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  • ‘Justice is necessary to uplift the common person’: PM Khan

    ‘Justice is necessary to uplift the common person’: PM Khan

    Addressing a ceremony at the groundbreaking of the Islamabad District Courts’ building on Tuesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan said, “Justice is necessary to uplift the common person.”

    “If you want to uplift the common person […] then it is necessary to provide them justice as well and a society becomes free when it gets justice,” said PM Khan.

    PM Khan attributed Pakistan’s decline to a lack of rule of law.

    “Whatever banana republics are there aren’t because of lack of resources but because of the rule of power instead of rule of law,” he said, adding that “two Pakistans” were created in the country with different treatment between the people.

    “The biggest injustice Gen Musharraf did to the country was giving NRO,” the premier said, adding that Musharraf didn’t have a right to give NRO to the powerful because the looted money was not his but the nation’s.

    “Only a society that upholds the rule of law is prosperous,” Prime Minister Imran Khan said.

    “I was saying 25 years ago that the country can only progress when the courts are free,” he added.

  • KP to establish separate jails for women

    KP to establish separate jails for women

    The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to establish separate jails for women across the province, Dawn has reported.

    Mr Shafiullah, Special Assistant to the Chief Minister for prisons, said a proposal for women’s jails had been mooted as part of the jail reforms project.

    He said that after the CM’s approval, the home department will conduct a feasibility study to determine potential locations for the separate jails. He added that that female convicts have challenges due to a lack of facilities in jails.

    According to the CM’s aide, there are currently 160 female detainees languishing in various jails, with 35 of them having been convicted and 125 cases pending in various courts.

  • Federal Directorate of Education bans jeans for male, female teachers

    The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) on Monday has ordered female teachers not to wear jeans and tights and barred male teachers from wearing jeans and t-shirts, Dawn reported.

    All principals have been asked to ensure that their teaching and non-teaching staff (both male and female) have personal hygiene, including regular haircut, beard trimming, nail cutting and use of perfume.

    The FDE released a letter directing the principals of schools and colleges to ensure the implementation of the dress code and personal hygiene of the staff.

    The letter issued by the director academics stated: “All heads of institutions/section in-charges shall ensure that every staff member observes reasonably good measures in their physical appearance and personal hygiene.”

    Read More: Bahawal Victoria Hospital bans jeans, bangles, rings in hospital premises

    This includes regular haircut, beard trimming, nail cutting, shower and use of deodorants/perfume. The letter stated gatekeepers must wear uniforms and all the support staff may also be allocated a uniform.

    “It is recommended that all teaching staff must wear teaching gown while teaching in the class and lab coats while taking practical periods in laboratories,” the letter said, adding that the non-teaching staff must be presentable and neat, clean and properly ironed clothes and appropriate shoes.

    The letter mentioned a formal dress for females, which includes: “Appropriate simple and decent shalwar qameez, trouser, shirt with dupatta/shawl. Purdah observing females are allowed to wear scarf/hijab while ensuring its clean and neat appearance. Wearing of jeans and tights are not allowed in any case. Only formal shoes (pumps, loafers and mules) are allowed. Owing to long-standing hours during teaching, comfortable shoes like sneakers and sandals can be worn as well. But wearing of slippers is not allowed at all.”

    During the winter season, coats, blazers as well as sweaters, jerseys, cardigans and shawls of decent colours and design are allowed.

    For male staff, the letter said: “Wear appropriate, simple and decent shalwar qameez preferably with waistcoat in accordance with the weather conditions. Wear dress shirt (full sleeves preferably with tie) and trousers (dress and cotton pants only). Wearing jeans is not allowed in any case. During the summer, a half sleeves dress shirt or bush shirt can also be worn but t-shirts of all types are not allowed.”

    “Only formal shoes (dress shoes, loafers, moccasins and boots) must be worn and owing to longstanding hours during teaching comfortable shoes like sneakers and sandals can be worn as well. However, wearing of slippers is not allowed at all,” the letter said.

