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  • IN PICTURES: Transgenders attend first day at school

    Education Minister Punjab, Murad Raas took to Twitter to share pictures of the transgender community attending the first day of school. “First Day of School for Transgenders by School Education Department Punjab,” the minister wrote in a Tweet.

    “We have provided them everything that is required for Schooling. Dr Aithesham Secretary School South Punjab and his team have done a great job. TransEducation is the program,” he added.

    Have a look at the pictures:

    On July 6, Raas announced the Punjab government will establish separate schools for the transgender community.

  • Woman stripped to pay for husband’s ‘love affair’

    Woman stripped to pay for husband’s ‘love affair’

    Three men allegedly stripped a woman in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) to take revenge for her husband’s alleged affair with their sister.

    As per reports, the incident happened on June 6 when the victim was coming back from a wedding ceremony. Armed men captured her, assaulted her in a “revenge attack” and ran away, leaving the woman naked in the middle of a street.

    A local resident told The Express Tribune that they attacked the victim after rumours of the alleged affair between the victim’s husband, Imdad Hussain, and the sister of the accused “spread like a wildfire in the village enraging the girl’s family”.

    However, the resident said the police at first did not file an FIR, but relented a day later, registering the case under Section 354 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) without mentioning stripping.

    Read More: ‘Girl had come to take her exams’: SSP Islamabad on the Usman Mirza case

    Police claim that the woman was not stripped, contradicting the statement of the local residents.

    “The woman had not been stripped but her clothes were torn apart by the accused who managed to escape and even threatened her of dire consequences,” police official Saddar Muhammad Adnan told The Express Tribune.

    DPO DI Khan Najamul Hasnain confirmed that an FIR has been registered against the three men but one of the accused managed to secure pre-arrest bail from the court. The DPO added that he was personally looking into the matter.

  • Aijaz, Faysal and Faizan recreate the viral slapping video on Naveed Raza’s birthday

    Actor Naveed Raza recently celebrated his birthday with his industry friends Aijaz Aslam, Faysal Quershi, Nabeel Zafar and Faizan Sheikh. The group of friends recreated the viral slapping video from Faysal’s game show and posted it on Instagram.

    Naveed also shared glimpses from his birthday celebration with his family.

    A clip from Faysal’s show on a local TV channel went viral on social media recently in which the Fitoor star lost his temper on a contestant’s misconduct during live recording.

    During the show a female contestant started hitting her fellow contestant in a frank capacity, on which the Qaid-e-Tanhai actor got angry and lashed out on the makers of the show for hiring such contestants for the game show.

  • ‘Girl had come to take her exams’: SSP Islamabad on the Usman Mirza case

    Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Investigation Atta-ur-Rehman has shared details about the girl and the boy who were harassed by Usman Mirza and other culprits. He shared the details in TV programme, ‘Mad-e-Muqabil’ with anchorpersons Rauf Klasra and Amir Mateen.

    The police officer said that they traced the couple and reached out to them for investigation and assured them that the state, media and people are with them and asked them to cooperate, after which the couple recorded their statement.

    He further shared that the girl was from Lahore, and she came to Islamabad to give an exam, and the boy present in the video was her fiance who helped her with the accommodation by asking his friend for his apartment for a day.

    Usman Mirza and gang showed up at the apartment when the boy stepped out to buy groceries and harassed the girl. The police say they will try to take the case to its logical conclusion.

    SSP, while answering a question, said that Usman Mirza was allegedly drunk and he was armed, which is why it was difficult for anyone to rescue the couple.

    The incident happened in November last year probably, shared SSP Atta-ur-Rehman, adding that the couple got married later with the consent of both families.

    A video went viral on social media recently in which Usman Mirza was seen torturing, harassing, and assaulting a young couple in Islamabad along with his accomplices. Mirza was arrested after the video went viral. His accomplices have also been arrested.

  • Early signs of fourth Covid wave in Pakistan, warns Asad Umar

    Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar Friday said there are clear early signs of the fourth Covid-19 wave starting in Pakistan due to poor compliance of SOPs and the spread of the Delta variant.

    The federal minister, who is also the chief of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), said that he had warned two weeks back that the government’s artificial intelligence models are showing possible emergence of the fourth wave in July.

    Asad Umar added that field reports were showing a complete disregard of the condition of vaccination for those attending indoor weddings, and going to indoor restaurants and gyms.

    “If the owners of these facilities do not show responsibility and ensure compliance, there will be no choice but to shut them down,” said Umar.

    Pakistan recently recorded a positivity rate of 3.27 per cent. The last time the positivity rate was 3 per cent was in June.

    The present positivity rate of the virus is 3.6 per cent.

    Asad Umar expressed displeasure over non-compliance with the Covid-19 protocols and warned of shutting down sectors not adhering to the directives issued by the health authorities.

  • Danish Nawaz ropes in Bilal Abbas, Hadiqa Kiani and Usama Khan in ‘Dobara’

    Bilal Abbas Khan and Hadiqa Kiani are paring up for Hum TV’s drama serial Dobara promising a fresh and exciting pairing. Directed by Chupke Chupke fame Danish Nawaz, the script has been penned down by Sarwat Nazir. Senior actress Sakina Samo will also feature in a pivotal role in this HUM TV drama.

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    Hadiqa Kiani made her acting debut with the drama serial Raqeeb Se opposite Nauman Ejaz whereas Bilal is currently featuring in Fahad Mustafa’s Dunk.

    Suno Chanda fame Nabeel Zuberi has also been roped in to play a significant role. The shooting spell has started and the drama is expected to be released by the end of this year.

