Tag: ban

  • Europe bans PIA

    Europe bans PIA

    • UK, which is no longer a part of the EU since after Brexit, has also banned certain PIA flights

    Amid the controversy around the alleged fake licences of hundreds of Pakistani pilots, operations of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in Europe were on Tuesday banned for six months by the European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA).

    According to a spokesperson of the national carrier, EASA has suspended PIA’s authorisation to operate in European Union member states for six months effective July 1, 2020 at midnight.

    A statement from the national carrier added that PIA would discontinue all its flights to Europe temporarily.

    All passengers booked on its flights to European destinations will have the option to either extend their bookings to a later date or get a full refund.

    “PIA is in contact with EASA to allay their concerns and to take necessary corrective measures along with filing the appeal against the decision,” the press release said.

    The national flag carrier said it “sincerely hopes that with reparative and swift actions taken by the Pakistani government and PIA management, earliest possible lifting of this suspension can be expected”.

    Meanwhile, according to journalist Murtaza Ali Shah, United Kingdom (UK), which is no longer a part of the EU since after Brexit but remains subject to EU law, has also suspended PIA flights from and to Birmingham, Heathrow in London, and Manchester with immediate effect.

    “The UK Civil Aviation Authority is required under law to withdraw PIA’s permit to operate to the UK pending EASA’s restoration of their approval that it meets international air safety standards,” the journalist quoted a spokesperson as saying.

    The moves follow the grounding of hundreds of pilots whose licences Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan termed “dubious”. Most pilots were affiliated with PIA.

  • Punjab Police wants to ban PUBG after 2 suicides

    Punjab Police wants to ban PUBG after 2 suicides

    Punjab Police wants to ban the popular video game ‘Players Unknown’s Battlegrounds’ (PUBG) after two young people in Lahore committed suicide over the game.

    According to reports, a 16-year-old boy took his own life on Tuesday when his parents stopped him from playing PUBG. His parents called the Hanjarwal police in Gulshan-e-Abbas’s Phase 2 when they found his body.

    The parents refused to allow a post-mortem autopsy. Police have registered this as a case of suicide and further investigation is in process.

    In a similar incident, another 20-year-old boy also committed suicide in Saddar Bazaar in North Cantonment when his parents told him to stop playing the online game.

    As per reports, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police (Operations Wing) Lahore, Ashfaq Khan has decided to write a letter to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to ban PUBG.

    PUBG is a battle royale game developed by a South Korean company. The game involves multiple players that are connected online as they face off and kill each other to become the last survivor.

  • Wuhan officially bans eating wild animals

    Wuhan officially bans eating wild animals

    The city at the centre of the coronavirus crisis — Wuhan — has banned the eating of wild animals and Chinese farmers are being offered cash to quit breeding exotic animals. Both moves come amid mounting pressure for China to crack down on the illegal wildlife trade blamed by many for the pandemic that has killed more than 330,000 people and left over 5 million infected.

    The local administration in Wuhan, the city of about 11 million people in China’s central Hubei province where cases of the new coronavirus were first recorded late last year, announced that the eating of all wild animals was officially banned.

    The city also banned virtually all hunting of wild animals within its limits, declaring Wuhan “a wildlife sanctuary,” with the exception of government-sanctioned hunting for “scientific research, population regulation, monitoring of epidemic diseases and other special circumstances”.

    Wuhan also imposed strict new controls on the breeding of all wild animals, making it clear that none could be reared as food. City officials said the local administration would take part in the wider national scheme to buy wild animal breeders out.

    The national plan is the first time Chinese authorities have pledged to buy out breeders in an attempt to curb exotic animal breeding, animal rights activists say.

    China had already banned the sale of wild animals for food as the new coronavirus — COVID-19 — spread around the world, citing the risk of diseases spreading to humans, but the trade remains legal for other purposes, including research and traditional medicine.

    The virus that causes COVID-19 is widely believed to have passed from bats to people, possibly via another species, before spreading worldwide.

  • Indian TikToker banned for ‘glorifying’ acid attacks

    Indian TikToker banned for ‘glorifying’ acid attacks

    Indian TikToker Faizal Siddiqui’s account was banned after he ‘glorified’ acid attacks in a clip posted recently. The famed TikToker’s account was revoked “due to multiple community guidelines violations”.

