Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Fawad Chaudhry has revealed that Pakistan will become the first country of South Asia which would introduce battery-powered electric buses in the country.
The minister in his Twitter message has said that the budget of science and technology has increased up to 600% in the current year, adding that he would make efforts to hike the budget to 1000 per cent next year.
Fawad credited Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan for his special attention in the sci-tech sector, saying that the government has brought back the country to research and development with the support of the PM.
Chaudhry said that ministerial commissions are being established with Russia and the government is now focused on the European Union (EU) and United States (US).
اس سال سائنس اور ٹیکنالوجی کے بجٹ میں چھ سو گنا اضافہ ہوا وزیر اعظم کی بھرپور سپورٹ سے ہم پاکستان کو ریسرچ اور ٹیکنالوجی کی دینا میں واپس لائےہیں اگلے سال بجٹ میں ہزار گنا اضافے کی کوشش کروں گا۔ چین کے بعد روس سے وزارتی کمیشن قائم ہو رہے ہیں اب توجہ یورپی یونین اور امریکہ پر ہے
He said, “It is our failure for not manufacturing engines, but we will make up solar panels and lithium batteries in the next three years. The energy system of the country will be completely changed.”
The minister further announced that Jhelum biotech park will become the largest herbal medicine park of South Asia, whereas, Pakistan will be the first country which would manufacture battery-powered [electric] buses in the region.
اس سال سائنس اور ٹیکنالوجی کے بجٹ میں چھ سو گنا اضافہ ہوا وزیر اعظم کی بھرپور سپورٹ سے ہم پاکستان کو ریسرچ اور ٹیکنالوجی کی دینا میں واپس لائےہیں اگلے سال بجٹ میں ہزار گنا اضافے کی کوشش کروں گا۔ چین کے بعد روس سے وزارتی کمیشن قائم ہو رہے ہیں اب توجہ یورپی یونین اور امریکہ پر ہے
On November 20, it emerged that the government had set to launch electric buses in Pakistan to combat air pollution. The federal government has reportedly signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with private ride-hailing service to introduce electric vehicles in the country.
The MoU was signed by Fawad Chaudhary and CEO of bus hailing service in Islamabad on Tuesday, according to Radio Pakistan.
Under this agreement, the company will introduce electric battery-powered buses and also spend Rs12 billion to expand its transport bus service in the country.
Darul Aman’s Lahore superintendent has alleged that orphan girls living in the shelter homes are being “misused” to fulfill the demands of ministers and government officials.
In a video doing rounds on Twitter, the superintendent has stated that orphan girls are being misused under the guise of giving them shelter and food.
In another video, she has claimed that she was being pressurised by Social Welfare Director General (DG) Afshan Kiran Imtiaz to marry underage girls to fulfil demands of some higher government officials and a provincial minister.
She added that Chief Minister’s Inspection Team was consistently pressurising her to take back her statement, and her refusal to do so had resulted in the budgetary allocations to her department being held back.
In a recent video, the same official can be seen saying that she is facing arrest for exposing the happenings in the shelter homes as police had broken the door of Darul Aman’s Lahore office.
After horrible revelations made by Kashana (Darul Amaan) Lahore Superintendent Ms Afshan regarding supply of “orphan girls” to powerful ministers of @UsmanAKBuzdar & @ImranKhanPTI cabinets, the monsters in government trying to harm this lady.#CJPTakeSuomotopic.twitter.com/Mgyqguz70t
In a reference to authorities and those involved, she said that they were trying to wipe out evidence and requested people to spread her message.
She added that she did not know what was to happen to her and where she would be taken now.
See how @IGPpunjab Force @OFFICIALDPRPP stormed into Kashana Centre Lahore to teach “an unforgettable lesson” to Superintendent Ms Afshan for exposing black faces of @UsmanAKBuzdar cabinet members involved raping orphan&helpless girls pic.twitter.com/Bxln4UelGS
Another video — tweeted by the same handle sharing the Darul Aman official’s videos — showed police barging in through the doors, with the claim that it was being done to teach an unforgettable lesson to the official for exposing Punjab CM Usman Buzdar’s cabinet members allegedly raping orphans.
