Category: Politics

News stories of Politics, for the topics that matter the most to young professionals and college students, political news reported with a different angle.

  • PSL Player Alex Hales clarifies reports that he has coronavirus

    PSL Player Alex Hales clarifies reports that he has coronavirus

    After reports that Karachi King’s player Alex Hales was being tested for coronavirus, the English player has issued a statement clarifying that he has not been tested yet for the virus but is expected to be tested soon. He says that he left Pakistan healthy but woke up with a fever and a cough and has been in self isolation since then.

    READ MORE: CM Buzdar rubbishes reports of first COVID-19 death, says deceased tested negative

    Alex Hales’ statement

    The statement comes after rumours that Alex Hales had tested positive for coronavirus, which he addressed on Twitter. After journalist Ajmal Jami tweeted a Gulf News story that Hales had tested positive for coronavirus, Hales replied to Jami’s tweet, which Jami later deleted.

    https://twitter.com/AlexHales1/status/1239872849155940352
    Alex Hales responds to Jami

    After Hales’ tweet, Jami clarified his tweet on Gulf News’ story.

    RELATED: ALL CORONAVIRUS UPDATES

    Earlier, Ramiz Raja had confirmed that Hales was being tested for the virus but later clarified on twitter that Hales was in self quarantine.

    Ramiz Raja confirms that Hales is being tested for the virus

  • Army medical facilities “geared up” to deal with pandemic

    Army medical facilities “geared up” to deal with pandemic

    The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has released a statement saying that, “as part of the national effort and in line with the decisions of the National Security Committee taken on 13 March, all medical facilities of the Armed Forces are operationalised and geared up to meet any eventuality to deal with pandemic”.

    READ MORE: Coronavirus: PM wants rich countries to waive off Pakistan, other poor countries’ loans

    They also stated that coronavirus testing labs have been established at major military hospitals across the country and a central testing lab at the Armed Forces institute of Pathology. A coronavirus help desk has been established at each military hospital for fast track checking.

    RELATED: CHECKLIST: Do you have Coronavirus?

    “Armed Forces of Pakistan are fully involved in assisting the government and provincial administrations to tackle the situation since the outbreak and duly vigilant of the developing situation post COVID-19,” said the statement and that the Chief of Army Staff has directed all commanders to take “maximum necessary measures to assist civil administration for safety”.

    READ MORE: ALL CORONAVIRUS UPDATES

    Meanwhile, in an interview to a foreign media outlet, Prime Minister Imran Khan has predicted that the novel coronavirus would destroy the economy of developing countries. 

    “In case we get swamped by this virus, our health facilities will not be able to cope with it,” he added.

    He also urged the United States (US) to lift sanctions over Iran as they were in a terrible state due to the pandemic and the sanctions had already impoverished Tehran.

    Pakistan has a total of 193 confirmed cases with the highest number of cases in Sindh at 155 and the lowest in Punjab with two.

  • CHECKLIST: Do you have Coronavirus?

    CHECKLIST: Do you have Coronavirus?

    Feeling sick and panicking that it might be coronavirus? Here is the checklist that can show whether you have the virus or the common flu.

    RELATED: ALL CORONAVIRUS UPDATES

    RELATED: VIDEO: Coronavirus patient at Lahore’s Mayo Hospital passes away

    There are 193 confirmed cases in Pakistan of coronavirus.

  • Coronavirus: SAT exams cancelled

    Coronavirus: SAT exams cancelled

    The College Board has announced that it has cancelled two upcoming SAT exams due to coronavirus concerns.

    Tests scheduled for May and makeup exams for the March have also cancelled and registered students will receive full refunds, the College Board said in a statement.

    A new date has not yet been announced for additional SAT testing opportunities.

    “The College Board will remain focused on student safety and ensuring all students have the tools they need to work, and opportunities to receive the credit they have earned, during this challenging time,” the statement read.

    The news comes as schools nationwide have temporarily shut down over coronavirus alarms. Many colleges and universities have also moved to online classes.

