Category: Uncategorized

  • Prime Minister Imran Khan breaks silence on Aurat March

    Days after it was held, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has broken silence on Aurat March 2020, saying that a “culture clash” was developing in the country due to different education systems and it was most visible in the mixed reactions drawn by women marching on International Women’s Day to demand basic rights.

    “We will, hopefully by next year, introduce a core syllabus for all schools that will be mandatory for students apart from the additional subjects each institution chooses to teach,” the premier said in a speech marking the groundbreaking ceremony of housing projects for low-income people.

    “This is how you create a nation. This is how you end rival cultures from developing,” he said. “The Aurat March that just happened… a different culture was visible in it… this is a cultural issue and this comes from the schooling system,” he added.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    https://twitter.com/mmnewsdottv/status/1237783284723179522

    PM Imran said that by adopting a uniform education system, Pakistan could bring an end to the societal divide that is perpetuated by different educational standards.

    In various cities across Pakistan, the Aurat March was held on Sunday to mark International Women’s Day. The marches were attended by women, children, men, transgender people and others.

    The first Aurat March was held in 2018 in Karachi. Last year, it was extended to more cities, including Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Larkana and Hyderabad. The Aurat March, as it has come to be known since its first iteration, was organised by Hum Aurtain — a feminist collective.

    It has a manifesto demanding basic rights for women in each field of life.

    Many people object to placards and demands of women marchers, saying that they are “un-Islamic” and “unconstitutional”.

  • ’25 LUMS students being tested for coronavirus’? Here’s what you need to know

    ’25 LUMS students being tested for coronavirus’? Here’s what you need to know

    With 20 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in Pakistan, the panic surrounding the pandemic has increased with people urging the government to take strict and timely actions to contain the virus. While all that is happening, fake news and misinformation regarding the spread of the virus is also circulating on social media, in particular, on Whatsapp.

    Below is a screenshot of a message that is widely being shared on social media.

    However, according to The Current’s sources, the information in the message is incorrect. To begin with, there were less than 25 students who went on the trip to Turkey. The students were individually screened and cleared by officials present at the airport when they returned to Pakistan. As a precautionary measure, all the students underwent further tests at the hospital to ensure that they don’t have the disease. According to the LUMS official Twitter account, all the results received so far are negative.

    While the rest of the results are yet to come, the students and administration is requesting the public to not spread misinformation and panic.

    It is also being reported that the university has extended its mid-semester break till April 7. The break will begin on March 16, as scheduled.

    COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a new virus that had not been previously identified in humans. The virus causes respiratory illness (like the flu) with symptoms such as a cough, fever and in more severe cases, pneumonia. You can protect yourself by washing your hands frequently and avoiding touching your face.

    It was discovered in mainland China in mid-December and has since spread globally despite efforts to contain it.

  • Dua Mangi reveals the story behind her abduction

    Dua Mangi reveals the story behind her abduction

    Dua Mangi was kidnapped on November 30th, 2019. Though she was set free by her kidnappers after a few days, a lot of misinformation and conspiracy theories had spread on social media about the incident.

    Mangi recently took to social media to clear all assumptions that the media had spread.

    In a detailed post on Facebook she wrote, “I’m so tired of all the misinformation and conspiracy theories revolving around my case. I will address these questions once and for all and then I’d appreciate it if you all stop talking crap because all this emotionally and mentally drains me.”

    She answered all the questions everyone has been asking her.

    Why haven’t you been helping with the case?

    This is a high profile case and I’m not allowed to disclose any information. but I have been doing everything I can to make sure the perpetrators get caught.

    How were you able to come back home safe and unharmed?

    I was kidnapped for ransom. They let me go after the ransom exchange. This is literally what kidnapping for ransom is like.

    Why didn’t your family cooperate with the forces?

    My family did cooperate with them and is still cooperating. Please stop assuming and believing everything that’s said on sensationalist social media pages.

    Were you kidnapped for personal reasons?

    No, it was a random pick up. it could’ve happened to anyone.

    Here is the post:

  • WEF names Minister Hammad Azhar as one of ‘most promising young leaders’ in world

    In recognition of his services in the field of politics, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has named Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar as one of its ‘Young Global Leaders’ from South Asia.

