Category: Uncategorized

  • 3,265 dead bodies brought to Karachi graveyards in seven weeks

    3,265 dead bodies brought to Karachi graveyards in seven weeks

    At least 3,265 dead bodies were brought to graveyards of Karachi within the past 49 days — between February 20 and April 9 –, reports quoted a top administrative official as saying.

    According to reports, the development comes after reports were published regarding spikes of deaths in Karachi’s different hospitals. However, there is no official confirmation from the authorities if the fatalities are connected to COVID-19.

    As per data obtained from government hospitals in Karachi, 10,791 patients were brought to emergencies during the first three months of 2020. Total 121 were dead when they arrived, which makes the fatality rate 1.12%.

    Within the past 15 days, 109 patients have been brought in dead and 90 others were brought in a very critical condition and died mysteriously in a very short time at JPMC.

    While private hospitals are reluctant to share any details in this regard, they have confirmed that the number of pneumonia-like symptoms in patients has been climbing. Indus Hospital sources also admitted that the number of patients in critical condition had soared sharply.

    However, published reports, statistics and tests conducted in hospitals does not authenticate that the deaths were linked to the novel virus.

  • VIDEO: ‘PM didn’t recognise me,’ says Faisal Edhi, who met Imran to donate Rs1 crore

    Son of the late philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi and incumbent head of the Edhi Foundation, Faisal Edhi, has said that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan didn’t recognise him when they met in Islamabad earlier this week, as the former donated Rs10 million (1 crore) to the premier’s coronavirus relief fund.

    “Initially, he didn’t recognise me,” Edhi told anchorperson Nadeem Malik on his show on Thursday night.

    He said the PM didn’t even talk to him for six or seven minutes — until one of the two industrialists sitting with PM Imran, one of whose father’s body was bathed [ghusl] by Abdul Sattar Edhi in New York, recognised him.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    https://twitter.com/nadeemmalik/status/1250829957691047937

    “He told the premier that I was [Abdul Sattar] Edhi Sahab’s son, after which PM Imran recognised me,” Edhi said.

    “We had a half-minute talk at the door of his office,” the Edhi Foundation head said, adding that he told the premier how he wanted to establish a university in the name of his father.

    PM Imran had announced the establishment of corona relief fund on March 27 in order to to provide relief to the people amid coronavirus crisis.

    The premier had emphasised on providing relief to the neglected segments of the society and urged the people to help those in need. He had added that the federal government was mapping deserved persons to directly provide them financial assistance.

  • Fact Check: Did a leopard really attack a pet dog in Islamabad?

    Fact Check: Did a leopard really attack a pet dog in Islamabad?

    Claim: Viral video of leopard entering a house and fighting a pet dog is being placed in a house on Margalla road, Islamabad.

    Fact: The video is actually from Gujrat, India and was posted 5 days earlier on Times of India.

    A video of a leopard entering a house and getting into a fight with a pet dog is going viral on social media and especially in Whatsapp groups. It is being speculated that the incident took place in a house on Margalla Road in Islamabad considering a leopard was recently spotted on a camera trap near the hiking trails.

    Read more – Leopard spotted near Islamabad’s hiking trails

    However, the Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad has confirmed that the video is not from Islamabad.

    Meanwhile, a quick Google search revealed that this incident took place in India. According to a report in the Times of India, the incident took place in Rajkot, Gujrat. The leopard was attempting to prey on the dog but when a vehicle passed by outside, it got scared and ran away. The owner of the house said that this is the first time he witnessed such an incident and that he alerted the forest department about it.

    “We have set up a cage with a live bait inside it to trap the leopard,” said an official from the forest department.

    The leopard population in Gujarat has witnessed a growth in recent years and it appears that the lockdown which is currently in place in the country is allowing these big cats to move around more easily.

    VERDICT: FALSE [OUT OF CONTEXT]

  • Who are Sheheryar Munawar’s ‘most special people’?

    Who are Sheheryar Munawar’s ‘most special people’?

    With everything and everyone in lockdown and quarantine, we often find ourselves scrolling through our phone galleries and reminiscing about the happy moments we spent with our loved ones.

