Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi continues to stay in the headlines even after retirement.
Lala was fined by the Motorway Police for exceeding the speed limit. According to details, while travelling from Lahore to Karachi, Afridi was fined Rs 1,500 for violating the speed limit on the Motorway.
Afridi gladly paid the fine and thanked the highway police for treating all citizens equally. Lala also took selfies with Motorway Police personnel.
Lala made a suggestion to the Motorway authorities and tweeted, “My humble suggestion is we have very good highways, the speed allowed should be more than 120kph!”
Good to interact with a polite staff at @NHMPofficial and I found them very professional. Also my humble suggestion we have very good highways, the speed allowed should be more than 120kph! https://t.co/F7qCmcDxfT
Residents of Karachi came out on the streets in the late hours of Monday to protest against the unannounced and prolonged load-shedding in their areas.
On Tuesday morning, the police used tear gas and baton-charged protestors in an effort to disperse the crowd, which resulted in a clash between the two.
According to Dawn, the demonstrators have been protesting since last night, burnt tyres, and blocked the road for traffic, which has caused traffic problems.
Protests erupt in Karachi over worst loadshedding in scorching summer. Second day of protest against power outages at Karachi’s Mauripur Road pic.twitter.com/QQIYXb3TxS
The chairman of the All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA) Aslam Pakhali said that over 100 shipping containers carrying mangoes and potatoes are worth an estimated Rs250 million were stuck in traffic since Monday evening.
Protests against #loadshedding continued in #Karachi on Tuesday, causing severe traffic jams across the city with the roads leading to country’s biggest port having choked as well. Hundreds of heavy long vehicles were seen piled up as major arteries in the area remained blocked. pic.twitter.com/fA6eYDDT6u
According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Asif Bughio, electricity in several areas of Lyari has been suspended since 4pm yesterday (Monday). He claimed that the police tried to negotiate with them but they attacked the law enforcers with stones.
Their protest has continued for more than 20 hours now.
According to media reports, in Karachi’s Gadap Town, the load-shedding time has gone up to 18 hours in a day. Similarly, Shah Faisal Colony, Malir, Surjani Town, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, and other areas are seeing power outages of 14 hours or more.
Following the incidents, Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmad Shaikh contacted K-Electric Chief Executive Moonis Alvi. He noted that load-shedding has made the lives of people miserable.
“Due to persistent load-shedding, the security situation is deteriorating,” he told the KE official.
A day earlier, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif warned the nation that they might face increased load-shedding in the coming month of July.
An Indian Muslim 24-year-old woman from Madhya Pradesh (MP) was caught by the authorities at the Attari border in Amritsar, Punjab on Thursday when she was trying to cross the border to meet her Pakistani boyfriend, reports The Times of India.
Fiza met the Pakistan man Dilshad, who lives in Karachi through social media. They fell in love and decided to get married.
According to the Indian media, Fiza Khan had a valid visa and travel documents but was stopped at Integrated Check Post (ICP), Attari, due to a Lookout Circular (LOC) issued against her.
Fiza, a teacher working in a private school went missing from Rewa district in MP on June 16. According to the police, after her disappearance, Fiza’s family members lodged a missing complaint. Since she had already discussed traveling to Pakistan, a LOC was issued against her.
When she was held, the Gharinda police station recorded her statement and sent her to Nari Niketan orphanage. Later on Saturday, she was handed over to a police team from Rewa.
This is not the first time that such an incident has happened. In 2018 a woman crossed the border and married a Gujranwala-based man whom she met while playing an online game.
Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has arrived in Karachi today (Saturday) on a day-long visit.
During this visit, he will meet a delegation of leaders of the government’s allied party Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).
According to Geo News, the premier will discuss the MQM-P’s agreement with Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N).
When former PM Imran Khan was ousted, an agreement was signed to confirm MQM-P leaving the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) coalition and joining hands with the then-opposition parties [PML-N, PPP, JUI-F and others]. The MQM-P decided to part ways with PTI almost a week before the no-confidence motion against Khan and announced its final decision on March 30.
Other than this, discussions on the census, electoral reforms and upcoming local body elections will also take place between PM Shehbaz Sharif and MQM-P.
