Trust Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan to do the unusual and make headlines. Dr Firdous was recently spotted administering COVID-19 vaccines to citizens who had come to get vaccinated.
In a video doing the rounds on social media, Dr Awan can be seen injecting a citizen with a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. As per Geo News, the CM’s aide vaccinated more than one citizen at a vaccination centre set up by the government in Sialkot.
During her visit, Dr Awan also promised to announce vaccinations for journalists, saying that she will vaccinate journalists herself.
Meanwhile, Asad Umar has announced that vaccine registrations for citizens aged 40 and above will commence from tomorrow. He also announced that walk-in vaccinations for citizens above 50 have also been opened.
In today’s NCOC meeting decided to open up registration of 40 plus age citizens starting tomorrow. Also decision taken to allow walk in vaccination of all registered citizens of 50 plus age group. If you are 40 years or older please register and encourage others to register
Vaccinations of people 60 and above commenced on March 10, while registrations for people above 50 started from March 30, and the vaccination drive of people in the age group 50-59 started on April 21.
As per NCOC, Pakistan recorded 4,825 cases and 70 deaths in last 24 hours with the positivity rate of 9.61%.
Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has announced that Pakistan will commence COVID-19 vaccination registrations for ages 40-49 from April 27.
The minister also said that the National Command and Operations Centre has decided to start walk-in vaccinations for all registered citizens aged 50 and above.
“In today’s NCOC meeting decided to open up registration of 40 plus age citizens starting tomorrow. Also, decision taken to allow walk-in vaccination of all registered citizens of 50 plus age group,” said Umar, urging all eligible persons to register for the vaccine.
In today’s NCOC meeting decided to open up registration of 40 plus age citizens starting tomorrow. Also decision taken to allow walk in vaccination of all registered citizens of 50 plus age group. If you are 40 years or older please register and encourage others to register
Pakistan is currently vaccinating citizens who are 50 plus and healthcare workers with Chinese vaccines including Sinopharm. According to the NCOC, over 1.8 million people have been vaccinated in the country so far.
Meanwhile, more than one billion doses have been administered worldwide, according to a tally by AFP. More than half, or 58 percent, have been given in three countries: the United States with 225.6 million doses, China with 216.1 million doses and India with 138.4 million.
In terms of the proportion of the population who have been vaccinated, Israel is in the lead, with nearly six out of every 10 Israelis fully inoculated. That is followed by the United Arab Emirates with more than 51 percent of the population has received at least one jab, Britain with 49 percent, the US with 42 percent, Chile with 41 percent, Bahrain with 38 percent and Uruguay with 32 percent.
Pakistan is currently battling against the third wave of COVID-19 with a total of 800,452 cases. The country has reported 4,825 cases and 70 deaths in the last 24 hours.
The Ministry of Interior has disclosed that criminals are using fraudulent techniques like silicon thumbs impressions to activate SIM cards.
The Cyber Crime Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has received more than 4,547 complaints of unsolicited/fraudulent calls. These cybercrime activities are financially deceiving common people.
“It’s a fact that Cybercrime FIA assists the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in tracking the owner of such SIMs. Some culprits are being interrogated,” said the ministry.
In 2019 and 2020, the Cyber Crime FIA registered 90 First Information Reports (FIRs), 107 accused were arrested while 17 biometric verification (BVS) devices, 25,192 SIMs, and 6,446 silicon thumbs impressions along with a voter list were recovered.
The loss averted during 2019-20 was R.71.99 million, and the estimated cost of the confiscated items was Rs 91.76 million.
The Cyber Crime FIA has established a special team in every cybercrime reporting centre to deal with complaints about unsolicited callers who defrauded people and collaborates with the PTA to crack down on such franchises that fraudulently activate SIMs.
Swara Bhasker has thanked Pakistan for showing kindness to India “during this devastating times”.
“Heartening to see Pakistani civil society and social media reach out in solidarity and kindness to India, during this devastating time,” wrote the actor on social media.
She continued: “This despite the fact that our media and mainstream public discourse have consistently mocked and vilified Pakistanis.”
“Thank you for your bada bada dil padosi,” she added.
Heartening to see Pakistani civil society & social media reach out in solidarity & kindness to India, during this devastating time.. this despite the fact that our media & mainstream public discourse have consistently mocked & vilified Pakistanis.. Thank u 4 ur bada dil Padosi
Twitter in Pakistan trended with hashtags showing solidarity to India, which alsomelted Kangana Ranaut’s heart, prompting her to thank Pakistan for extending prayers.