    Siddiqui, who has a following of 13 million people on the social media app, came under fire after he enacted a scene that shows Siddiqui is throwing a liquid on a girl’s face for betraying him.

    “Keeping people on TikTok safe is a top priority and we make it clear in our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines that clearly outlines what is not acceptable on our platform. As per the policy, we do not allow content that risks the safety of others, promotes physical harm, or glorifies violence against women,” the app spokesperson was quoted as saying.

    Many people called out the app and the star for the action. Acid attack survivor Laxmi Aggarwal on whom the film Chhapaak also raised her voice on social media, “We are working day and night to stop the acid attacks, violence against women. This cringe activity is not called influencing but promoting crime. Such persons are a curse to our society. So it is important to ban such videos and accounts from social media.”

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CAUtS1NHtMJ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
  • Man files petition to ban PUBG

    Man files petition to ban PUBG

    A petition was filed on Monday in the Lahore High Court to ban video game PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) following which the court ordered the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to decide on the matter within six weeks.

    The petitioner’s lawyer Bilal Riaz Sheikh moved the court after finding some features of PUBG “problematic”.

    “The game has a negative impact on children. They are becoming more ruthless and violent,” he said.

    He asked the court to order the removal of PUBG from the Google Play Store. The court said it has forwarded petition over the game to the PTA several times, but the authority never responds.

    As per reports, the court, earlier, disposed of a similar petition that asked for a ban on the game. 

    PUBG is an online multiplayer In the game, up to one hundred players parachute onto an island and scavenge for weapons and equipment to kill others while avoiding getting killed themselves.

  • Three years ban for Umar Akmal for violating PCB’s anti-corruption code

    Three years ban for Umar Akmal for violating PCB’s anti-corruption code

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has banned Umar Akmal from all cricket for three years for violating the board’s anti-corruption code by not reporting a fixing offer before the start of the fifth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

    In a press release, the board stated: “The Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel, Mr Justice (retired) Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan, in short order on Monday, handed Umar Akmal a three-year ban from all cricket. The PCB will release reasons as soon as it receives them from Justice Chauhan.”

    The board said that a detailed hearing was held at the National Cricket Academy where the cricketer represented himself and was heard at length. Mr Taffazul Rizvi represented the PCB.

    Akmal was charged with two breaches of Article 2.4.4 of the PCB Anti-Corruption Code in two unrelated incidents on March 17. He had earlier on February 20 been suspended from playing and was also not allowed to participate in the fifth edition of the PSL in which he was playing for Quetta Gladiators.

    Article 2.4.4 of the PCB Anti-Corruption Code reads as: “Failing to disclose to the PCB Vigilance and Security Department (without unnecessary delay) full details of any approaches or invitations received by the Participant to engage in Corrupt Conduct under this Anti-Corruption Code.”

    On April 9, the PCB referred the matter to Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee after determining that the batsman had not requested for a hearing before the Anti-Corruption Tribunal.

    Read more – ‘Where’s the fat?’ Umar Akmal bares all in fitness test

    PCB Director – Anti-Corruption and Security, Lt Col Asif Mahmood, said: “The PCB doesn’t take any pleasure in seeing a promising international cricketer being declared ineligible for three years on corruption charges, but this is once again a timely reminder to all who think they can get away by breaching the anti-corruption code.”

    “I request all professional cricketers to stay away from the menace of corruption and immediately inform relevant authorities as soon as they are approached. This is in their as well as their teams’ and country’s best interest.”

    Meanwhile, here is what former cricketer Ramiz Raja has to say on the matter.

  • VIDEO: PTI, PML-N lawmakers join hands to flout social distancing at funeral of colleagues’ mother

    In a rather shocking development, lawmakers from both Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) among other political parties have come together to attend the funeral of two of their colleagues’ mother, flouting social distancing as well as the ban on public gatherings to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.