  • Ramiz Raja, Michael Vaughan hit out at Pakistan’s ‘pathetic’ performance after England loss

    Ramiz Raja, Michael Vaughan hit out at Pakistan’s ‘pathetic’ performance after England loss

    Former cricketers and commentators Ramiz Raja and Michael Vaughan hit out at the “pathetic” performance of Pakistan cricket team after losing to England by nine wickets in the first One-Day International (ODI) match on Thursday.

    Taking to Twitter, Raja wrote: “#PakvsEng a bit of a disaster this  getting a pasting from an England second XI, losing with 169 balls to spare. Pretty rubbish we were today!”

    In a tweet, Vaughan said, “Love watching Pakistan play Cricket. A team that can beat any team in the world on any given day but also lose to any team on any given day.”

    In another tweet, former England captain wrote: “For England, to rock up only yesterday as a team and perform like they did tells us so much about the culture of the white ball team, very, very impressive. For Pakistan they were PATHETIC. It’s the only way to describe a performance like that.”

    England’s makeshift ODI team put the Covid-19 issues that hit the previous squad behind them to bowl out Pakistan for 141 runs before cruising to a clinical nine-wicket win in the three-match series opener.

    Read More – Nine uncapped players included in England’s revised squad for Pakistan ODIs

    Stand-in skipper Ben Stokes led an entirely fresh England XI, including five debutants, after a Covid-19 outbreak in the squad. All 16 players initially selected for Pakistan series had to self-isolate.

    Chasing 142 for a 1-0 lead in the series, England cruised home in 21.5 overs.

    Meanwhile, Pakistani cricketer Mohammad Hafeez tweeted: “Can any one please share the right streaming link to watch live #ENGvPAK ODI match? Regards.”

  • An alcoholic concoction takes over KPK, becoming a new cause of death

    After the General Atomics US ‘Predators’ and ‘Reapers’, the unmanned aerial vehicles that caused death in the tribal regions, now an alcoholic concoction is becoming a new cause of death in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK).

    The alcoholic drink is aptly named, ‘Drone’, concocted by moonshiners in the remote Tirah Valley of the Khyber tribal district, which was once infamous for militancy and poppy cultivation. “The ingredients of this alcoholic drink are easily available over-the-counter drugs, syrups, and cold drinks,” reports The Express Tribune.

    A Tirah-based doctor confirmed that the brew originated in Tirah and escalated quickly to the settled districts of KP. “It has been given this funny name because it instantly makes you high and you start feeling light,” the doctor said, while speaking to The Express Tribune on the condition that he would not be identified.

    Economic depression and instability have reportedly led to an increase in the use of ‘Drone’ – a cure-all elixir – by the youth in the area.

    “Several kinds of sleeping tablets are dissolved in a popular soft-drink along with two types of sedative cough syrups, along with easily available cheap drugs to make this drink, which is sold for a few hundred rupees,” the doctor said.

    However, the explosive flooding of the drink prompted distress among members of the local Aman Committee who had to announce a ban on certain cough syrups to rein in the uncontrolled spread of the drugging drink.

    “Any shopkeeper found selling these cough syrups will be penalised with a fine – and a warning.”

  • Atif Aslam and Sajal Aly promise crackling chemistry in ‘Rafta Rafta’ poster

    Atif Aslam and Sajal Aly promise crackling chemistry in ‘Rafta Rafta’ poster

    The first feature poster of Rafta Rafta featuring Atif Aslam and Sajal Aly has been released and the leading duo is promising great chemistry,

    Set against the picturesque backdrop of the night sky in Skardu, the image shows Atif and Sajal sitting close to each other on a camping trip, hinting at oodles of romance and chemistry. While Atif has previously worked with some incredible artists, this is the first time the Mom actress is sharing the screen with him.

    Released under the label of Tarish Music, Rafta Rafta is directed by Hassam Baloch, jointly produced by Tarun Chaudhary and Omar Ahmed while the music and lyrics are done by Raj Ranjodh. The song will be released soon across digital platform.

  • Faisal Vawda case ‘a waste of time’, says petitioner

    Faisal Vawda case ‘a waste of time’, says petitioner

    Talking to The Current, Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Qadir Mandokhel said that he has been pursuing a petition against Faisal Vawda for 2 years 9 months. “Now it’s just a waste of time.”

    Mandokhel gave the example of an illegal building and a petition against it. “Agar building hee masmaar kar di toh kya faida abb iska” (If the illegal building has been demolished, what’s the use of pursuing a case against it). Mandokhel is referring to the fact that Vawda is no longer an MNA but a Senator now.

    Mandokhel says he has high hopes from Sindh High Court where the petition on senatorship is still pending. Mandokhel says he wrote to the US Consulate but he was told by them that they do not reply to individual queries.

    Mandokhel says Vawda hasn’t submitted his reply and questions why. He also questioned why the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is not doing much about this case.

    On Thursday, none of the petitioners appeared before the ECP, meanwhile, Faisal Vawda did.

    Vawda, while talking to senior journalist Matiullah Jan, seemed confident and said, “This seems more of a political case, and a political case has no standing. Everyone seems to have backed off for now.”

    “The ECP is fully looking into the details of my case and is also providing me with a lot of chances to my rivals. But my all rival parties have disappeared,” added Vawda.

    The ECP has three petitions related to the disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Faisal Vawda, who is a former member of the National Assembly as well as a recently-elected Senator. The commission is yet to make a decision.

    Petitioners against Vawda contend that he had dual citizenship when he filed his nomination papers in the 2018 general elections, a fact that he had concealed at the time. Therefore, they say that he should be disqualified.