Category: Uncategorized

  • Ahmadi Ibadatgah vandalised in Karachi

    Ahmadi Ibadatgah vandalised in Karachi

    An Ahmadiyya Ibadatgah in Karachi was vandalised by a mob on Thursday, Dawn has reported. The news was confirmed by police and the spokesperson of the community.

    A police officer who requested anonymity reported that the spokesman, Mr. Mehmood, said that 10 to 12 masked men attacked and damaged the minaret of the place of worship in Saddar in an attack similar to the one that occurred in the Martin Quarters neighbourhood on January 18.

    The incident happened around 03:30 pm, the spokesman told local police. Although there were several officers there, he said that they were helpless to stop the assailants.
    The Supreme Court of Pakistan in a landmark judgment on minorities’ rights issued in 2014, had asked the government to form a special task force for the protection of minorities’ places of worship.

  • US restricts visa for Taliban for anti-women policies

    US restricts visa for Taliban for anti-women policies

    United States (US) Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced new visa restrictions against the Taliban on Wednesday in response to the Afghan administration’s prohibitions on women’s employment and education.

    “I am taking action today to impose additional visa restrictions on certain current or former Taliban members, members of non-state security groups, and other individuals believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, repressing women and girls in Afghanistan,” Blinken said in a statement.

    The Taliban have put several limitations on Afghan women since regaining power in August 2021, including prohibiting them from holding public office, going to secondary and higher education institutions, or visiting parks.

    They forbade NGOs from working with Afghan women towards the end of December, causing a number of organisations to halt their operations.

  • Male student faints seeing an examination hall full of girls

    Male student faints seeing an examination hall full of girls

    A 17-year-old male student studying in Grade 12 in Bihar, India, fainted after seeing an examination hall full of 500 girls.

    According to Indian news outlets, the student, Shankar, entered the exam center and started writing. However, Shankar got nervous and fainted. He also suffered a fracture in his arm after falling from his chair.

    Shankar has said that he was nervous because he was the only boy in the examination room while the remaining 500 were female students.

    He said that he felt nervous and fainted at the thought of finishing the exam as the lone male among hundreds of female students.

  • SBP-held foreign exchange reserves now stand at only $3.09 billion

    SBP-held foreign exchange reserves now stand at only $3.09 billion

    According to figures issued on Thursday, the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign reserves fell precipitously by $592 million to just $3.09 billion. This is the lowest level of central bank reserves since February 2014.

    The nation’s total holdings of liquid foreign exchange were $8.74 billion. There were $5.65 billion in net foreign reserves held by commercial banks.

    “During the week ended January 27, 2023, SBP’s reserves decreased by $592 million to $3,086.2 million due to external debt repayments,” the SBP said in a statement.

    The SBP’s foreign exchange reserves decreased sharply last week, falling by a whopping $923 million to only $3.7 billion.

    The central bank reserves, which were around $18 billion at the beginning of 2022 but have significantly decreased, highlight the pressing need for Pakistan to finish the next assessment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

  • Twitter thinks Shaheen Afridi’s designed logo for Lahore Qalandars is copied

    Twitter thinks Shaheen Afridi’s designed logo for Lahore Qalandars is copied

    Lahore Qalandars’ skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi on Tuesday unveiled the official logo of his franchise for this year’s Season 8 of Pakistan Super League (PSL).

    The franchise on its official Twitter account wrote, “The designer himself with the official logo of LQ sports outlet.”
    Some social media users are claiming that the logo bears a stark resemblance to an emblem available on the Adobe Stock website.

    Have a look at the Twitter reactions:

    https://twitter.com/toxicvikrammm/status/1620436114690682882?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1620436114690682882%7Ctwgr%5E6f26e1bd6f8a29d44a8127b5418b6ae921d13c47%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.republicworld.com%2Fsports-news%2Fcricket-news%2Fshaheen-afridi-designs-logo-of-psl-side-lahore-qalandars-gets-called-out-for-blatant-copy-articleshow.html

  • IMF rejects Pakistan’s circular debt management plan, advises raising power tariff

    IMF rejects Pakistan’s circular debt management plan, advises raising power tariff

    In order to cap the extra subsidy at Rs335 billion for the current fiscal year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has rejected the circular debt management plan (CDMP) that the government had given and requested the authorities to hike the power tariff by Rs12.50 per unit.

    Talks on the ninth review are now being held in Pakistan by an IMF team; they will last until February 9 and are anticipated to result in a staff-level agreement between the two parties.

