A moderate intensity earthquake has jolted Mingora in Swat and adjoining areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on the 15th anniversary of the deadly 7.6 quake.
According to reports, the intensity of tremors was recorded 4.7 on the Richter scale.
The depth of the quake was 100 kilometres with its epicentre in the Hindukush Mountain range, according to seismological reports.
The 2005 Kashmir earthquake also occurred on October 8. It was centred near the city of Muzaffarabad and had also affected Balakot city in KP. The quake claimed thousands of lives and caused massive damage to infrastructure, especially in Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) and KP.
On Thursday, the 15th anniversary of victims of the deadly earthquake was observed across Pakistan, including AJK. Last year in September, a 5.8-magnitude quake hit different parts of AJK. The quake hit some urban and rural parts of the region, including Muzaffarabad, Kotli and other areas.
At least 40 people died and more than 500 were injured as a result of the earthquake. Around 6,000 houses were destroyed completely, while 7,100 cattle farms were also damaged.
Jail employees at Oklahoma, USA are facing charges for painful misbehaviour and torture as more than four prisoners were often handcuffed and forced to stand and listen to the popular children’s song Baby Shark repeatedly for hours.
Gregory Cornell Butler Jr. and Christian Charles Miles, both 21 years of age, are jailers who have been charged for the offense on counts of cruelty to prisoners and victimizing them ‘undue emotional stress.’ Along with the jail employees, their supervisor, Christopher Raymond Hendershott, 50 years of age, is also involved.
According to the officials, the prisoners were handcuffed to a wall then the song was played on loop at a loud volume on the speaker for hours.
“It was unfortunate that I could not find a felony statute to fit this fact scenario,” Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) has advised health authorities to declare high alert due to the likelihood of speedy spread of seven diseases including COVID -19 during the winter season.
In an advisory called Seasonal Awareness and Alert Letter (Saal) it has been informed that the diseases such as COVID-19, Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever virus, dengue fever, diphtheria, pertussis, seasonal flu and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) typhoid can spread rapidly from October to February.
According to a statement issued by the NIH, the main goal of SAAL is to aware all the health authorities and professionals concerned at all levels for a timely and effective response to the diseases.
“Based on last five-year data, NIH recommends for all federal, provincial and district health departments to keep a continuous observation and watch on the anticipated seasonal public health threats and taking of all preventive or curative measures in this context,” it states.
Due to the ongoing pandemic situation, NIH is facilitating testing and capacity building services for all educational, economic, administrative and local institutions at Islamabad along with technical advice and support.
The necessary technical guidelines and awareness material regarding infectious diseases are also available at the NIH website: www.nih.org.pk
An employee of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) returned a lost wallet containing 20,000 Saudi Riyal cash (873,660 Pakistani rupees) to its owner.
As per reports, the porter, identified as Inam-ul-Haq, was travelling from Jeddah to Lahore on International Airline’s flight SV-738 when he forgot his bag in the lounge of Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport.
A civil aviation official found the bag and submitted it to the CAA’s Lost and Found Departures department. The Lahore CAA staff found the owner of the luggage with CCTV footage and handed over the lost wallet to him.
The passenger thanked the CAA employee for returning his missing bag to him.
This is not the first time that the CAA has returned lost items to a passenger.
Earlier in September, the CAA had returned a lost bag having gold jewellery and foreign currency to a passenger at Allama Iqbal International Airport.
According to the aviation authority’s spokesman, the passenger forgot one of his bags at the Lahore airport.
“He was returning from Turkey and left one of his bags at the airport,” the CAA official had said.
The banning culture in Pakistan seems to be getting out of hand. The week started with calls to ban Mehwish Hayat’s latest biscuit commercial and now original Pakistani series Churails has been banned from streaming in Pakistan.
The director and creator of the show, Asim Abbasi took to social media to express his disappointment and hurt over the move.
“How strange for Churails to be lauded internationally, and now be shut down in its country of origin,” wrote Abbasi on social media. “In the very country where hundreds of artists came together to create something that could initiate dialogue and open doors for new narratives. Artistic freedom squashed because it is wrongly perceived by some as a moral threat. Predictable, and yet, still disappointing.”
He added: “For this is not just my loss. This is a loss for women and marginalised communities that this show meant to re-represent.”
How strange for #Churails to be lauded internationally, and now be shut down in its country of origin. In the very country where hundreds of artists came together to create something that could initiate dialogue and open doors for new narratives. (1)
This is a loss for all actors, writers, directors and technicians across Pakistan, who were hoping for digital/OTT to be their saviour. And it’s a home-run for all the misogynists who have once again proven that they are the only voice that matters. (3)
Sarwat Gilani, who plays one of the leads in the show, also posted a cryptic message on social media after the ban.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGCXrW1jKMl/
Several Twitter users including Osman Khalid Butt and Sanam Saeed expressed their outrage over the ban.