Prime Minister Imran Khan and other cabinet members also extended their prayers for India and Faisal Edhi had also written a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offering help in tackling COVID-19 in India.
Atif Aslam also extended his prayers for the neighbouring country.
Praying for #India as the country battles the worst #Covid-19 surge the world has witnessed. Let’s all – irrespective of the place we live in – strictly follow the SOPs to avoid further burdening our healthcare systems.#HumanityFirst#PakistanstandswithIndia#indianeedoxygen
India recorded over 350,000 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours ending 8 am Monday, taking the country’s total infections to over 1.73 crores. Of these, over 28 lakh cases are currently active while 1.43 crore people have recovered after testing positive. With 2,812 new fatalities, the death toll is now over 1.95 lakh, The Indian Express has reported.
As per Indian media reports, from the first wave of COVID-19, the demand for medical oxygen had increased from 700 metric tonnes per day to 2,800 metric tonnes per day. However, in the past few days, the demand has reached nearly 5,000 metric tonnes per day.
Hey,*|MERGE1|*! It’s April 25, where did the month go? I finally started watching a Ramzan drama, and no it’s not Chupke Chupke. ?I’m watching Tanna Banna, which is a romantic comedy that revolves around the relationship of Zain and Zoya and is also dismantling patriarchy in a very sweet way. I’ve also penned down a review, so you guys can decide whether to watch it or not.
Laila-The Current
MORNING MEME
Prayers for India: PM Imran, cabinet ministers tweet in solidarity
Prime Minister Imran Khan and other cabinet members including Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi expressed support for the people of India in the current wave of COVID-19.
Apart from PM Imran and cabinet ministers, Pakistanis also expressed their solidarity with India. #PakistanStandsWithIndia trended as number 1 on Twitter.
Pakistan IT exports cross $1.5bn for the first time
The Pakistan Information Technology (IT) industry has experienced $1.5 billion in exports for the first time. In March, the industry received the highest export remittances of $213 million.
According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), IT and IT-enabled services recorded a huge increase of $1.512 billion during the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY) 2020-21.
The industry observed an increase of $459 million, or 43 per cent in comparison to the previous period in which the IT exports stood at $1.512 billion.
Review: ‘Fitoor’: Is Haider confused or simply unfaithful? ?
Love triangles and cheating husbands are not new to Pakistani television. I have seen at least one if not more dramas on the subject and they have pretty much been done to death. Fitoor, which airs on Geo Entertainment, is the latest love triangle on the block with our hero oscillating between two women: one his wife and the other his pehli mohabbat (first love).
‘Don’t ask a sister why she’s not fasting,’ urges Mariyam Nafees ?
Mariyam Nafees wants people to normalize not pretending to fast when you are not.
“Brothers, don’t ask a sister why she’s not fasting,” wrote the actor on social media. “In fact, don’t ask anybody who’s not fasting why they’re not fasting.”
Earlier, Shaniera Akram had clapped back at those who asked her why she was not fasting and told them to “just chill out a little”.
The bank was one of the most fancy places in our village, whenever I would take mother there, she looked at the Accountant’s seat and said that one day her son will make it there.”
If you have lost faith in your dreams, watch this week’s Sunday Superstar to know how Ansar Ali achieved his dream degree after waitressing at Zakir Tikka’s LUMS branch for two years.
On this day, we observe World Malaria Day and raise awareness about the global effort to control and ultimately eradicate malaria. This also provides health organisations and scientists with an opportunity to communicate information about the disease and about the current research efforts to the public. Malaria exists in more than 100 countries worldwide, and some 900,000 people die from the disease each year.
Current Baba’s prediction
Aaj you will find something that you have been looking for.?
HEY, WAIT A SECOND PLEASE.
If you like the newsletter, make sure that this email doesn’t get lost in promotions or spam.
Here’s how:
Through your phone, add us by hitting the “Kabob,” (the three dots in upper right-hand corner). Then click “move to,” and select “primary inbox.”
If you’re using a desktop just drag and drop the email into primary as shown in the video below. (You can also do this on your phone if you open your email in your browser). Easy.