    During the second day of technical discussions, the Washington-based lender referred to the amended CDMP as “unrealistic,” which is based on several incorrect assumptions. Therefore, the government would need to make further adjustments to its recommended course of action to limit the losses in the cash-strapped electricity industry.

    A fiscal deficit will be worked up between the IMF and the Finance Ministry, and various extra taxing measures will then be finalised through the forthcoming mini-budget.

    The international lender has asked Pakistan to impose Rs600–800 billion in additional taxes in the second round of talks to revive the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF), which has been stalled for months.

    According to details, the Federal Board of Revenue held a second round of technical talks with the IMF mission, led by Mission Chief to Pakistan Nathan Porter, on the ninth review of a $7 billion loan programme.

    The lender also demanded the government increase tax collection to 1 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). Sources claimed that the fund demanded the government fix the next fiscal year’s tax collection target at Rs8.3 billion.

  • Man fakes own death to see how many people will attend his funeral

    Baltazar Lemos, 60, faked his death, complete with an announcement on social media and then organised a fake funeral for his family and friends to see who would show up.

    Lemos, who regularly officiates funerals, recalled being saddened after presiding over a service for someone with just two people there as opposed to those where hundreds were present.

    After Lemos’s post, his nephews rushed to the hospital only to find out that he hadn’t been admitted to the hospital.

    His friends also heard the news and inquired about the cause of death, but they received no response. Instead, people were advised to attend the event by sharing the funeral’s location and time.

    The man’s friends and family attended the parade that was planned in his hometown to express their sorrow. However, when Lemos’ voice was heard, everyone was surprised, and several people started crying.

    Lemos’ surprised people who were grieving for him by opening the coffin lid and emerging from it. However, the mourners became upset and accused him of hurting their feelings.

  • Netflix releases trailer for ‘The Romantics’, celebrating Yash Chopra’s legacy

    Netflix releases trailer for ‘The Romantics’, celebrating Yash Chopra’s legacy

    Netflix dropped the trailer for the upcoming documentary ‘The Romantics’, a film about the legacy of legendary director Yash Chopra, maker of some of Bollywood’s most critically acclaimed films like ‘Silsila’, ‘Chabdni’ and ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayienge’.

    Chopra, called the ‘Father of Romance’ for his penchant for love stories, died in 2012 at the age of 80.

    The documentary is a four part series which will interview three generations of actors such as Amitabh Bachchan, the late Rishi Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, who will talk about their experience of working with Chopra, and how he helped them gain stardom and success in Bollywood.

    This will also be the first time Chopra’s son, Producer Aditya Chopra will be present for an interview, after refusing to come on camera for 20 years.

    Directed by Smitri Mundhra, the documentary shall release on Netflix platforms on 14th Feb.

    Watch the trailer here.

  • ‘Why were there two black Vigos?’: Elahi family slams govt after raid on Gujrat house

    Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s (PML-Q) and former Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Pervaiz Elahi has condemned the raid on his family house ‘Kunjah Gujrat’ and held the incumbent government responsible.

    In a tweet, he claimed that the staff at their house was harassed in the middle of the night. The former CM also threatened the caretaker government with legal action and said that the matter will go to court.

    Addressing Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and caretaker CM Punjab Mohsin Naqvi directly in another tweet, Elahi urged Shehbaz to “respect the sanctity of the home” and warned him that “people would protest outside his own home”. To Naqvi, he said that his job is to ensure fair and transparent elections

    He also regretted that “the rulers have directed police and administration to engage in vengeful actions” while the country is dealing with terrorism.

    Earlier in the day, his son and former federal minister Moonis Elahi claimed that his family home in Gujrat was raided by the police in the early hours of Wednesday “without having a warrant, nor a case”.

    Implying that intelligence agencies were involved in the raid, he said “I can wrap my head around the 25 police vehicles, but why were there two black Vigos?”.

    Moonis then asked if the police were looking for Indian agents.

    The raid has taken place after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday declared that PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain would remain the president of the party months weeks after he was ousted following rifts with his cousin Pervaiz Elahi.

    Earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) accused the caretaker Punjab government of ‘political persecution’.

  • Chalo jee, here comes summer in February

    Chalo jee, here comes summer in February

    The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted that summers will start early, Ayesha Atta has reported for Samaa.

    As per the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), summer could start as early as February. A heat wave is anticipated to hit Punjab particularly Lahore in the middle of February, according to the PMD’s Shahid Abbas.

    Temperatures are likely to go up to 45 degrees celsius in summerd due to less rainfalls and climate change