Oh, you got Churails banned? Congratufuckinglations. Now please focus your outrage on the fact that police have failed to arrest the prime accused in the motorway rape incident.
Banning dancing ads, outspoken films and webseries will not end rape if that’s the agenda. Why are we riddled with such hypocrisy? Buss bandh darvaazon kay peechay ho sub. God forbid hamari bholi awaam influence na ho jai if we take creative liberty to be honest and open.
Honestly, banning #Churails just shows “maard ko dard” hogaya hai. I am happy a lot of people got to watch it as soon as it was released. It was bound to touch a nerve. Hopefully more of such shows to follow!
Pakistani Govt has its priorities sTraiGhT. They banned #churails, the content that engages in imp conversation but they won’t impose a rape emergency.
Though Churails released on August 11 and has already been streaming for almost two months, it is believed that the ban was imposed after a clip from the show went viral on social media. In the clip, Hina Khawaja Bayat’s character talks about giving a ‘hand job’ to a much older man for a promotion.
Featuring Sarwat, Yasra Rizvi, Nimra Bucha, Meher Bano and Omair Rana among others, Churailsis the story of four self-proclaimed ‘Churails’ who come together to open a covert detective agency to expose cheating husbands amongst the city’s elite. As their operations expand, they come to be saviours of abused, harassed and mistreated women. The 10-episode series covers a myriad of issues such as child abuse, sexism, the domination of class and race and aims to challenge the hypocrisy of patriarchal societies.
Mauripur police in Karachi have arrested an 18-year-old girl who they claim stole motorcycles while disguised as a boy.
The accused is a resident of Lyari and reportedly performs the sport of boxing. The accused used to steal bikes along with her two partners — 14-year-old ‘Chhotoo’ and 20-year-old Basit.
While the girl is in the custody of women police, both her accomplices are on the run, reports said.
The suspect has denied the charges and said that she did not steal any motorcycle. She said she had been involved in the case because someone else gave her a stolen vehicle and she got caught with it.
While the police claimed that the three-member gang used to snatch or steal motorcycles of latest models, they are also searching for the dealers to whom the group sold the same.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart and former prime minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa had nothing to do with rigging in the 2018 general election, which his colleagues among other opposition leaders allege.
“I met him [Gen Bajwa] in November 2018 and expressed no reservations regarding rigging because he had nothing to do with it,” Abbasi said while speaking to journalists on Wednesday. He added that the meetings between ex-Sindh governor and PML-N leader Muhammad Zubair with the COAS were being misconstrued.
Lashing out at the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), he also said that PM Imran did not know that sugar was being sold at Rs110 per kg, he did not know that unemployment was on the rise, and was not even aware that CPEC [China-Pakistan Economic Corridor] has been closed.”
“Can’t believe he [Imran] thinks that people will buy it when he says he has nothing to do with the cases registered against the PM of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and those who served the country, including two former premiers and three former army generals… they have become traiters today.”
Abbasi maintained that traitors were the ones “who stopped work on CPEC and added to the masses’ miseries”.
“A larger 39% said they disagreed and 24% said they neither agreed or disagreed,” read a statement by Gallup Pakistan. “It appears, public opinion is split on the issue with only 1 in 3 siding with Nawaz’s hard stance during the speech.”
According to another question, a majority 47% agree with the former prime minister’s accusation that PM Imran Khan has destroyed Pakistan’s economy.
“Here again, however, public opinion was split with 41% disagreeing with this claim and another 12% choosing to sit on the fence with respect to this debate,” said Gallup Pakistan. “It is interesting to see that PTI retains its edge among youngsters who were less likely to agree that Imran Khan has destroyed the economy.”
When it came to whether the former prime minister should return to the country or not, the survey’s results revealed that an overwhelming majority of the people want Nawaz to return and face the courts.
“A sweeping 78% respondents want Nawaz Sharif to return back to Pakistan and face the justice system. Only 15% agreed that he should stay out of Pakistan.”
Charles, Prince of Wales thanked President Arif Alvi for sending him Pakistani mangoes, defining them as “very tasty”.
Mango diplomacy, that was done this year, is the best way to expose heads of states & govts, princes & kings to Pakistan, creating a soft image describing Pakistan as a ‘strategic economic hub’ with exquisite culture, traditions, cuisine, fruits, and above all its people. https://t.co/3Qnle88BJ5
Expressing his gratitude for the gift, Prince Charles, in a letter, said that he and his wife Camilla were appreciative of the excellent gift.
As per a statement issued by the President’s Media Office, the president under the initiative of ‘mango diplomacy’ had sent Pakistani mangoes as a gift to the heads of states of several countries. The mango gifts had been sent to Kuwait, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Oman, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, Singapore, Spain, UK, Italy and other friendly countries.