And don’t forget to send us your feedback. We would love to hear from you
The commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan, U.S. Army General Scott Miller, on Sunday said an orderly withdrawal of foreign forces and the handing over of military bases and equipment to the Afghan forces had begun.
Miller said he was acting on orders based on U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to end America’s longest war, deeming the prolonged and intractable battle in Afghanistan no longer aligned with American priorities.
Earlier this month Biden said he would withdraw troops from Afghanistan before Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the militant attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon that launched the Afghan war.
Miller, who has been commanding the U.S. forces and the NATO Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan in their fight against the Taliban and other Islamist militant groups since 2018, said foreign forces will continue to have “the military means and capability to fully protect themselves during the ongoing retrograde and will support the Afghan security forces.”
“I’ve had the opportunity to talk to Taliban members with the Taliban Political Commission, and I’ve told them a return to violence, an effort to force a military decision, would be a tragedy for Afghanistan and the Afghan people,” Miller told reporters in the capital Kabul.
The Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, when they were ousted by U.S.-led forces. Since then they have waged a long-running insurgency and now control wide swathes of territory.
Security experts in recent weeks said they doubt if the Taliban will allow U.S. forces, whom they call invaders, to peacefully exit the country at a time when clashes between the Afghan forces and the Taliban have not ebbed.
Foreign force withdrawal is slated to begin on May 1, in line with an agreement with the Taliban in 2020.
“As we retrograde to zero U.S. forces, we will turn over the (military) bases primarily to the (Afghan) Ministry of Defense and other Afghan forces,” Miller said adding that the Taliban have committed to break their relationship with al Qaeda, the Islamist extremist group.
The Taliban government’s sheltering of Al-Qaeda was the key reason for the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan after the September 2001 attacks.
A United Nations report in January said there were as many as 500 al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan and that the Taliban maintained a close relationship with them. The Taliban denies al Qaeda presence in Afghanistan.
On Sunday, 5,611 people tested positive for COVID-19. The third wave of coronavirus seems to be spreading quite fast. On Saturday, 157 people died due to coronavirus in Pakistan. This was the highest number ever recorded since the pandemic broke out in the country. Last year the highest number of deaths was 153 in June. On the other hand, people are not following basic SOPs like wearing masks or sanitising hands or maintaining social distancing. The interior ministry has notified army deployment for the implementation of COVID-19 SOPs. Hopefully, people will now follow SOPs.
In the wake of the third coronavirus wave, the government has started walk-in vaccination for those between the age of 60 to 64. But the problem is that the vaccination process in Pakistan is quite slow. According to a report in Dawn, if Pakistan continues its vaccination drive at this rate, “it will take more than three years to cover 20 per cent of the country’s population”. Even the private vaccines are not much in numbers. Unless and until we accelerate our vaccination drive, it will be very difficult to deal with this pandemic. We have seen how horrible the situation is in neighbouring India. Prime Minister Imran Khan and several cabinet ministers as well as many Pakistanis expressed their solidarity with India. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tweeted: “As a gesture of solidarity with the people of India in the wake of the current wave of COVID-19, Pakistan has officially offered relief and support to India, including ventilators, Bi PAP, digital X-ray machines, PPEs and other related items.” Qureshi added that Pakistan believes in a policy of humanity first. We should not take the situation in India lightly. No hospital beds and acute oxygen shortage in India is scary. Unfortunately, the hospital capacity in Pakistan as well as oxygen supply is also reaching its capacity. Some hospitals in cities like Islamabad are full. ICU beds were more than 90 per cent full a few days ago in Lahore. Oxygen supply ended in two hospitals in Quetta. This is all frightening but real. We need to be more careful and follow SOPs strictly while the government needs to focus more on the vaccination process.
At the request of the Modi government, Twitter has removed almost 50 tweets by influential people that criticised Modi for mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to reports, the Indian government issued an emergency order to Twitter on Friday to censor 52 tweets.
Among them were tweets from a lawmaker named Revnath Reddy, a minister in the state of West Bengal named Moloy Ghatak, and a filmmaker named Avinash Das.
According to a spokesperson of Twitter, the accounts were notified in advance that their content will be withheld at the request of the Indian government.
The spokesperson further added that the company made these tweets unable to be viewed because they violated the local law.
Indian government cited Information Technology Act, 2020 that were violated by these Twitter accounts.