The versatile Mohsin Abbas – who can be a wife beater and a singer has cooked up something other than misogyny and violence this time. Please don’t watch or listen to this Abusers latest song. Don’t support abusers! There – fixed it for you Patari. No thanks needed! https://t.co/cCPAozR4kE
Unlike other names that may or may not have committed crimes against women, Mohsin Abbas Haider assaulted his pregnant wife, this is a fact. Reported, documented. Is there no accountability? Art is NOT separate from the person. Wake the fuck up and stop making excuses https://t.co/SlyMg5wwkC
Patari which is run by a man who harasses young women, features harassers like Ali Zafar (and caters to their whims) has added another feather to its (women-hating) hat by giving a platform to a man who physically assaulted his wife and cheated on her. https://t.co/rmz86Qrm5b
Not only Patari but several other celebrities including Abrarul Haq, Nausheen Shah, Mohib Mirza and Faakhir Mehmood have promoted Mohsin and sent him their best wishes.
In August 2019, Mohsin was found guilty of threatening his then-wife Fatema Sohail by a lower court in Lahore.
Fatema, in an explosive social media account posted on July 20 had alleged that Mohsin was domestically abusive and had hit her on multiple occasions. She later filed an FIR against Mohsin on grounds of abusive behaviour and that Mohsin extorted money from her.
While the court found Mohsin guilty of threatening his wife, he was found innocent of breach of trust and demanding money from his wife.
Meanwhile, it is also pertinent to mention here that in May 2018, Pataris’ CEO Khalid Bajwa was accused of misusing his power to extract sexual favors out of women. Though Bajwa initially resigned from his positon, he was later secretly rehired by the company. Six of Patari’s original team members resigned in July of the same team after it was clear that Bajwa was not stepping down.
In August 2018, Patari allegedly complied to a request made by Ali Zafar to change the ranking of a song released by Meesha Shafi’s brother Faris Shafi. Zafar, who at the time had been accused of sexual harassment by Meesha apparently felt that the promotion of Faris’ song made it seem that Patari was on Meesha’s side in their legal dispute.
Isn’t it cute when you are warmly welcomed by your in-laws with lots and lots and lots of rose petals?
Pakistani fast bowler Hassan Ali reached Gujranwala, Pakistan with his wife Samiya Arzoo where both were welcomed with rose petals and bouquets. Pictures and videos of the couple are doing rounds on TV channels and social media.
The fast bowler got married to Indian national Shamia Arzoo in a dazzling ceremony in Dubai. The ceremony was attended by relatives and close friends including spinner Shadab Khan.
The law ministry has rejected an application seeking details of the legal team hired to prosecute former army ruler General (retd) Pervez Musharraf on treason charges, and the fees paid to them by saying that its a classified matter, thus can’t be held answerable by common citizens Geo News reported.
According to the details, Mukhtar Ahmed Ali, the applicant, had sought the details under the Right of Access to Information Act 2017, commonly known as RTI law. Mukhtar wanted to know how judiciously the money contributed by public through their taxes is being used by the ministry.
Mukhtar Ali said, the ministry declared him ineligible to post such inquiries. The ministry in its reply referred to a Cabinet Division notification’s issued in 1993, but it did not explain or share the contents of the notification. The reply also stated that the ministry has claimed exemption by saying it has been declared “classified, therefore, your request is hereby declined on this aspect”.
Ali had earlier sought answers to four questions, asking for the list of the members of the prosecution team, and relevant law firms engaged for Pervaiz Musharraf’s trial under Article 6 of the Constitution and the fees paid to them.
He further sought details of out-of-pocket expenses (e.g. travel, lodging, meal) reimbursed to them and asked for the fee break-up paid to each member of the legal team.
After the ministry’s refusal, Mukhtar has approached Pakistan Information Commission (PIC), an appellant body set up under the RTI law for dealing with the complaints lodged by the applicants against the government.
In a rejoinder sent to the law ministry, Mukhtar said his application has been rejected without being given due consideration as the authorities “has not even bothered to consider Article 19A and the (Right of Access to Information) Act in the course of deciding my application.”
Fast bowler Hasan Ali of Pakistan cricket team has been ruled out of the upcoming home Tests against Sri Lanka after a medical examination revealed multiple rib fractures, Geo News reported.