    As per the details, the mother of PTI MPA from Gojra Bilal Asghar Warraich and PML-N MNA Khalid Javed Warraich passed away on Friday. With her funeral prayers being held on Saturday morning, scenes from the venue in Gojra city of Toba Tek Singh district showed violation of the government-ordered ban on public gatherings to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak that has so far claimed 144 lives with 7,654 infections across the country.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Hundreds of participants at the funeral also included prominent personalities such as senior PTI leader and lawmaker Riaz Fatyana.

    A day earlier, a lack of consensus between religious leaders and the government saw congregational prayers still being held at some mosques across the country, in defiance of government guidelines on social distancing.

    In the federal capital, hundreds gathered at the Red Mosque, led by hardline religious leader Abdul Aziz, to offer prayers, standing shoulder-to-shoulder and filling the mosque’s main hall to capacity.

    Reports indicated that congregational prayers were also held at major mosques in other cities, with varying levels of social distancing.

  • LHC to hear petition for ban on Aurat March

    LHC to hear petition for ban on Aurat March

    The Lahore High Court has accepted Judicial Activism Council Chairman Azhar Siddique’s petition to ban the Aurat March.

    According to reports, LHC has summoned Additional Director Cybercrime Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency and Deputy Inspector General Operations on February 27 in this regard.

    The petitioner Azhar Siddique has claimed that the Aurat March is a foreign conspiracy.

    “There are various anti-state parties present who are funding this Aurat March with the sole purpose of spreading anarchy amongst the masses.”

    He also objected to certain placards held at the march iterating that the march is “against the very norms of Islam” adding that it has a hidden agenda to spread “anarchy, vulgarity, and hatred.”

    “During last year’s Aurat March, women were holding placards that had objectionable messages,” read the petition.

    LHC directed the federal government lawyer to seek instructions from the Ministry of Interior and inform the court about what can be done in this regard.

    The Judicial Activism Council Chairman has previously attempted to file an FIR (first information report) against women holding “objectionable placards” at the march. He had submitted an application to the Capital City Police Office (CCPO) Lahore. However, the police did not take any action.

    Azhar had also submitted another application to enforce the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 and Citizen Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules, 2020 against the Aurat March and demanded to “stop the promotion of anti-state activities such as Aurat March on social media.”

    The Aurat March is organised every year on International Women’s Day. This year the march is scheduled for March 8. Last year, women from all across Pakistan came together to participate in the Aurat March 2019.

  • Govt offices: Punjab bans WhatsApp

    Punjab government has banned any action leading to or resulting in the sharing of official documents through WhatsApp by government offices over the risk of confidential information being potentially leaked to irrelevant persons.

    According to a notification issued on February 14, the order of banning WhatsApp use has been issued by the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) in light of a decision taken in a meeting of the Cabinet Division on January 31.

    With regard to the orders, the Punjab commissioner of Overseas Pakistanis Commission, the Punjab Government Servants Housing Foundation MD, the Anti-Corruption DG and Punjab Procurement Regularity Authority MD have been sent a letter. Moreover, all section officers, law officers and state officers have also been informed about the orders, according to which, the ban will be implemented immediately.

    The provincial authorities had earlier received complaints that authorities in government departments were using WhatsApp to execute day-to-day matters pertaining to office work as documents were being exchanged on the messaging service. WhatsApp groups had been formed for this purpose and documents were reportedly being leaked.

    According to The Express Tribune, as per the new SOPs, official files will be delivered to the department concerned following the customary practice. Keeping in view the situation, an old procedure will be followed in government offices and SOPs will be followed accordingly.

  • After Sindh, Balochistan also bans gutka

    After Sindh, Balochistan also bans gutka

    The Balochistan Food Authority has imposed a ban on gutka (chewing tobacco) consumption in the province.

    Director-General BFA Ibrahim Baloch said the consumption of gutka is a health risk and people who eat it regularly are at risk of getting mouth, tongue or throat cancer.

    “We won’t allow anyone to play with human lives,” said the DG.

    The food authority has delivered a notification to all deputy commissioners, asking them to take action against those who produce and sell gutka, along with the customers. 

    Sindh has already imposed a ban on eating and selling gutka on December 19, 2019. According to the law, chewing of gutka can lead to imprisonment for six years and a fine of Rs500,000 will be imposed on violators.