  • Police arrest fake doctor selling ‘vaccine’ for coronavirus

    Police arrest fake doctor selling ‘vaccine’ for coronavirus

    Karachi police arrest a man who was posing as a doctor and selling a ‘vaccine’ for the treatment of coronavirus in Defence.

    “Defence police has arrested one fake doctor, Syed Didar Ali, who was malignantly and fraudulently selling fake vaccine for COVID-19 at West Point Clinic, DHA Phase 2 Extension,” said Clifton Superintendent of Police Imran Mirza.

    READ MORE: Need authentic coronavirus updates? Follow these Twitter accounts

    A first information report (FIR) was registered against the suspect under Sections 419 (cheating by impersonation) and 420 (cheating or dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

    RELATED: KP CONFIRMS ITS FIRST 15 CORONAVIRUS CASES

    To date, there is no vaccine for coronavirus and has yet to be developed. As of now, countries are still scrambling to get enough test kits to confirm the virus in suspected cases.

    There are 183 confirmed cases in Pakistan with 150 cases in Sindh, 15 in KP, 10 in Balochistan, one in Punjab, two in Islamabad and five in Gilgit Baltistan.

  • ‘Ahsan Iqbal should be hanged for 3 days’: Faisal Vawda

    ‘Ahsan Iqbal should be hanged for 3 days’: Faisal Vawda

    Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda had said on Monday that Ahsan Iqbal should be hanged for three days.

    In a tweet, Mr. Vawda said: “Ahsan Iqbal alias Aristotle alias hypocrite is a bigger thief than Nawaz Sharif. He should have been arrested first but he was caught so late. I will bring forward the list of his front companies and relatives. Their looting [corruption] has brought our country to the edge of destruction. Such people should be hanged for at least 3 days.”

    Read also: ‘If found dead, Musharraf’s corpse should be dragged to D-Chowk, hanged for three days’

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ahsan Iqbal was arrested on Monday by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in relation to the Narowal Sports City Complex case

    Ahsan Iqbal is accused of using funds of the federal government and the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) for a sports city being established in Narowal, which is a multi-billion-rupee project.

    Iqbal while speaking to the media before heading to NAB had said that when the PML-N came to power in 2013, he, as planning minister, had taken up several projects that were incomplete and sports city was one of them.

    He said that the funds spent on NSC were approved by the cabinet, parliament and the National Economic Council (NEC).

  • Railways staff destroys all my hard work: Shiekh Rasheed

    Railways staff destroys all my hard work: Shiekh Rasheed

    Federal Minister for Railways Shiekh Rasheed has blamed the railway staff for destroying his efforts that he has done for the betterment of railway, Geo reported.

    According to the details, the minister has said that due to increasing number of accidents, railway staff always waste his efforts, adding that such accidents should be avoided.

    He said, “I had done a lot about education in Pakistan, adding that soon there will be four universities in Rawalpindi.

    At least 74 people were killed and dozens injured on Thursday after cooking gas cylinders exploded near Rahim Yar Khan’s Liaqatpur area.

    The Tezgam train was on its way from Karachi to Rawalpindi when the gas cylinder carried by a passenger exploded, killing and injuring passengers. The fire destroyed three of the train’s carriages, including two economy class carriages and one business class carriage.

    The railways minister had also announced a Rs1.5 million compensation for the families of the deceased in the Tezgam incident and Rs0.5 million for those injured.

  • VIDEO: JUI-F leader claims Azadi March ruined Israel’s 40 years of investment in Pakistan

    The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) leader Rashid Mehmood Soomro has claimed that Israel has said that JUI-F’s Azadi March has ruined their 40 years investment in Pakistan.

    Rashid Somroo made these claims in a talk show with journalist Hamid Mir when the Azadi March protest was still active, the video of which has now gone viral over the internet.

    JUI-F leader said, “The Israeli newspapers have reported this that Azadi March has managed to ruin their 40 years investment in Pakistan”, adding that the protest also suppressed the talks about Pakistan accepting Israel as a state.

    Hamir Mir on this claim made by Rashid remarked that no government official had made any statement regarding the acceptance of Israel.