“When we receive a valid legal request, we review it under both the Twitter Rules and local law. If the content violates Twitter’s Rules, the content will be removed from the service,” said the Twitter spokesperson. “If it is determined to be illegal in a particular jurisdiction, but not in violation of the Twitter Rules, we may withhold access to the content in India only. In all cases, we notify the account holder directly so they’re aware that we’ve received a legal order about the account.”
Besides, this is not the first time Twitter has bowed down against the pressure of the Indian government. In February, when framers were protesting in Delhi, more than 500 Twitter accounts were removed at the request of the Indian government.
The Indian government issued a notice of noncompliance to Twitter, and the employees could face jail time if the company refused to comply with the order.
India is in the midst of a deadly second wave of COVID-19 cases, which has made ventilators, medicine, and oxygen scarce.
According to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus resource centre, India reported 346,786 new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, a new record high, and 2,624 deaths, also a new record. Less than 1.5 per cent of the country’s population has been fully vaccinated.
Hey,*|MERGE1|*! It’s April 23, and the second Friday of Ramzan. This pandemic has made me addicted to online grocery shopping. In my free time, I scroll through online grocery stores and end up buying things that I will probably never use. I don’t think I’m ever going back to a grocery store soon. Are you going to the grocery stores or ordering online? ?
As per some reports, the announcement of stricter lockdown restrictions is expected today, with the possibility of complete lockdowns in cities with a high positivity rate.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday granted bail to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif. The bail was approved by the three-member bench comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, Justice Alia Neelum and Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi. Sharif was first granted and then denied bail after a division bench issued a split decision on Sharif’s petition, sending the matter to the LHC chief justice for the nomination of a referee judge.
Last year in September, Shehbaz Sharif was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a money-laundering case.
In December 2019, NAB issued orders to freeze 23 properties owned by former Punjab chief executive and his sons, Hamza and Suleman, over claims they had acquired assets beyond their known sources of income and committed money-laundering.
‘Quetta blast was a suicide attack’: Sheikh Rasheed
Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed said on Thursday that the blast at Serena Hotel in Quetta was a suicide attack. He said this was a foreign attempt to destabilize Pakistan. “Pakistan Army and the people of Pakistan will defeat such designs.”
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed the responsibility for the Quetta blast. Five people were killed and more than a dozen injured in the deadly attack.
Fawad Chaudhry, who was reappointed Minister for Information and Broadcasting in a recent cabinet shuffle, has shared his plans on what he plans to do under his ministry.
“The process that started in 2018 to initiate reforms in the Information Ministry is being resumed,” said Chaudhry in a tweet, adding that the project to make Pakistan Television HD will be completed by June 1.
In addition to this, work on making PTV Sports HD is also in progress.
TikTok is being sued for misusing data of millions of children
TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDan, could face a damages claim worth billions of dollars in London’s High Court over allegations that they have illegally harvested the private data of millions of European children, Reuters has reported.
The case will be heard next week and affected children could receive thousands of pounds each if the claim is successful.
Anne Longfield, the former Children’s Commissioner for England alleged that every child that has used TikTok since May 25, 2018, may have had private personal information illegally collected by ByteDance through TikTok for the benefit of unknown third parties.
Hilary Duff to star in ‘How I Met Your Mother’ sequel
Cult classic How I Met Your Mother is finally getting a sequel and Hilary Duff has been roped in as the lead.
Titled How I Met Your Father, the gender-swapped upcoming show, which will stream on Hulu, will feature the Lizzie McGuire star play the female version of the original’s lead character, Ted Mosby.
According to a press release, the story will “catapult us back to the year 2021 where Sophie and her close-knit group of friends are in the midst of figuring out who they are, what they want out of life, and how to fall in love in the age of dating apps and limitless options.”
On this day, World Book Day is celebrated every year. UNESCO undertakes the responsibility of the event. The first-ever World Book Day was celebrated on April 23, 1995. The date was decided by UNESCO as it was also the death and birth anniversary of William Shakespeare, a world-famous author. With the help of the event, UNESCO aims to inculcate reading habits among people, especially the youth, and highlight the various issues surrounding authors and publishers.
Current Baba’s prediction
Today is the day to finish your pending tasks.
HEY, WAIT A SECOND PLEASE.
If you like the newsletter, make sure that this email doesn’t get lost in promotions or spam.