    It said for males, wearing shalwar qameez with waistcoat, pant and shirt with tie (preferably jacket/coat) was mandatory.

    For females, event-appropriate decent dress (shalwar qameez, trouser, shirt) with dupatta/shawl must be observed. “Fancy/party dresses in official gatherings/meetings are discouraged,” added the letter.

  • ‘Army chief agrees fake news, disinformation a threat to national security’: Fawad

    ‘Army chief agrees fake news, disinformation a threat to national security’: Fawad

    Federal Minister for information and Broadcasting, Fawad Chaudhry took to Twitter and said, “Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, while addressing the Defence Day function, said fake news and disinformation were a threat to national security.”

    Fawad wrote, “This analysis is based on the truth, and therefore the Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA) is being brought to deal with these threats, as yellow journalism happens to be the biggest threat to freedom of media.”

    Representatives of media organisations rejected the proposed PMDA and termed the concept as an unconstitutional and draconian law against the freedom of press and expression and a step toward imposing state control to regulate all segments of media under over-centralised body.

    The Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a statement said that as part of its crackdown on freedom of expression, the government of Pakistan is seeking broad new powers in the garb of the proposed PMDA.

    Information Minister faced a hard time as members of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting demanded to see the draft law of PMDA.

    Spokesperson of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Marriyum Aurangzeb, demanded that the draft of the law should be presented for the establishment of the authority instead of a verbal briefing by the minister.

    Adding to her point, Aurangzeb said, “The attitude of the information minister was dictatorial.”

    However, Fawad Chaudhry said that some people did not want to have any regulations in the media industry, adding that Pakistan cannot turn a blind eye to conspiracies being formulated against it.

  • Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards: Laughing snake, other finalists will make your day

    Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards: Laughing snake, other finalists will make your day

    The Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards shortlisted 42 images for its 2021 competition after receiving entries of over 7,000 photos from every corner of the world.

    The final 42 pictures include a laughing vine snake from India, a trio of strutting Gentoo penguins on the beaches of the Falkland Islands and a kangaroo performing a picture-perfect Pavarotti impersonation in Australia.

    Laughing snake by Aditya Kshirsagar, India
    Monday Morning Mood by Andrew Mayes, South Africa
    Directing penguin by Carol Taylor, UK
    Monkey riding a giraffe by Dirk-Jan Steehouwer, Netherlands
    The Green Stylist by Gurumoorthy K, India
    Operatic warm ups by Lea Scadden, Australia
    Did I say you could take my picture? By Patrick Dirlam, USA

    Co-founded in 2015 by professional photographers Paul Joynson-Hicks MBE and Tom Sullam, aimed to create a competition that focused on the lighter side of wildlife photography and help promote wildlife conservation through humour.

    This year’s competition is supporting Save Wild Orangutans and is donating 10 per cent of its total net revenue to the charity.

  • VIDEO: Patient shouts thinking hospital staff member is a ghost

    A woman in Vietnam started shouting after seeing a hospital staff member in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), thinking it was a ghost.

    The other patients in the ward were also frightened after the woman started shouting.

    According to reports, the alleged ghost explained to the woman that she is a nurse, but the woman understood this when she regained her consciousness.

    The video shows the staff in the ward laughing after the woman had calmed down.

  • Nida Yasir breaks her silence on the ‘Formula Car’ trolling, Nabeel Qureshi and Aadi Adeal school her

    Nida Yasir breaks her silence on the ‘Formula Car’ trolling, Nabeel Qureshi and Aadi Adeal school her

    Morning show host Nida Yasir is known to hit back at the trolls. The Nadaniyaan star recently trended on social media due to a blunder regarding Formula cars that she made on live television.

    After trending for days over a throwback F1 racing car video, Nida has finally addressed the ongoing debacle post that clip has resurfaced on social media.

    In 2016, the morning show host had invited two NUST students who had invented their own Formula 1 racing car.

