 10-year-old markor within an hour after he disembarked from his vehicle on Garam Chashma Road near Chitral city.

    Joe reportedly “wasted no time in shooting the animal” and achieved his trophy skillfully. He fired a shot at the markhor from a distant range by his Remington rifle. The animal fell down instantly.

    Last week, Italian hunter Carlo Pasco hunted the season’s first Markhor trophy in Skardu town. According to reports, Pasco successfully hunted a flared-horned markhor after paying a permit fee of $85,000.

    Meanwhile, last month, it was reported that the wildlife department of Gilgit Baltistan has auctioned four licenses for hunting the markhor, the official national animal of Pakistan after the Ministry of Climate Change agreed to the licenses, including for trophy hunting of the much in demand flare-horned Astore markhor, a large goat species native to Pakistan.

    Each license was sold for over $80,000, of which 80 percent will go to the villages where the hunt takes place for developing their infrastructure.

  • Singapore sets a mosquito factory to curb dengue cases

    Singapore sets a mosquito factory to curb dengue cases

    Every year dengue fever comes and makes us all worried even though the government is trying to control the deadly virus with initiative like fumigation, surveys to check larvae, public awareness campaigns on television and radio etc. However, the mosquito-borne disease is far from being under control.

    But what Singapore has done to fight against dengue is surprising as well as interesting.

    Instead of killing mosquitoes, Singapore has set up mosquito factories which produces a new type of mosquito. What happens is when this ‘new kind’ of mosquito goes out and ‘falls in love’ with other mosquitoes, the outside world mosquito will no longer be able to reproduce which means that the mosquito population decreases.

    And what’s even more interesting is that this new mosquito does not bite.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJfBmHgSxBA

  • Bollywood reacts to Delhi violence

    As protests ravage India, more than 100 students have been injured after baton-wielding police charged at them and fired tear gas at two federally-run universities where students were holding anti-citizenship law protests.

    According to reports, students in New Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) and Uttar Pradesh state’s Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) had been protesting since the new law was passed last week.

    The contentious law grants citizenship to religious minorities – Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians – from neighbouring Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

    While critics say it is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist agenda to marginalise the 200-million strong Islamic minority, Modi denies this, saying that the new law “does not affect any citizen of India of any religion”, while accusing “vested interest groups” of stoking the “deeply distressing” unrest.

    As the protests get bloodier, people are asking Bollywood celebrities especially Shah Rukh Khan who is an alumnus of Jamia Millia Delhi, to speak up on the matter and express their solidarity.

    https://twitter.com/artwhoring/status/1206447623839727616?s=20

    While A-lister celebrities including the Khans, Kapoors and Priyanka Chopra have remained silent on the matter, other celebs including Sidharth Malhotra, Ayushmann Khurana, Dia Mirza and Vicky Kaushal have condemned this violence.

    https://twitter.com/RajkummarRao/status/1206486037658243072?s=20

  • VIDEO: Lawyer slaps citizen trying to cross street during protest

    VIDEO: Lawyer slaps citizen trying to cross street during protest

    Days after the lawyers’ had attacked the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), a new video has surfaced on the social media in which a lawyer can be seen slapping a motorcyclist.

    In the viral video a lawyer can be seen stopping a motorcyclist passing between the lawyers protesting outside PIC and snatching his motorcycle keys.

    After exchanging few words, the lawyer slapped the man prompting others present there to intervene.

    Watch Video:

    After Wednesday’s attack on PIC, several videos showing the violent acts committed by the lawyers have been coming out on social media platforms.

    A group of over 200 lawyers, following an earlier quarrel with the doctors, stormed the hospital, vandalised property and damaged dozens of vehicles parked in the hospital premises and burned a police van.

    Three people had lost their lives amidst the chaos as doctors abandoned their patients to escape the angry mob.

    The police have registered a first information report (FIR) against 200-250 unidentified lawyers on the complaint of an official of the hospital.

  • SC issues detailed judgement in Gen Bajwa’s case, points out flaws

    SC issues detailed judgement in Gen Bajwa’s case, points out flaws

    The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday issued its detailed judgment on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s extension, pointing out the flaws in the process undertaken by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.

    Citing procedural loopholes, the top court had last month suspended a notification issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in August for the army chief’s reappointment till 2022.

    It had directed the federal government to legislate and remove lacunae in the reappointment/extension of tenure of the COAS within six months.

    The detailed written judgement released Monday in connection with the previous short, the SC said it had “found that the Pakistan Army Act, 1952 falls deficient of the structural requirements for raising and maintaining an Army under clause (3) of Article 243 of the Constitution”.

    EXPLAINED:

    The verdict noted that “no tenure or age of retirement for the rank of General is provided under the law. As per the institutional practice a general retires on completion of a tenure of three years. Although an institutional practice cannot be a valid substitute of the law.”

    “There is no provision in the law for extending service of a General for another tenure; nor is there any consistent and continuous institutional practice of granting such extension,” Justice Shah wrote, adding that the summaries for the reappointment, extension and fresh appointment of General Bajwa were “meaningless” in absence of the relevant law.