In Karachi’s Korangi and Baldia Town neighbourhoods on Monday, two alleged robbers were killed and another was injured.
Within the confines of the Awami Colony police station, a citizen shot and killed two suspects close to Bilal Colony in Karachi’s Korangi area.
The men who were killed, according to the police, were thieves who attempted to steal money from two people who were leaving a private bank in Korangi. The residents, however, resisted and succeeded in stealing a gun from one of the criminals.
Later, one of the bystanders fired on them, gravely hurting them. After the incident, a large crowd gathered and violently battered the injured guys. One of them perished as a result, and the other passed away while travelling to the hospital, according to The News.
The person who killed the robbers, Abrar, owned a business in Korangi, according to SHO Jamal Leghari. The officer said that his check had been turned down at the bank when he had gone with his boss Faizan.
The man had a cell phone and Rs50,000 in cash, which was taken from him by two motorcycle-riding suspects as he and his colleague were returning from the bank.
Abrar and Faizan resisted the muggers throughout the mugging, and the former was able to take the muggers’ pistol and shoot them. Police have opened an investigation and registered a case.
In another news, a robbery suspect was hurt while he and his accomplice attempted to rob a medical supply business in the Baldia Town neighbourhood. The store owner resisted and fired shots at them.
Nadir, the son of Abdul Khaliq, was named as the injured suspect. He is 30 years old. His sidekick was able to flee the scene. There is a case open, and an investigation is under progress.
Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah said that the government is working on rehabilitating people and the province’s drainage, irrigation network. According to him, it will take “three to six months” to drain the water from flood-affected areas of the province as in “some areas, there is at least eight to 10 feet of water”.
While speaking to the media in Karachi, the chief minister talked about the damages and loss of assets. He said that “12.5 million people are affected by the disaster and around 350 billion rupees’ losses to the farmers are being reported in the province.”
He revealed that even in places where the floodwater is receding, “the situation is not such that people can return”, highlighting that Pakistan had received unprecedented rainfall this year.
It is pertinent to mention that Sindh is the worst-hit province so far after biblical floods wreaked havoc across the country. Sindh had the most deaths and injuries. Out of the 1,396 fatalities countrywide, 578 people have died in Sindh province alone.
Moreover, CM Shah said that the province is facing a shortage of tents and medicines and he had raised the issue with the United Nations (UN) chief Antonio Guterres during his recent visit to Sindh.
“The whole world has to come together to combat climate change,” he said, adding that Guterres had also called on the world to “pitch in” to help Pakistan navigate the crisis.
Earlier, the UN chief on his visit to Pakistan’s flood-affected areas said that he has “never seen climate carnage on this scale”.
At a press conference in Karachi on Saturday after witnessing the worst of the damage in southern Pakistan, he said, “I have seen many humanitarian disasters in the world, but I have never seen climate carnage on this scale.”
Guterres also strongly urged international creditors to introduce a new mechanism ‘Debt Swap’ for flood-devastated Pakistan.
A missing five-year-old Afghan boy was found murdered on Monday in Karachi. The boy was also raped before being murdered, police have confirmed.
The minor went missing on Sunday, however, at the time the deceased’s father didn’t register any report. The father has told the police that he had no enmity with anyone.
Later, the area Station House Officer (SHO) said that an First Information Report (FIR) was lodged on the complaint of the child’s father, who is an Afghan.
Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed said that after the autopsy it was found that the boy was sexually assaulted, reports Dawn.
“The face was covered with a plastic bag. His hands were tied behind his back with nylon wire and he was strangled to death,” she said.
Taking notice of the incident, Karachi police chief formed an investigation team and directed it to submit a progress report within three days.
The Sindh government has announced the closure of schools and colleges for two days — August 24 and 25 — due to heavy rain forecast.
Sindh Education Minister Sardar Shah announced that due to heavy rains, the government has declared a two-day holiday for schools and colleges in the province. Karachi Board of Intermediate has also postponed all exams scheduled for August 24 and 25. In addition, Deputy Commissioners in Badin and Sukkur districts have issued notifications to keep educational institutes shut for four days till August 27.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) released an advisory yesterday forecasting more rains in the country during the week. The PMD has warned that heavy rains may generate urban flooding in Karachi, Hyderabad, Tando Jam, Thatta, Badin, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Khairpur, Shaheed Benazirabad, Dadu, Naushahro Feroz, Larkana, Jacobabad and Sukkur on August 24 and 25.