    The super talented duo Abdul Aleem and Mohammad Shariq Waqar had joined the host in hopes to shed light on their project but were left puzzled by the host’s questions.

    As Twitter basked in the meme glory, netizens trolled Nida over her ‘poorly’ researched interview.

    Now, the Uff yeh biwian diva has responded to the controversy by saying, “After watching the clip, I’m laughing at myself, I find the interview hilarious. This was a mistake though. I will make sure that I research first before discussing any topic.”

    “I’ve done several important shows, whose feedback has been very positive. However, no one ever talks about that or makes it viral. That really demotivates me.”, she concluded.

    Actor In Law fame director Nabeel Qureshi criticised the morning show host, saying: “One can always do small research before inviting the guest.”

    Aadi Adeal amjad also turned to Instagram stories to school her.

    On the work front, Nida was praised for her performance in the telefilm Uff Yeh Biwiyaan and its sequel alongside Shaista Lodhi.

  • ‘We need privacy, keep media out of courtroom’: Zahir Jaffer

    Zahir Jaffer, the prime suspect in the Noor Mukadam case, asked police officials to keep media persons out of the courtroom, Mona Khan reported for Independent Urdu. While appearing for the hearing of the case today, Zahir told police officials: “We have privacy, keep the media out of the courtroom.”

    Moreover, Zahir’s mother Asmat Adamjee asked police officials to delete a video from the phone of a cameraman of a private news channel. Police officials then took the phone from the cameraman and deleted the video clip.

    Zahir came for the hearing today in Islamabad District and Sessions court with a new haircut. The prime suspect was wearing a brown shalwar kameez and was talking to police officials in Urdu. Earlier, Zahir had said that he does not understand Urdu.

    The police submitted the challan of the case today.

    Therapy Works CEO Dr Tahir Zahoor, while addressing a press conference on Saturday, said that Zahir Jaffer is an alcoholic who has been playing lunatic after murdering Noor Mukadam.

  • Indian media runs Arma-3 game clip, calls it Pakistan Air Force attacking Panjshir

    Indian media runs Arma-3 game clip, calls it Pakistan Air Force attacking Panjshir

    Republic TV and Zee Hindustan ran footage from a video game Arma-3 as visuals claiming that it was the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) attacking the anti-Taliban fighters in Panjshir Valley.

    The channel aired the footage stating it was from Hasti TV and shows airstrikes by Pakistani drones in Panjshir Valley against resistance fighters.

    Republic TV posted the video with the caption, “Pakistan army supporting Taliban against Northern Alliance in Panjshir”. During the broadcast, the anchor can be heard repeating the claim that the footage shows airstrikes in Panjshir and claiming that Pakistan was behind it.

    Various Indian media outlets shared the fake video, claiming it as Pakistani Air Force attacking Panjshir.

    The video started doing the rounds on Twitter.

    Indian journalist Swati Chaturvedi tweeted, “No bigger disgrace to journalism than the shouty clown & his channel.”

    A Twitter user tweeted, “It’s not that Pakistani 5th Gen Warriors aren’t as skilled, but I think they just lack the sheer brazen confidence that Indian 5th Gen Warriors have.”

    Another person tweeted, “Indian media in a nutshell.”

    https://twitter.com/Ibn_e_Channa/status/1434840247553122304

    Schooling the channel for fake news, a Twitter user wrote, “This is so embarrassing and misleading at the same time. It’s a shame that we let channels like @republic test our sensibilities time and again. Shame on us for letting them exist.”

  • Aiman, Muneeb host an extravagant birthday party for daughter Amal, Minal and Ahsan ooze romance

    Celebrity couple Aiman Khan and Muneeb Butt hosted a lavish bash for their daughter Amal’s second birthday. The entire family enjoyed a colorfully decorated venue with a cat themed wall and a live magic show.

    Soon to be spouses, Minal Khan and Ahsan Mohsin Ikram made sure they capture their special moments together.

    Many A-list celebrities attended the bash.