Here’s how:
Through your phone, add us by hitting the “Kabob,” (the three dots in upper right-hand corner). Then click “move to,” and select “primary inbox.”
If you’re using a desktop just drag and drop the email into primary as shown in the video below. (You can also do this on your phone if you open your email in your browser). Easy.
And don’t forget to send us your feedback. We would love to hear from you
Love triangles and cheating husbands are not new to Pakistani television. I have seen at least one if not more dramas on the subject and they have pretty much been done to death. Fitoor, which airs on Geo Entertainment, is the latest love triangle on the block with our hero oscillating between two women: one his wife and the other his pehli mohabbat (first love). He is unable to make a decision or decide who he wants to spend his life with. In this review, I try to break down whether our hero is confused and masoom or if he’s simply being unfaithful and enjoying the attention of both the women in his life.
Haider (Faysal Quraishi) was (or is) in love with his cousin Mehmal (Kiran Haq) since the two were young and Haider was poor. However, Mehmal, who wanted a better life (read money) ditched him and got married to her other cousin Ansab (Tipu Sharif), a well-off man with many indulgences including women and alcohol. From the beginning, Ansab made it clear that he was not going to change his ways. Haider is heartbroken with Mehmal’s bewafai and doesn’t get married focusing all his energies on building his business and becoming rich.
He has a chance encounter with Dilnasheen (Hiba Bukhari) at a wedding and falls for her and soon the two get married. Now that Haider is rich and married, Mehmal starts feeling insecure and regretting her decision so she leaves her husband and settles into Haider’s house with her young daughter.
She continues to make advances on Haider, who makes half-hearted attempts to tell her off but Mehmal is persistent. When Haider’s mother (Ismat Zaidi) realises what is happening, she throws Mehmal out of the house. However, Mehmal spins this around and gains Haider’s sympathies. Instead of taking her back home to face the wrath of his mother, Haider books Mehmal into a hotel under the name of Mr and Mrs Haider Salman. Not only that, but he also spends a substantial amount of his day with her in the hotel.
While initially, we gave Haider the benefit of doubt, understanding that Mehmal was his first love and it is hard for him to get over her, we have now had enough. Haider is simply not making a decision or taking a stand but is instead yo-yoing between the two women. He spends his mornings with Mehmal, allowing her to fawn over him, and in the evening he goes home and gets cosy with his wife who is spending all her energies trying to win his heart.
Haider has also saved Mehmal’s name as Muneer on his phone and one wonders why he needs to do that unless he is hiding something. Besides, he also lied to Mehmal telling her that his phone’s battery was dead when in fact he was sharing a romantic moment with his wife. By doing this he is leading Mehmal on and giving her hope instead of drawing the line.
In the latest episode, Dilnasheen catches Haider having lunch with Mehmal at the hotel and decides she has had enough. She leaves and goes back to her mother’s house. The scene that plays out at her mother’s house is disappointing, to say the least. Dilnasheen’s mother (Saba Faisal) not only justifies Haider’s behaviour but also tells her to accept it and try to win Haider’s heart. On the other hand, Dilnasheen’s brother Yawar (Kamran Jilani) blames the entire situation on her, telling her that she still harbours feelings for her ex-boyfriend Hamza (Wahaj Ali) and has not accepted Haider as her husband.
Mehmal’s damsel in distress act and reluctance to go back to her husband is also getting tiring and one wishes that Haider would stop constantly trying to be the knight in shining armour for her. At this point, it’s getting a little hard to believe that Haider is confused. He knows exactly what he is doing but is continuing to do so under the act of being caring and supportive towards his “yateem” cousin. So unless he pulls his act together, he’s going to get the label of a ‘cheating husband’.
While Fitoor may seem typical on the surface, it is saved by great performances. Each actor has slid perfectly into their roles, giving solid performances. We may hate Haider but we are thoroughly enjoying Faysal’s performance. The writing is strong in most places as is the direction. The production value is a little weak with jumps in many scenes and Dilnasheen terribly needs a good stylist – the flowy clothes and hair are doing her no good. Especially when Mehmal’s outfits ooze glamour. Quraishi’s makeup is also terrible, making him look older and plastic in some places.
Written by Zanjabeel Asim and directed by Siraj ul Haq, Fitoor airs every Thursday on Geo Entertainment.