    According to the details, WEF included Azhar’s name in the list of the world’s “most promising leaders under the age of 40” for the year 2020.

    He has been selected for being Pakistan’s youngest state minister and for his services in the field of politics.

    Last year in July, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, following his successful visit to the United States (US), had become the 8th most popular leader of the world on Twitter.

    The number of his Twitter followers had increased to over 10 million that had landed the premier on number 8 in the ranking of world’s most famous leaders over the social network.

    Get to know Hammad Azhar better:

  • Senate HR Committee takes notice of ban on ‘Zindagi Tamasha’

    Senate HR Committee takes notice of ban on ‘Zindagi Tamasha’

    Two months on, the fate of Sarmad Khoosat’s Zindagi Tamasha still hangs in limbo as the government is yet to decide whether the film can be released or not. The film, which was scheduled to hit screens on January 25, was stopped from being released days before its release after the federal and provincial governments feared public unrest.

    While the Federal Government had said that the film will be reviewed by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), the Punjab Government directed the filmmaker to hold a screening on February 3 so that the film can be reviewed again. However, the screening has not taken place as yet. It is pertinent to mention here that the provincial and central censor boards had earlier cleared the film for release with a few cuts.

    Read more – Council of Islamic Ideology to ‘critically review’ ‘Zindagi Tamasha’

    As governing bodies are still to decide the future of the film, Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokar took to social media to announce that the Human Rights Committee has taken notice of the matter and will be reviewing the film.

    Earlier, Sarmad had also appealed to the Prime Minister, President, Chief of Army Staff and the Chief Justice of Pakistan to facilitate the release of the film.

    https://twitter.com/KhoosatSarmad/status/1217818381149229062?s=20

    Written by Nirmal Bano and directed by Sarmad Khoosat, Zindagi Tamasha starres Arif Hassan, Samiya Mumtaz, Eman Suleman and Ali Qureshi in the lead. The film is centred around a naat khwan Rahat Khawaja (played by Hassan) and his family who are outcast from the society when a secret of Khawaja’s is leaked.

    The official synopsis states: “The film is an intimate portrait of a family as well as a scorching political commentary on little gods on this earth who police our private passions.”

    Read more – Sarmad Khoosat says the ‘film/TV fraternity’ is a joke

    The film premiered at the Busan International Film Festival held in October 2019 where it also won the prestigious Kim Ji Seok Award.

    Watch trailer:

  • Saudi oil giant slammed for dressing migrant worker as a sanitiser

    Oil giant Saudi Aramco has come under fire after photos, showing one of its migrant workers wearing a surgical mask and a large hand-sanitiser dispenser, went viral on social media.

    Twitter users labelled the act by the oil company as “racist” and “classist” as the worker appeared to be walking around distributing sanitiser to staff members inside and outside one of its buildings in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

    Following the backlash, the company released an official statement in which it expressed its “strong dissatisfaction with this abusive behaviour that was used to emphasise the importance of sanitization, without the approval of the company’s concerned party,” Al Jazeera reported.

    “The company immediately stopped this act and took strict measures to prevent it from happening again,” the statement said.

    However, Twitter users did not buy the company’s apology and demanded them to apologise to the “person himself” and not to the public.

  • Khalil ur Rehman Qamar has a disgusting response to Adnan Malik’s criticism

    Khalil ur Rehman Qamar has a disgusting response to Adnan Malik’s criticism

    Khalil ur Rahman Qamar, who refers to himself as a feminist, has yet again passed disgusting comments on Adnan Malik after the latter criticised him for his words and actions. While other celebrities have also stepped forward to do the same, what makes Adnan stand out is the fact that he played Khalil in Hum TV’s super hit drama Sadqay Tumhare. The drama was based on the writer’s own love story.

    Read more – Adnan Malik reveals how he feels about playing Khalil ur Rehman Qamar in ‘Sadqay Tumhare’

    Following the Aurat March on March 8, the writer held a press conference in which he said that an “army of hijras (transgenders) has emerged and this has destroyed the entertainment industry.

    “You will sometimes see hijras in the role of the hero,” Qamar laughed, adding “I always check for hijras before casting anyone in my dramas.”

