Tag: Pakistan

  • At least 57 dead and several injured in Peshawar’s mosque blast

    At least 57 dead and several injured in Peshawar’s mosque blast

    At least 57 people have lost their lives and more than 190 have been injured in an explosion that took place during Jumma (Friday) prayers at a mosque in Peshawar’s Kocha Risaldar, one of the densely populated areas in the city.

    The injured have been moved to the Lady Reading Hospital. Police teams are at the site of the explosion and have sealed off the area.

    According to Capital City Police Peshawar, policemen on duty were shot at by the attackers.

    Officials are yet to confirm the nature of the explosion.

    This is a developing story.

  • ‘Historic moment in Pakistan cricket,’ says PCB CEO Faisal Hasnain as Pakistan and Australia series kicks off

    ‘Historic moment in Pakistan cricket,’ says PCB CEO Faisal Hasnain as Pakistan and Australia series kicks off

    After 24 years, Pakistan and Australia are playing the first Test match of the PakvsAus series today (March 4) in Rawalpindi. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat. Team Australia arrived in Pakistan on Sunday (February 27) for their first tour since 1998 and will play three Tests, three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and a T20I.

    “The pitch looks nice so we’ll try to put runs on the board,” said Pakistan skipper Babar Azam. He also predicted that our spinners would play a key role in the first match of the three-Test series.

    Babar Azam and Pat Cummins are leading their sides in the first Test of the three-match Benaud-Qadir ICC World Test Championship series match at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

    Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) CEO Faisal Hasnain said in a press conference today (Friday) that Pakistani cricket fans have waited 24 years for this moment. He expressed gratitude to the Australian Cricket Team for their tour to Pakistan.

     Naseem Shah has been included in the squad for the first Test against Australia after bowler Haris Rauf tested positive for Covid-19.

    Test squads for Rawalpindi match

    Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam (c), Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah

    Australia: Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

    Test schedule:
    • 1st Test, Rawalpindi: March 4-8
    • 2nd Test, Karachi: March 12-16
    • 3rd Test, Lahore: March 21-25
  • Less than 1% Pakistani women divorced: Pulse Consultant

    Less than 1% Pakistani women divorced: Pulse Consultant

    Pulse Consultant has launched a series of statistical information about Pakistani women with the name of “Pink Pakistan”. As per the first part of the report, 98.4 per cent of women over the age of 10 are not active economically.

    As per the report, 68 per cent of female population is married and only 0.57 per cent are divorced.

    The report also revealed that every second woman in Pakistan is literate.

    Another report published by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for the year 2021 revealed a huge gender gap in social media users of Pakistan.

  • Oil companies warn govt of fuel shortage in Pakistan

    Oil companies warn govt of fuel shortage in Pakistan

    Oil marketing companies and refineries have reportedly expressed serious concerns and warned of a fuel crisis in the country after the government’s announcement of a relief package, according to Geo News.

    In a meeting between Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and the petroleum division, several questions have been raised regarding petroleum prices. They argued that how can they sell petroleum products at cheaper prices when they are buying them at an expensive rate from the international market. They asked, “who will pay the price difference?”

    According to the secretary of petroleum, the government is preparing a price adjustment mechanism and the government will pay later. Till then, oil marketing companies and refineries should bear the price difference.

    In response to this, oil marketing companies and refineries said that the situation doesn’t seem to be sustainable as the country can face an interruption in the supply of petroleum products.

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, in an announcement on Monday, said that the government has slashed petrol, diesel prices by Rs10 per litre and electricity prices by Rs5 per unit as part of a series of measures to bring some relief to the public. He also promised that the government will not increase the prices of these commodities till the next budget, which will be announced in June.

  • ‘Logon ko yeh bhi nahi pata k woh namaz main Allah sy kya mangtay hain’: PM Khan

    ‘Logon ko yeh bhi nahi pata k woh namaz main Allah sy kya mangtay hain’: PM Khan

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that the youth of Pakistan does not know the actual reason as to why was Pakistan made.