The internet services in Pakistan suffered another disruption on Monday night. Services of almost all of the major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were disrupted. Services were suspended in Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Lahore around 11:10pm and remained suspended until 1:20am.
“A nation-scale internet disruption has been registered in Pakistan; the incident affects multiple providers including PTCL, Nayatel and StormFiber with real-time network data showing connectivity at 38% of an ordinary level,” NetBlocks said in a tweet.
⚠️ Confirmed: A nation-scale internet disruption has been registered in #Pakistan; the incident affects multiple providers including PTCL, Nayatel and StormFiber with real-time network data showing connectivity at 38% of ordinary levels
Sources in PTCL said the internet fibre cables suffered damage due to heavy rains in Sukkur areas. “They said rainwater had entered the PTCL exchange causing electricity to short-circuit. The company expects the repair work to be completed by Tuesday morning,” reports Dawn.
This was the second major disruption of internet services in less than a week. Last week, internet services were affected on Friday (August 19).
A car drowned in the Malir River by a flash flood due to heavy rain in Sindh on Wednesday. Six members of a family and their driver were travelling to Hyderabad in the car.
As per details, the Edhi team has recovered the car, but the seven people travelling in the car are still missing. There are flash floods in the Malir River due to the consistent heavy rain in Sindh.
Actor Fahad Mustafa won unanimous acclaim for his portrayal of Inspector Gulab in the hit film Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad . Hence on Pakistan’s 75th Independence Day, the actor’s performance and the beloved character have forever been commemorated with an honorable title.
On the 14th of August, IG Sindh Police Ghulam Nabi Memon honored Mustafa with the title of Honorary Superintendent of Police (SP) at the CCPO office, Karachi.
The Kankar star was recognized for his efforts in unveiling the societal evils of corruption through his film and eventually promoting a positive image of the police force amongst the masses. Fahad also had a discussion with IG Memon over the direction the local police force is headed and shared suggestions for the best outcome.
Directed by Nabeel Qureshi and also starring Mahira Khan, the film focuses on the plague of bribery and how everyone partaking in social evils needs to remember the virtues and the high hopes of the esteemed founder of the country.
In an Instagram post, the Load Wedding hero also shared a statement about this momentous occasion. “Today, I truly believe Gulab has achieved his biggest dreams. Many many thanks to IG Sindh Police Ghulam Nabi Memon for honouring me with the title of Honorary SSP, this Independence Day, and for bringing Gulab’s ambitions to life. I will never get over the love and support you all have shown to this character and Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad, and I hope to continue serving my nation proudly!” he said.
The commemoration ceremony was also attended by director Nabeel Qureshi, writer-producer Fizza Ali Meerza, Kumail Haider Shah Chairman LCA Sindh, CPLC Chief Zubair Habib along with DIG Headquarters Sindh, DIG Training Sindh, DIG Crime and Investigation Sindh and AIG Operations Sindh.
Actress Urwa Hocane opened up about the plight of Pakistani Television and the glorification of toxic masculinity in an interview with journalist Maliha Rehman. The Punjab Nahi Jaungi star said that PEMRA issued multiple notices to the producers of her drama Udaari for highlighting child abuse, which is a serious issue in the country.
She also agreed with the host’s stance that domestic violence and toxic masculinity are being romanticised in recent dramas, which is extremely problematic.
“We have romanticized domestic violence, domestic harassment, and martial rape we have romanticized all that and it’s wrong. Have you lost your mind?”. While she added, “And if a girl is silent we consider it as a heroine?”.
she added, “I’ve come up to the point that I end up singing on the script that is less problematic”.
“And I hope that I get to convince the director to make the story slightly better, there are full of angry heroes in stories until they pull your head and until they torture you, you can’t fall in love with them. Is it really good what we are portraying over television screens? Someone harassed you and later you fall in love with that man?”.