    He continued, “Laikin eik ghalti meray say bhi hogayi (I also made a mistake). Apnay hee role main, Khalil kay role main mainay eik hijray ko cast karliya (In my own role, in the role of Khalil, I cast a transgender).”

    “Yeh mujhe kal pata chala iss liye mujhe pata chala keh mujh se ghalti hogayi (I found this out yesterday so I discovered my mistake yesterday).”

    Though Qamar did not name anyone, his words implied that he was referring to Malik, who played Khalil in Sadqay Tumhare.

    Qamar’s comments were met with a round of laughter and cheering.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B9lqDUJJB7T/

    In the same press conference, Qamar also remarked that women nowadays have nothing better to do than to get botox done or get a new set of teeth.

    “These women just keep changing the wrapper,” remarked Qamar adding, “This changing of the wrapper highlights women’s insecurities.”

    Adnan Malik and Mahira Khan in ‘Sadkay Tumhare’

    Meanwhile, Adnan, who has always been a vocal advocate of women’s rights, explained his take on the controversial Aurat March slogan, Mera Jism Meri Marzi.

    In a long note posted to social media, Adnan wrote that he “understood how ‘Mera Jism, Meri Marzi‘ (my body, my choice) can be triggering to some people” before going on to explain his own interpretation of it.

    Adnan said that he “never saw it solely as a justification for ‘westernisation’ or wearing revealing clothes as so many men in this country do.”

    “But yes,” he continued, “The slogan is inclusive of that also. It’s setting a boundary for men who want to have control over women’s choices.”

    Adnan elaborated that the main issue isn’t the slogan but how someone chooses to interpret it.

    “Most men are triggered because they look at women’s bodies through the lens of ‘Madonna or whore’. Either the female body is sexualised or it’s so sacred that sexualising it is a sin. This is the dichotomy that most men are oscillating between- guilt and shame.”

    After Khalil’s remarks, Adnan shared his post again on social media.

  • Mansoor Ali Khan opens up about being trolled over attending the Aurat March

    Mansoor Ali Khan opens up about being trolled over attending the Aurat March

    Senior anchorperson Mansoor Ali Khan, known for his hard-hitting shows, is no stranger to online trolling.

    When Marvi Sirmed was abused on live television recently by writer Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar, Mansoor hosted a program with Qamar along with Resham and Dr Aamir Liaquat. Mr Khan then went on to demolish Qamar’s misogyny through logic. This show and his support for Aurat March led to some more trolling.

    WATCH: Resham tells Khalil ur Rehman Qamar that he is not even worth one ‘taka’

    On March 8, Khan went to the Aurat March in Lahore with his wife and his five-year-old son. Journalist Mehmal Sarfraz took their photograph and posted it online along with a few other photographs from the Aurat March.

    The Original Picture

    Trolls photoshopped the blank piece of paper that Khan’s wife was holding.

    Following this, Mansoor posted the original photo along with three photoshopped pictures:

    Talking to The Current, Mansoor said, “I am always ready to get trolled or get targeted on social media by different political trolls or trolls belonging to various groups but this was the first time that the attack was on my family — which had my wife and five-year-old child in the picture.”

    “Obviously I was disappointed and I was angry but my wife is the one who came up and stood next to me and said there is no reason to lose heart. She said: ‘When I decided to go to the Aurat March with you, I knew these things could happen and I was mentally prepared for that. I knew you were standing on the right path and I will wholeheartedly support you. Next year we are not just going to go with our 5-year-old but we will go with all our 3 sons to the Aurat March.’” he shared.

    “Hats off to my wife. If she doesn’t have a problem with all these things, then why should I? Obviously we in Pakistan need a better mechanism to control such things, which unfortunately is lacking. The authorities need to step up a bit to check such things,” he concluded.

    Meanwhile, AFP also ran a fact-check on the photos and confirmed that the words written on the placards were indeed doctored.

    https://twitter.com/AFPAfPak/status/1237293432055398401?s=20

    Earlier in an exclusive interview with The Current, when Mansoor was asked if he ever thought of leaving this profession because his family is targeted, Mansoor said, “Whatever I am today is because of my family. Whenever I am trolled, my family supports me a lot; they tell me to hold my ground no matter what happens and not deter. My family is my source of strength so I give them all the credit.”