According to the details, the 25-year-old’s CT [Computed Tomography] scans, the pacer had fractured three ribs on, leaving him unfit to play. Hasan has been recommended to rest for six weeks and will start a rehabilitation process at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) from Monday.
The fast bowler, after passing fitness tests, had rejoined Central Punjab for their ninth round of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fixture against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on November 22.
However, prior to the match, Hasan Ali complained of pain on his left side for which he underwent precautionary scans in Karachi, revealing the fractures. For further confirmation, follow-up scans were carried out in Lahore which then confirmed his condition.
Before his marriage, the pacer was undergoing rehab from a back injury which he sustained earlier this year.
According to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), 25-year-old remains a part of Central Punjab’s squad but will feature for the side after making a full recovery.
Zainab Abbas had the sweetest entry on her shendi.
The cricket commentator entered on the Pakistan Super League Anthem Seeti Baje Gee. As she entered amid bats and her close ones, fast bowler Mohammad Amir and his daughter bowled to Zainab who hit back with her bat.
Watch the video here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5e6fRag3-g/
The dulha’s entry
Zainab looked breathtaking in a deep pink outfit by Rano’s Heirlooms and makeup by Zara Gul.
As they say, “Happy brides are the prettiest.”
Meanwhile, Mohammad Amir, who is a close friend of the journalist, also shared a picture of himself from the event.
Zainab, who is also the daughter of PTI MNA Andleeb Abbas tied the knot in an intimate Nikkah last Sunday. Her husband Hamza Kardar is the son of the former finance finance minister and former governor of State Bank of Pakistan, Shahid Hafeez Kardar and the grandson of the renowned cricketer Abdul Hafeez Kardar.
Pictures of her from her mayun also went viral on social media.
Metropolitan Police has identified the London Bridge attacker as British national Usman Khan, a 28-year-old male from Staffordshire, Dawn reported.
According to the details, Usman Khan was born in London and is of Pakistani ethnicity. He stabbed two people to death and left three injured on Friday, in an attack that caused fear and panic across the city as residents revisited the spectre of terror returning to London.
Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said in a statement, “We are now in a position to confirm the identity of the suspect as 28-year-old Usman Khan, who had been residing in the Staffordshire area. As a result, officers are, tonight, carrying out searches at an address in Staffordshire”.
“This individual was known to authorities, having been convicted in 2012 for terrorism offences,” Basu said, adding that “He was released from prison in December 2018 on licence and clearly, a key line of enquiry now is to establish how he came to carry out this attack.”
He added that Khan was shot by specialist armed forces and died at the scene.
“The circumstances, as we currently understand them, are that the attacker attended an event earlier on Friday afternoon at Fishmonger’s Hall called ‘Learning Together’”, said Assistant Commissioner.
He added that police believe the attack began inside before Khan left the building and proceeded onto London Bridge, where he was detained and subsequently confronted and shot by armed officers.
Who is Usman Khan?
According toThe Telegraph, Usman is a British citizen born in the United Kingdom (UK) — left school with no qualifications after spending part of his late teens in Pakistan, where he lived with his mother when she became ill.
On his return to the UK, he started preaching extremism on the internet and attracted a significant following.
In January 2012, Khan pleaded guilty to engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism contrary to section 5(1) of the UK’s Terrorism Act 2006. Usman was among nine men charged with conspiracy to bomb high-profile London targets in the run-up to Christmas in 2010.
At the time, the convicted men were described as an Al Qaeda-inspired group that wanted to send mail bombs to various targets and launch a “Mumbai-style” atrocity. At the time of his arrest, Usman Khan lived in Stoke-on-Trent, a city in central England.
At the time, a hand-written target list found at one of the defendants’ homes listed the names and addresses of then London mayor Boris Johnson, the American Embassy and the Stock Exchange. The British police counter-terror operation which led to their arrests was the biggest of 2010.
Usman was sentenced to detention for public protection with a minimum custodial term of eight years. It is a sentence designed by UK authorities to protect the public from serious offenders whose crimes did not merit a life sentence.
Offenders sentenced to an IPP are set a minimum term which they must spend in prison. After they have completed their tariff they can apply to a parole board for release. The Parole Board only releases an offender if it is satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public for the convict to be confined. If they are given parole they will be on supervised licence for at least 10 years.