The Neeli Zinda Hai actress also shed light on her journey, “I started working as a VJ at the age of 17, but actually I the first time I started earning was the age of 14 when I started giving tuitions. I had a thought in my mind that we should never put a burden on our parents and I always wanted to be independent.”
Hocane shared her take on a man’s importance in a woman’s life, “What do you need a man for? You don’t need a man to live your life. I’m sure you would like to have one but it’s not compulsory. In my opinion, there’s no need of having a man in your life.”
Urwa was dragged into a controversy when actor Aijaz Aslam appeared with his wife Sabeen on The Couple Show hosted by Aagha Ali and Hina Altaf earlier this year.
On being asked about a leading lady who has attitude problems, unprofessional and needs to work on her behaviour, the Nand star gave a shocking answer.
Aijaz named Urwa Hocane and stated, “Although I haven’t worked with her but I have heard (from friends and colleagues) that it is Urwa, she gets very angry on the sets, quickly loses her temper and even instructs the director on creative aspects.”
The hosting duo kept nodding while Aslam was talking, however, Aagha mentioned later that he recently met the Tich Button diva at an event and felt that she was grounded.
Hocane then issued a statement, responding to the “baseless allegations” that were circulating about her. She explains that she is respectful of her seniors in the fraternity, and emphasizes that seniors too must be mindful of the responsibility they have towards younger actors, keeping in mind how their words can deeply impact the “image, mind, and even work” of these younger stars.
She called herself “creatively charged,” and states that she always indulges in “healthy discussions” with her directors and producers.
The Amanat star also stated that she is certain that the senior actor meant no harm, given that they do not know each other personally, nor have they ever starred together. However, she does state that “irresponsible statements leave us at a mercy of internet trolls, therefore everyone must watch what they say in public about someone else, especially when it’s mere hearsay.”
She concluded by thanking Aagha and Hina, who understood the gravity of the situation and did not become party to it.
Assistant Commissioner Ferozabad Asma Batool was robbed at gunpoint in Karachi.
The incident took place near Chaar Minar Chowrangi, Bahadurabad, on Monday morning.
The police said Asma Batool had come along with her family for breakfast and she was robbed while going back.
According to the police, the suspects looted the assistant commissioner at gunpoint. There were no security guards accompanying Batool at the time of the robbery.
A case has been registered and an investigation started. As per a report published by Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), almost 235 incidents of street crimes are reported in the city on daily basis.
Karachi has been ranked in the top 10 start-up-friendly South Asian cities in Blink’s Startup Ecosystem Report 2022. Karachi has emerged as the highest-ranked city in Pakistan, taking the position away from Lahore.
Karachi’s position has moved up in South Asia but globally it lost five spots to rank 291st. Lahore dropped a heartbreaking 48 positions to rank 305th whereas Islamabad dropped one position to 438th. This year has not been good for city rankings of smaller Pakistani cities – Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, and Jhelum are out of the global top 1,000, leaving Pakistan with only three ranked cities, versus seven in 2021.
Pakistan has dropped one spot in 2022 to rank 76th globally and maintains its second rank in South Asia. Pakistan is ranked fourth in the CAREC (Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program) business region.
Pakistan’s overview:
“With a population of over 220 million, Pakistan’s economy has massive potential to grow. For this to happen, digitalisation and successful startups will be a critical element. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, digital entrepreneurship increased side by side with investment in local startups,” says the report.
The report further states that digital infrastructure in Pakistan has seen improvement with the introduction of broadband internet coverage, including 4G. All this came together with new legal frameworks that regulate and promote digital payments, investment, and credit under the State Bank of Pakistan’s Digital Banking Policy.
“In addition, the government set up Special Technology zones offering several tax exemptions and incentives. Pakistan has come a long way with its legal framework, but there are still some areas that require more clarity when it comes to taxation or incentives for domestic investments. The country’s turbulent political climate is not helping to create certainty and stable policies to boost the local startup ecosystem.” As per the report, “The spike in funding and startups needs to be fuelled by talent with experience in scaling startups. To sustain this need, the country needs to come up with ways of providing its startup ecosystems with qualified and trained personnel.”
The global rating evaluates the state of the startup economy and describes the dynamics of their growth and the main trends. This year’s report evaluated startup ecosystems in 1,000 cities and 100 countries.