    Watch the full interview here:

  • Coronavirus: PSL matches likely to be shifted from Karachi as another two infected

    Coronavirus: PSL matches likely to be shifted from Karachi as another two infected

    Sindh Health Department is mulling over a proposal to issue an advisory for the public and requesting a ban on public events in Karachi, including the Pakistan Super League (PSL), after nine new coronavirus cases were confirmed in the port city on Monday, followed by another two in Sindh on Tuesday.

    According to Geo, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials are in touch with the Sindh government regarding the fate of the PSL matches that are to be held in Karachi over the next two weeks.

    “PCB officials are in constant touch with the Sindh government and attending all the meetings regarding PSL matches in the city,” a PCB spokesperson was quoted as saying.

    The spokesperson further said that the board would follow the Sindh government’s directives. “However, for now, the matches are still scheduled for Karachi.”

    As per the details of the two cases surfacing Tuesday, the first case of the novel coronavirus emerged in Hyderabad. The patient had reportedly come to Pakistan from Doha via Syria. The second case of the virus emerged in Karachi, putting the total tally of cases in the port city at 15.

    The total number of infections in Pakistan has now reached 18.

    ENGRO SHUTS DOWN KARACHI HARBOUR FRONT OFFICES:

    Engro Corporation shut down its offices in the HarbourFront building on Tuesday after an employee was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. 

    Engro is a Pakistani multinational conglomerate company with subsidiaries involved in production of fertilizers, foods, chemicals, energy and petrochemicals. Its major subsidiaries, Engro Fertilizers, is one of the largest fertilizer manufacturers in the world.

    A statement from the corporation stated that at 1 pm on Tuesday, an employee who worked at the eighth-floor office of the building was diagnosed with the coronavirus. 

    The statement further said that the employee was last in the office for a few hours on Friday, March 6, 2020. The organisation said it had decided to shut its offices for three days “on medical advice from our doctor and in consultation with relevant experts”. 

    “Only as a precautionary measure, all Engro offices at the HarbourFront building shall remain closed over the next three days, with business to resume on Monday, March 16, 2020,” read the statement. 

    The organisation told its employees to work from home for the next three days and stated that upon their return, they will be screened for the novel infection.

    Meanwhile, Sindh education secretary has dismissed rumours claiming that the provincial government was mulling plans to extend school holidays across the province as the coronavirus pandemic worsens.

    Earlier in the day, it had been reported that the provincial health department will send a recommendation to Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah for schools to remain shut for a longer period.

    Speaking to a private media outlet, Khalid Shah said the Sindh government was not considering any recommendations seeking an extension in school holidays. “All educational institutions in Sindh will re-open on March 16,” he said.

    The decision was taken during a meeting of the health department held on Tuesday morning under the chair of the province’s health minister.

  • Govt to impose extra Rs900 billion taxes: report

    Govt to impose extra Rs900 billion taxes: report

    Pakistan’s former finance minister Dr Hafeez Pasha has said that under an ongoing deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government will impose taxes worth Rs900 billion in the upcoming budget, The Express Tribune reported.

    “The government has assured the IMF that it will impose Rs700 billion in additional taxes in the first year, Rs900 billion in the second year and Rs1,200 billion in the third year. We don’t have an option but to renegotiate with the IMF since our team was not able to prepare things properly,” Pasha said.

    “It is high time to bring radical tax reforms through tough decisions in the upcoming budget and those who can bear taxes should now take the burden since Pakistan has to pay Rs2 trillion in debt servicing this year; this amount will further increase to Rs3 trillion next year,”

    Economist Dr Qais Aslam said that Pakistan could not enter the 21st century “while having a mindset and policies of the 19th century”. “We have to uplift our institutions with a clear message to our bureaucracy that things will no longer materialise with their mindset.”

    He pointed out that the small-scale industry accounted for only 1% of Pakistan’s economy whereas in the modern world it was considered the backbone of any country. “We have to fix these issues, or else it will be impossible to give employment to the people.”

    “The country has lost one million jobs in the past one year and during the same period about two million youngsters have qualified for jobs… we have to create employment opportunities for them,” he said.