Students, rights activists, lawyers,
labourers and even politicians on Friday joined hands to hold countrywide
Students’ Solidarity March as they raised awareness about what they called was
the persisting “educational crisis” facing Pakistan.
Among many allegations leveled against the marchers, who were protesting against fee hikes and the policies affecting them, and were demanding a conducive educational environment, was that they were “driven by foreign powers” and were “being misused for someone’s vested interests”.
Eyebrows were also raised over the fact that major parts of the country turned red as people from all walks of life in over 50 cities took to roads; wearing red, holding daunting placards, raising full-throat slogans against the system and waving red flags.
Banners at the March in Lahore
Red is a colour long-misconstrued by many first-world countries and some like Pakistan — the ones that participated in the Soviet-Afghan War that insurgent groups fought against the Soviet Army and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan government.
But while “Red Scare” is not a term unfamiliar
to many, the colour red has a deep history that these students refer to and it is
not all about the red flags that communists used.
Even though it is predominantly a symbol of socialism, communism and Marxism, it has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution that overthrew the monarchy and established a republic in the late 18th century.
For these students, it signifies the blood of those spilt in acts of brute force anywhere in the world and the call for change in times of dire need. It signifies resistance.
Ghinwa Bhutto at the March wearing red
“From Chicago’s Haymarket Square Massacre
to people from the downtrodden segments of the society committing suicide in modern
times, from people belonging to the Indo-Pak subcontinent who lost their lives
in the World Wars to the farmers bearing the brunt of poor economic policies…
it represents the blood of all those students who have ended their lives
because of this rotten system,” said one student activist with a red scarf
around his neck.
When asked about the person or entity they referred to while raising the slogan ‘jab laal laal lehrayega tab hosh thikanay ayega’, another student activist stepped up to clarify.
The March across Pakistan
“We are addressing the ruling elite and
referring to the industrialists who exploit the poor. We speak of administration
of educational institutions that treat students like customers and have made
campuses nothing less than prisons,” she said.
“None of them represent us, but they are
the ones who rule us. We need better representation within the corridors of
power. We… the people… the working class,” the activist maintained, adding that
the colour red represented the power of the people.
STUDENTS’
SOLIDARITY MARCH:
Earlier, ministers, leaders of opposition parties, journalists as well as rights activists voiced their support for the marchers as the 2019 edition of the Students’ Solidarity March kicked off. The march was held in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Quetta, Gilgit, parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) and interior Sindh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqnmOHKW3ss
What did these students want?
They demanded the revival of student unions
and solution to the problems being faced by them and their peers.
The protesting students said the Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had left them dejected and directionless and
reduced the higher education budget to almost half, bringing Pakistan into the
list of countries that spend very less on education.
Minister for Narcotics Control Shehryar Khan Afridi has said that army chief is considered as nation’s both mother and father.
While talking during a talk show on ARY News channel the minister said that in tough situations a nation always takes bold steps to maintain peace in the region.
Replying to a question about why Pakistan Tehreeke Insaf (PTI) government thinks that a single man can avert tough situations in the country, Shehryar said, “Every house has a father and a mother and both have their own roles, at this stage when the country is in critical situation and facing threats from all sides, all nations has to take bold steps”.
To this journalist Waseem Badami said that “this seems like an inappropritate example, as you cannot change your father after three or six years”.
To this the minister said that “the head of state and the head of institution [Army Chief] can be considered as both, a father and a mother”.
Watch Video:
Army Chief extension case
The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday allowed the federal government to grant a six-month extension to Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
In its short order, the SC directed the government to bring necessary legislation within six months’ time.
The order, read out by Chief Justice (CJ) Asif Saeed Khosa, ordered the parliament to introduce legislation for appointment of Gen Bajwa under Article 243.
The order stated regarding the Article 243: “Article 243 of the Constitution clearly mandates that the Federal Government shall have control and command of the Armed Forces and the supreme command of the Armed Forces shall vest in the President.”
CJ Khosa remarked that the court is observing judicial restraint and leaving the matter to the parliament, adding that “We have reviewed several laws including Army Act 1952 and Rule 1954”.
The court had earlier reserved its verdict in this high-profile case and directed the federal government to furnish a fresh summary of the army chief’s extension of services.