According to details, the step was taken to introduce the fruit to new international markets in a bid to further increase the export of Pakistani fruits and vegetables and highlight investment opportunities in the horticulture sector.
Pakistan ranks sixth in terms of mango production and fifth in terms of mango exporting countries in the world,
Former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) chief Bashir Memon has claimed during his tenure, the “highest office” had ordered him to file a terrorism case against members of the social media cell of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Maryam Nawaz, after a picture of First Lady Bushra Bibi was found circulating on social media.
Memon, a career civil servant of the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) cadre, resigned from service in November last year, days before he was supposed to retire, in protest against being posted out close to retirement.
Memon had resigned the same day the government, while booting him out of office, appointed incumbent FIA director general Wajid Zia, also a PSP, in his pace.
In an interview with journalist Matiullah Jan, the first part of which was uploaded on the latter’s YouTube channel on Monday, Memon said: “There was a picture on social media, regarding which they [said] that a terrorism case should be filed.”
“It was a picture of the first lady [uploaded] on social media. How is this terrorism? There is a definition of terrorism in law. It was a normal picture, how was that terrorism,” he questioned.
It merits a mention here that the first lady clads a burqa and strictly adheres to face veiling. She also keeps out of the public eye and has rarely accompanied the prime minister on his domestic and international visits.
During the interview, then Jan asked Memon to name the authority who gave him the order, he said that he was summoned by the “highest office in Pakistan”.
When the host wondered if Prime Minister Imran Khan had attended the meeting Memon was summoned for, Memon refused to take names. “I said the highest office,” he reiterated.
“[They told me] to take action on this against [Maryam Nawaz’s] social media cell. I didn’t say that this couldn’t be done. I said, under which law? Because we have to work according to the law.”
He claimed that the government’s “expectations” which it had from the FIA “are [now] being fulfilled”.
In response to another question, Memon declared that the government expected the FIA to “do exactly what NAB [National Accountability Bureau] has done [with the opposition leaders]”.
“Especially regarding his [Nawaz Sharif’s] son-in-law captain Safdar […] just what NAB is doing with him,” he said.
Memon also said that the authorities wanted FIA to pursue corruption cases against PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, his sons and his entire family including his relatives. The members of the Sharif family are being investigated in several cases of graft and abuse of authority.
The anti-graft agency arrested Shahbaz last week after the Lahore High Court rejected his bail petition in a money laundering case which also involves his family members. The agency accuses him of having laundered billions of rupees of black money during his tenure as the chief executive of Punjab.
When asked why he refused to pursue those cases, Memon said: “There were two reasons. One, I didn’t have the inquiries. Second, this was the mandate of the provincial anti-corruption [unit].”
The former FIA chief recalled that he was sent to Lahore where a meeting was convened by Punjab chief secretary Akbar Durrani and attended by all secretaries as well. Memon added that he was provided with the record of the case he had been asked to take up.
“End of the day, I told them that all of this is the mandate of provincial anti-corruption [unit]. They can do this, we cannot. Because FIA is a law enforcement agency. A law enforcement agency will [handle issues related to] law. We will remain within our mandate. We can’t go and jump around, in my opinion,” Memon said.
Memon said that the cases that were first referred to FIA were later transferred to the NAB. He said that the reason behind referring the cases to FIA first may have been that “they (authorities) feel that we are more competent”.
“However, I always said that this is what the law says and this is what it doesn’t. We have to work according to the law,” he told Jan. He further said that after NAB picked up the cases which were initially being probed by FIA, he was “relieved of that pressure”.
“Regarding NAB cases, whenever I hear the remarks and the verdicts that are given […] I say that God wanted to protect my dignity. In this age, all you care about is your respect,” he said.
He also talked about a “peculiar case” against PML-N leader Khawaja Asif, in which it was alleged that the latter was working for a company in Dubai while he was defence and foreign minister. The former FIA official said that it was suggested that a treason case against Asif should be lodged over the allegation.
“I’m not saying that [this is not possible]. But we need evidence for that,” he said and added that there was no available evidence when he was told to file the case. When asked who told him that such a case should be filed, he said it was said during a cabinet meeting and was included in the minutes.
“Cabinet had asked to carry out an inquiry. We did that but could not find evidence,” he explained.
He also mentioned a meeting, which was also attended by the prime minister, in which officials of government regretted that Karachi Electric was “ruined”. Memon said that FIA had proven that K-Electric had to return Rs87 billion to Sui Southern Gas Limited and that the money should be recovered.
“In his (prime minister’s) opinion, FIA did wrong by conducting this investigation [against KE]. That this investigation should not have been conducted,” Memon claimed.
No official from the government has so far commented on Memon’s claims.