    Sheheryar Munawar, who in his previous post made it clear that he was done with the coronavirus, in his latest post shared pictures of himself with his most special people. Among those people is director Asim Raza, Mahira Khan, Adeel Hussain, his Parey Hut Love co-stars Maya Ali, Zara Noor Abbas, Ahmed Ali Butt and Shahbaz Shigri and makeup artist Adnan Ansari.

    “In these times of the lockdown, emotional highs and lows have become part of everyday life. Whenever I’m feeling a little low, going through old pictures always puts a smile on my face,” wrote the actor.

    “I’ve always heard people say ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’, but since I’ve been missing human interaction like the deserts miss the rain (yes, being a little dramatic for effect here) I’ve discovered that ‘A picture is worth a thousand a thousand emotions a thousand memories’,” he wrote further before adding, “Sharing a few pictures of some special people. Some of whom where friends before they become colleagues and some colleagues who became friends…but all of them are now friends who are like family.”

    Check out his post and pictures below:

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_CqG9JHSk-/
  • Islamabad cops feed monkeys during lockdown

    Islamabad cops feed monkeys during lockdown

    Human beings aren’t the only ones affected by the coronavirus lockdown in Pakistan. Animals are also suffering amid all this as many stray or wild animals haven’t been getting any food.

    As per reports, group of Islamabad policemen gave monkeys food during the lockdown to make sure they don’t go hungry either.

    Pakistan is currently under lockdown, with shops and markets closed to control the spread of the coronavirus. People are practicing social distancing while staying at home. That’s why stray animals could not find any food on the streets.

  • As economies fall, Apple ‘quietly’ launches new, only $399 iPhone

    As economies fall, Apple ‘quietly’ launches new, only $399 iPhone

    Apple has “quietly” — without fanfare — unveiled a new entry-level iPhone, aiming to appeal to consumers facing a suddenly bleaker economic backdrop.

    The updated iPhone SE will start at $399, or less than half the price of its flagship devices, and be available for order as of today (Friday) in more than 40 markets.

    Apple made the announcement in a statement, forgoing the normal splashy product launch events of the past few years.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQIbeAk-bFA

    The screen is on the small side for smartphones, measuring 4.7 inches diagonally — bigger than the first-generation iPhone SE but smaller than the newest phones — yet boasts high-definition graphics for rich visuals.

    Apple trimmed coasts by leaving out some of high-end features such as facial recognition, giving iPhone SE a fingerprint sensor and a home-screen button which fans will remember from previous generations.

    While the iPhone had been in the works for months, the launch comes amid a pandemic-induced economic slump which has hammered the smartphone market and hit consumer sentiment.

    “It is incredibly fortuitous timing,” said Bob O’Donnell, analyst with Technalysis Research.

    “This is the exactly the phone a large percentage of people will want. It’s hard to justify spending $1,200 on a smartphone in this economic climate, yet people still depend heavily on their phones and a lot of people want to upgrade.”

    O’Donnell said the new device is also likely to appeal to consumers seeking a small-format handset, and in countries where consumers may have not been able to afford iPhones.

  • Iman Aly clarifies her remarks about Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan

    Iman Aly clarifies her remarks about Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan

    Actor Iman Aly has clarified her remarks about head is not blowing over any time soon.

    Iman in her interview had stated that the models currently working in the industry don’t have ‘adequate general knowledge’.

    Similarly, Frieha Altaf also took to social media to criticise Iman for her comments on Mahira Khan and Fawad Khan and remarked that the model was resorting to “a cheap publicity stunt as she has a movie coming up.”

    Iman, in the interview, had claimed that Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees had first been offered to her. She further said: “90% of the movies made in Pakistan today are still offered to me first. But I only take the scripts I fall in love with. If I don’t like the lines, it feels like work, like slavery.”

    In another segment, Iman had remarked Humayun Saeed would be a “doodh dahi bechnay wala” (dairy product salesman) if he was not an actor. She also labelled Fawad Khan as a “failed standup comedian” and Mehwish Hayat a “cosmetologist’s assistant.” She also said that Mahira should have stayed a VJ.