    To which JUI-F leader claimed that “top government officials were engaged in backdoor talks with Israel and were ready to accept it, but JUI-F successfully managed to stop these talks”.

    Watch Video:

    The protests, led by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, began with the ‘Azadi March’ on October 27 from Karachi. Thousands of supporters reached Islamabad on October 31, holding a two-week sit-in on the city’s main highway.

    On November 13, Fazl ordered his supporters to disperse across the country to block roads, in what he termed as ‘Plan B’ to topple Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

    On Thursday protesters blocked the Grand Trunk Road between Islamabad and Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, causing lengthy delays. Similar disruptions were reported in Jacobabad — a city in Sindh linking the province with Balochistan and Punjab.

  • ‘Babar Azam is Jinnah’s grandson’ among other statements attributed to JUI-F leader

    Ever since Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) leader Mufti Kifayatullah has made a statement about Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s former wife, Jemima Goldsmith; that ‘Wiki of Wikileaks’ is her cousin, social media is flooded with funny quotes.

    Dr Farhan Virk, a social worker from Pakistan Tehreeke Insaf (PTI) had recently started a Twitter trend called “KifayatQuote” after Wiki-Jamima blunder and asked its followers to come up with funny quotes that they can attribute to JUI-F leader.

    Soon after Dr Farhan began the trend by sharing a meme on his Twitter handle which said, “Kartarpur is the cousin of Faryal Talpur” and wrote, “Guys, Grab your keyboards and start trending KifayatQuotes as it is now time to pay a tribute to this great legend of social media and Azadi March”.

    Since then the Twitter users across Pakistan are sharing funny quotes and attributing all of them to Mufti Kifayat.

    One of the users wrote that Pakistan Cricket team’s skipper and batsman Babar Azam is the grandson of Quaide Azam.

    https://twitter.com/Shaziaa24/status/1193963917141262336

    Another wrote that “Babar Azam and PM Imran are cousins”.

    https://twitter.com/saadiraja183/status/1193963531957362691?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1193963531957362691&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Ftwitter.com%252Fsaadiraja183%252Fstatus%252F1193963531957362691%26widget%3DTweet

    While the rest of the users are making all kinds of random hilarious quotes and they are funny.

    https://twitter.com/umama86/status/1193965849750777856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1193965849750777856&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Ftwitter.com%252Fumama86%252Fstatus%252F1193965849750777856%26widget%3DTweet
    https://twitter.com/qijalali/status/1193963853782102017
    https://twitter.com/Arman2k3/status/1193963690703433729

  • Koyi Shak, asks D.G. ISPR after report uncovers fake media outlets run by India

    EU Disinfo Lab, an independent non-governmental organization, has found that there are at least 265 “coordinated fake local media outlets” that were “designed to influence the EU (European Union) and the UN (United Nations) by repeatedly criticising Pakistan”.

    The report shows how the NGO investigated and found that Indian stakeholders are deliberately trying to influence countries against Pakistan by getting stories posted on sites like eptoday.com, which is “the website of a self-proclaimed magazine for the European Parliament in Brussels”. After investigating the site and the increasing anti Pakistan articles and op-eds, the Disinfo Lab found a pattern that matched 265 fake local media outlets, including timesofgeneva.com, “an online “newspaper” that is “approaching 35 years in business”. Strangely enough, Times of Geneva publishes the same type of content as EP Today and produces videos covering events and demonstrations criticising Pakistan’s role in the Kashmir conflict.”

    After the report was published, D.G. ISPR tweeted that koyi shak (any doubt), hinting that there was zero doubt that India is trying to influence the world against Pakistan by publishing fake news.

    RELATED: DG ISPR defends Neelum Muneer’s item song in ‘Kaaf Kangana’

    Other findings from the report include that most of the fake outlets are named after an outdated newspaper or are fake versions of real media outlets. They also republish content from agencies and have little original content. It also showed that the coverage was mostly of the same Indian-related demonstrations and events and also republications of the same anti-Pakistan content.