Tag: NULL

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government is reportedly considering buying a plane to timely deal with wildfire emergencies.

In a statement, KP Secretary Forestation said that the government is considering purchasing a plane to put out forest fires in the province.

The statement further added that developed countries typically deploy planes to put out such fires, as it helps in controlling the fire in lesser time.

According to a recently published report that was compiled by the provincial Forestry, Environment and Wildlife Department, over 200 wildfires damaged forests and pastures over an area of 14,430 acres in various districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in a span of two weeks.

The data was collected from March 23 to June 9.

As per the data given to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly by the Forestry Department last year, fires destroyed around 815 acres of land in 2020.

Police in Mumbai, India, found a bag containing 10 tola gold worth 500,000 Indian rupees. The bag was discovered in a gutter. The owner of the jewellery was said to be Sundari Planibel, a 45-year-old domestic servant.

On her way to the bank to deposit her jewellery, Sundari offered her bag of vada pav to two children begging on the street.

“Ms Planibel realised she had kept her jewellery in the same bag when she got to the bank,” Sub-Inspector Chandrakant Gharge of Dindoshi told Indian news media outlet, ANI.

When Sundari Planibel could not locate the children in the same area, she went to the police for help. The children and their mother were tracked down by the police, who said that they had thrown the bag into a garbage dump because they did not want to eat vada pav.

The police discovered the gold jewellery after reviewing CCTV footage that showed a few rats carrying a bag of gold from a waste dump into a gutter.

“10 tola gold worth Rs 5 lakhs recovered from clutches of rats in a gutter near Gokuldham Colony, Mumbai A woman on her way to deposit jewellery in a bank gave it away to children on street, mistaking it to be bread; children threw it into garbage dump,” ANI reported.

On Wednesday, the federal government increased the price of all petroleum products, including Rs24 per liter for petrol and Rs59.16 per liter for high-speed diesel (HSD). In less than a month, this is the third hike announcement.

The Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Miftah Ismail criticised the previous PTI government for reaching an erroneous agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which tied the incumbent’s hands and forced it to raise oil prices to get the economy back on track.

The frequent hikes have had a significant impact on the public transit sector, as well as low-income persons who are unable to afford fuel at such exorbitant prices.

Finance Minister stated that the government faced a significant challenge in reviving the country. “If oil prices do not rise, the government may risk default”. He went on to say that raising the prices of petroleum items was a difficult decision.

Prime Minster (PM) Shehbaz Sharif also tweeted in this regard, saying that the government had no alternative but to raise petrol prices in order to restore the bailout.

New POL prices

Petrol will now be sold for Rs233.89 per liter after a Rs24.03 increase, HSD will cost Rs263.31 per litre after a Rs59.16 increase, kerosene oil is priced at Rs211.47 per liter after a Rs29.49 increase, and light diesel oil will cost Rs207.47 per liter after a Rs29.16 increase.

In an attempt to justify the increase, the Finance Minister stated that the international price of gasoline was $120 per liter and government had no choice but to pass on the burden of overseas prices to Pakistani consumers

He also chastised Imran Khan, the PTI chairman, and former Prime Minister, for causing the current crisis with his policies. “I’ve been watching the country’s position for 30 years, but I’ve never seen an inflationary situation like this,” he added.

According to Ismail, the administration is bound by agreements reached by the PTI government with the international lender.

He admitted that the increase in gasoline prices will hurt the middle and poor classes. He did add, though, that the government would take measures to mitigate the impact on the most disadvantaged.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif in a tweet has said that there should be no hindrance in former military dictator General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s return, if he wants to come back to Pakistan.

“In view of his health condition, there should be no hindrance in the return of Pervez Musharraf to the country,” tweeted Khawaja Asif. “Events of the past should not stand [in his way to come back].”

“May he spend his time with dignity in this phase of life,” added the defence minister.

Rumours of Musharraf’s death started circulating on social media on Friday. However, his family clarified that Gen Musharraf is not on a ventilator but has been unwell, stating that he is “going through a difficult stage where recovery is not possible”.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Current (@thecurrentpk)

On December 17, 2019, a special court found Musharraf guilty of high treason and sentenced him to death under Article 6 of the Constitution in a 2–1 split verdict.

However, in January 2020, the Lahore High High Court (LHC) overturned the death sentence handed down to Musharraf.

Pakistan defeated West Indies on Friday by 120 runs in the second One Day International (ODI). Pakistan is also leading the three-match series by 2-0. It is Pakistan’s 10th consecutive ODI series win against West Indies.

On Wednesday, Pakistan won the first match by five wickets. The last match will take place on Sunday (June 12). The ODI series is being played in Multan.

Twitter is celebrating the 2-0 series win.

President Dr Arif Alvi and former Captain Shahid Afridi also congratulated the team.

Have a look at some other tweets:

Krishna Mandal, a 22-year-old Bangladeshi woman, swam across the border to marry her Indian boyfriend as she did not have a passport to visit India.

Krishna and Abhik Mandal met on social media for the first time, and fell in love. She swam in the Matla River after crossing the Sunderbans to meet and marry her boyfriend. She reached her destination after swimming for an hour. Her boyfriend was waiting for her in the car. They later drove to a temple in Kolkata where they got married.

Abhik also tried entering Bangladesh but he could not enter the country because he did not have a passport either.

However, after the story went viral on social media, the woman was arrested by the police for illegally entering India without having a passport.

Karachi Police, in a joint operation with Punjab Police, have recovered The Minor from Bahawalnagar.

The Minor and her husband Zaheer Ahmed have been placed into protective custody, according to SSP Zubair Nazir Sheikh of the Anti-Violent Crime Cell. They both are being shifted to Karachi.

The Minor will be presented before the High Court on Friday.

The Karachi police have also taken the family members of Zaheer Ahmed into custody.

The Minor went missing on April 16. The same month, she was found in Lahore.
Three videos of The Minor also surfaced in which the girl can be heard saying that she married out of her own free will, and claimed that she is 18 years of age. However, her father claims that she is not 18.

The Minor, in a video statement in May, said that her life is in danger.

Trigger warning: Sexual assault/rape

Two advertisements of a perfume company in India glorifying rape culture were taken down by the Indian ad regulatory body, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).

“The ad is in serious breach of the ASCI Code and is against public interest. We have taken immediate action and notified the advertiser to suspend the ad, pending investigation,” the body said while replying to a complaint regarding the ads.

Two different ads from the same company caused an outrage in India for insensitively portraying rape.

In one of the ads, four men can be seen entering a store. They are shown having a dispute over who will take a ‘shot’. There are four of them, but only one ‘shot’ is available. During this debate, instead of the bottle of body spray, a woman is shown and it looks like they are having an argument over who will first rape the woman. The woman even turns around in anger, believing the four men are talking about her. However, she is then shown relieved, when one of the men picks up the body spray called ‘Shot’.

People on social media expressed their anger over the adverstiments:

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has increased the prices of gas up to 45 per cent. The decision has been taken to meet revenue shortfall for the year 2022-23.

The new prices will be effective from July 1.

OGRA has allowed Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) to increase the prices to up to 45 per cent while for Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), a 44 per cent hike has been approved.

For the SNGPL consumers, the price of gas has now been fixed at Rs854.52 per MMBTU after an increase of 45 per cent.

“While for SSGC consumers, the price of gas has been fixed at Rs1,007.82 per MMBTU after an increase of Rs308.53 per MMBTU,” said a notification.

The developement came two days after the government increased prices of petroleum products up to Rs30 per litre.