PM Shehbaz also paid a visit to Nawabshah to offer condolence to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari on his mother’s demise.
وزیر اعظم اور ان کے وفد نے مرحومہ کی مغفرت، ایصال ثواب اور بلندئی درجات کے لیے فاتحہ خوانی بھی کی۔ pic.twitter.com/3n4xDJCz1o
The premier’s first stop was Pakistan Naval Academy Manora where he attended the passing out parade of the 25th Short Service Commission.
In his speech during the ceremony, PM Shehbaz expressed happiness over witnessing women cadets in the passing out parade.
وزیراعظم شہباز شریف نے پاکستان نیول اکیڈمی کراچی میں پاسنگ آؤٹ پریڈ کے دوران گارڈ آف آنر کا جائزہ لیا اور پاس آؤٹ ہونے والے کیڈٹس میں ان کی نمایاں کارکردگی پر انعامات تقسیم کئے۔ بعد ازاں وزیراعظم نے تقریب سے خطاب بھی کیا۔ pic.twitter.com/yL0UJHjfsH
Karachi recorded a doubling of its Covid-19 positivity ratio from 10.69 per cent to 21.23 per cent within the last 24 hours.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) reports that 268 new cases were reported in the country today (June 23). The positivity rate in the country is currently at 2.14 per cent, which is the highest it has been since March 5, 2022.
Pakistan also saw a surge in the positivity rate in the last few days. There has been an increase in hospitalisations due to Covid-19, primarily among older and unvaccinated patients.
In the last 24 hours, one person has lost their life to the virus.
Dr Aamir Liaquat Hussain was found dead on Thursday at his residence. Aamir’s son Ahmed and daughter Dua Aamir refused the postmortem of their father. His funeral prayers will be held today.
The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday restrained the police from exhuming his body for a post-mortem examination to determine the “actual cause of his death”.
Following Hussain’s sudden death on June 9, the police had said an autopsy would be conducted but performed only a preliminary examination before relinquishing custody of the body to his family after they refused an autopsy. He was buried the following day.
His ex-wife Syeda Bushra Iqbal on Wednesday could not control her emotions and her eyes filled with tears after hearing the Sindh High Court’s ruling about suspending the orders for the exhumation of Hussain’s body for an autopsy.
In a video, Bushra Iqbal can be seen with tears in her eyes while standing with her daughter in the corridor of the SHC.
A two-member bench of the SHC suspended the judicial magistrate’s order. Aamir Liaquat’s children, Ahmed Aamir and Dua Aamir had moved the court against the order.
Last week, a Karachi judicial magistrate had ordered authorities to conduct a post-mortem on the televangelist’s body after which a six-member medical board was constituted for the purpose on June 23.
However, Hussain’s children, Ahmad and Duaa filed a petition in the SHC expressing that they were “aggrieved” and “dissatisfied” at the judicial magistrate’s “baseless and meritless” order and appealed for it to be dismissed.
When the news of the Aalim Online star’s demise surfaced, his third wife In a video message was seen weeping and pleading to “meet her husband for the last time”. She, however, asked the provincial government to “provide her security” so she could visit Karachi.
She further claimed that the couple was about to reconcile, adding that she had no idea that Hussain would “leave her behind” and bid farewell to the world.
Expressing her sorrows, Dania once again appealed to CM Punjab to allow her to be a part of Hussain’s last rites.
The PTI leader was found unconscious at his home in Khudad Colony in Karachi and was shifted to a private hospital in critical condition.
Hussain, 50, reportedly felt chest discomfort the night before but refused to go to the hospital. His employee, Javed, said he heard Hussain scream in the morning.
The TV personality’s domestic staff broke down his room’s door when they did not receive any reply from him. When rushed to the hospital, doctors said he had already passed away by the time he reached the facility.
He was found unresponsive at his house and was rushed to Aga Khan University Hospital.
The post-mortem examination of the politician was going to be conducted at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.
Liaquat had won the elections from National Assembly constituency NA-245 Karachi-I East-IV in 2018.
Earlier this year in April Liaquat was taken to the emergency room of a hospital in Karachi, when he complained of a heart ailment, with people speculating it was a heart attack.