    Watch Iman’s interview here:

  • Shamoon Abbasi, Sanam Saeed face gross mismanagement as they arrive in Pakistan

    Shamoon Abbasi, Sanam Saeed face gross mismanagement as they arrive in Pakistan

    Sanam Saeed, Shamoon Abbasi and the rest of the cast and crew of Ishrat Made in China stranded in Thailand for the past two weeks have finally made it back to Pakistan. They arrived via a special flight arranged by the Government of Pakistan to repatriate those stuck in Thailand and Japan.

    Sanam and Shamoon, who upon their arrival in Islamabad were sent to a hotel to quarantine while they wait for their tests to be conducted have shared updates and highlighted mismanagement on part of the authorities.

    After sharing the updates, Sanam said the information being communicated to them was inaccurate and that people need to be “mentally, physically and financially prepared” for everything.

    She also shared that they are still in Islamabad and have not gone to Karachi as yet.

    Sanam also thanked the Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad for being cooperative.

    In the end, Sanam shared a message for all her followers.

    Shamoon Abbasi also had a similar story to share. He directly called out the hotel’s management for threatening them amid the crisis.

    https://www.facebook.com/shamoon/posts/10156935590971712
  • Scenes from KP’s quarantine facility for foreign travellers will give you nightmares

    Scenes from KP’s quarantine facility for foreign travellers will give you nightmares

    As coronavirus continues to spread across the country, the federal and all provincial governments are taking strict measures to contain the outbreak. One of the many steps being taken by the authorities is quarantining foreign travellers before they are allowed to interact with anyone in Pakistan.

    Amid reports that travellers are being transferred to the quarantine facilities set up across the country right from the airport, one of the quarantined passengers, who had travelled from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Peshawar during the wee hours of Wednesday, reached out toThe Current and shared pictures of the nightmarish conditions they are being forced to live in.

    “We are stuck here at Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Postgraduate Paramedical Institute in Peshawar after being told that we’ll be tested and then allowed to leave. It will soon be two days since we were locked up here and no one has conducted our tests yet,” the traveller said.

    They said they were being treated like criminals, and it was unfortunate how the conditions they and several others were being forced to live in were entirely different than what was being claimed by government officials in front of media.

    “Test us as soon as we land and just let us go. We were obviously also tested by the country we are coming in from,” the traveller said further, adding that the procedure didn’t take more than two hours but the negligence of the authorities had led to their suffering.

    The district administration had last month declared educational institutions in Peshawar as coronavirus quarantine facilities.

    A notification issued by the administration had said the premises declared as the quarantine facilities were student hostels at Peshawar University, sub-campuses of other universities and educational institutes within these premises, Postgraduate Medical Institute Peshawar, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Postgraduate Paramedical Institute and Pakistan Academy for Rural Development.

    The administration had also asked the police to ensure deployment across the facilities to prevent any unauthorised movements in or out of the premises.

  • Author Noam Chomsky condemns Jang/Geo owner’s arrest

    Author Noam Chomsky condemns Jang/Geo owner’s arrest

    Renowned linguist, philosopher, historian, social critic and political commentator Noam Chomsky has endorsed a petition condemning the arrest of Jang/Geo Group owner Mir Shakilur Rahman.

    According to reports, the petition stated that the arrest of Mir Shakilur Rahman, the editor-in-chief of the Jang/Geo media group in Pakistan, had taken place without a free trial or conviction.

    “Not only has the trial not begun, but no charges have even been framed against him. Yet he has been in a lockup now for over a month, practically in solitary confinement,” it added.

    “Under international law, if a prisoner spends more than 22 hours alone in a prison without meaningful human interaction, it is considered solitary confinement, the psychological and health damage of which can be permanent,” the petition highlighted. 

    “Rahman has been cooperating with the authorities about the case which is related to a 34-year old property transaction between two private parties. He presented himself before the investigators, flying in from outside the country,” it added.

    “There is no reason to not release him from jail, particularly at a time when the global coronavirus pandemic is leading governments to set free non-violent prisoners with no criminal record, particularly if they are elderly and have health issues as Rahman does,” it noted. 

    “Let the case continue against him if there is merit. Let him be arrested if he is found guilty after a trial. This is what fundamental rights are about. This is what an elected government that claims to be democratic should ensure,” the petition concluded.