Pakistan is expecting another Covid-19 wave, according to medical experts. Karachi is the most affected city with 340 positive cases, raising Sindh’s positivity rate to 10.69 per cent in seven days.
Medical experts say a new variant — BA.5 — is fast spreading in other countries and had been reported in Pakistan, including Karachi.
“While other [old] sub-variants of Omicron are also being reported in Karachi, this one is more contagious since it’s a new one and has been a cause of concern in other parts of the world,” said Dr Saeed Khan, a professor of molecular pathology heading the Sindh Public Health Lab at the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), while speaking with Dawn.
“If we don’t pay heed to medical advice and start implementing the Covid-related preventive measures seriously, the spike in cases might turn into the sixth wave of coronavirus,” he said.
“They are genetically different, which helps them transmit fast. Other reasons include waning of vaccine immunity after six months, reluctance on part of the general public to get a booster shot and absence of Covid-19 preventive measures at public places,” said Dr Khan.
According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), 204 cases of Covid-19 with a positivity rate of 1.53 per cent were reported in Pakistan today (June 22).
The People’s Bus Service will be launched in Karachi and Larkana today. Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari will inaugurate the bus service in both cities today (June 21). The bus service is being launched by the Sindh government.
In the initial phase, around 140 buses have been purchased for the service out of which 130 will be used in Karachi and 10 in Larkana.
The bus will operate on the following routes in Karachi:
— Sindh Information Department (@sindhinfodepart) June 20, 2022
Seats are also reserved for persons with disabilities and women on these buses. The ticket prices have yet to be announced by the Sindh government. However, according to unofficial reports, the government would establish a minimum and maximum tariff of Rs 25 and Rs55.
The Peoples’ Bus Service is a separate project from the network of Bus Rapid Transit lines.
On Monday, gold prices in the local market rose by Rs1,450 per tola to a new all-time high, pushed up by the Pakistani currency’s continued depreciation against the US dollar.
Despite no change in gold rates in the international market, gold rates in the local market increased to Rs147,250 per tola, according to data released by the All Sindh Saraf Jewelers Association. Similarly, the price of a gramme of gold increased by Rs1,243 to Rs126,243.
However, gold prices on the international market remained unchanged at $1,840 per ounce.
The price of silver per tola remained unchanged at Rs1,560. The price of a gramme of silver also remained unchanged at Rs1,337.44. When compared to rates in the Dubai gold market, local jewellers said prices in the local market remained below Rs3,000 per tola.
Pakistani rupee dips to new lows
Experts predict that the Pakistan rupee will continue to fall against the US dollar and other major currencies owing to concerns regarding the IMF’s $6 billion program’s restoration, the country’s expanding current account deficit, and dwindling foreign exchange reserves.
The PKR which lost 32.5 per cent of its value in the current financial year 2021-22 is forecasted to remain under stress as the dollar is in high demand in the market due to economic crises.
The central bank appears helpless to stem the rupee’s speculative fall, as demand for the US dollar continues to rise due to quarter-end payment strain.
Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Monday decided to continue a targeted subsidy on five essential items — wheat flour, sugar, ghee/edible oil, pulses, and rice — at Utility Stores for the next financial year.
Government has decided to continue targeted subsidy on five essential items of daily use at Utility Stores for the next financial year. We are working toward a transparent, efficient & digital system where various subsidies will be brought under one umbrella.
The prime minister also approved the expansion of a network of Utility Stores in Karachi.
“The small number of Utility Stores in Karachi is not acceptable in any way and a comprehensive plan for raising the number of Utility Stores in the megacity should be presented within two weeks,” tweeted PM Shehbaz.
I have directed for the Utility Stores network to be revamped & expanded across the country including the presentation of an expansion plan for Karachi in 2 weeks. Ministries of Finance, Industries & Poverty Alleviation will jointly work on reforming the system. https://t.co/i7ltJmlghs
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting regarding Utility Stores in the country, with the PM in the chair. Minister for Finance Miftah Ismail, Minister for Industries and Production Murtaza Mahmood, and other senior officials were also in attendance.