    PM Khan said, “I realised this that our kids and youth does not have a complete understanding as to why was this country [Pakistan] made. Why did Allah say in the Quran to follow Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)? People don’t even know what do they ask from Allah when they offer namaz.” The premier’s words came during an address at the National Rehmatul-Lil-Alameen Authority event.

    “I was born in a Muslim household, but I came towards Islam through my life experiences. This was made possible as I saw two different cultures. I saw the Western culture thoroughly. But the actual change came within me when I read about the life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).”

    The premier went on to say that if you want to see a society gets destroyed when you accept corruption and evil happening within it.

    “We accepted corruption with our country. You throw flowers at the corrupt. One ran away from the country, after lying and big journalists are saying that we should allow him to give a speech,” said the premier.

    “The lawyers said to lift the ban off him and allow him to contest in the elections again,” said the premier alluding to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif.

    “A nation whose character is not great cannot become great, only by following the principles of justice and a welfare state can a nation make its place,” said PM Khan.

  • Pakistan stops Indian submarine which was entering Pakistani waters

    Pakistan stops Indian submarine which was entering Pakistani waters

    The Pakistan Navy Anti-Submarine Warfare Unit has intercepted and tracked the latest Kalvari class Indian submarine, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Thursday.

    The military’s media wing said in a statement that the submarine was detected on March 1.

    The recent incident is the fourth detection in the last five years is a reflection of the Pakistan Navy’s competence & resolve to defend the maritime frontiers of Pakistan, read the statement.

  • Pakistan chooses not to vote in the UNGA session to censure Russia

    Pakistan chooses not to vote in the UNGA session to censure Russia

    In the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) emergency session on Wednesday, Pakistan abstained from voting to censure Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

    Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram delivered a speech, in which he said, “Pakistan is committed to the fundamental principles of the UN Charter: self-determination of peoples, non-use or threat of use of force, sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, and pacific settlement of disputes.”

    “We hope the talks initiated between representatives of the Russian Federation and Ukraine will succeed in bringing about a cessation of hostilities and normalisation of the situation,” he said while adding that Pakistan supports all efforts to provide humanitarian relief to civilians in the affected areas.

    The ambassador stated that Pakistan was more concerned about the safety of Pakistani citizens and students in Ukraine.

    The session was called by the UN which demanded that Russia should stop fighting and urged it to immediately withdraw its military forces from Ukraine.

    141 member states voted in favour of the resolution. Besides Russia, four other countries voted against the resolution. While India, Bangladesh, China (one of the five permanent members) abstained.

    Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) received a letter from top diplomats of 22 countries on Tuesday, urging Islamabad to support a UNGA resolution, reports Dawn.

  • Zalmi owner to buy Chelsea Football Club: How much will it cost Javed Afridi?

    Zalmi owner to buy Chelsea Football Club: How much will it cost Javed Afridi?

    Pakistani businessman and Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) Team Peshawar Zalmi Owner Javed Afridi is reportedly interested in buying Chelsea Football Club which costs more than seven billion dollars.

    The current owner of Chelsea Roman Abramovich who is a Russian billionaire said he would sell the football club for $7.35 billion and promised to donate money from the sale to help victims of the war in Ukraine.

    Abramovich, who had bought the club in 2003 put the club up for sale after receiving pressure over his position amid Russia’s conflict with Ukraine.

    Khaleej Times reported that Afridi met with a sports and legal agency in the United Kingdom (UK) on Wednesday, reportedly to consult on buying the club. However, negotiations are underway.

    Besides Afridi, who also has stakes in Morris Garages (MG) Motors and Haier Pakistan, there are several other investors who are interested in buying one of the biggest and most famous football clubs in the world.

    Chelsea has won five Premier League titles and Football Association Challenge Cup (FA) Cup Trophies and won the Champions League twice.

  • Annual report reveals only 22% women in Pakistan are social media users: PTA

    Annual report reveals only 22% women in Pakistan are social media users: PTA

    There is a great gender gap in social media users of Pakistan, reveals a report published by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for the year 2021.

    “Pakistan has some of the widest gender gaps identified not only by international organisations but also by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS),” states the report.

    “The digitally excluded segments of Pakistani women are mainly illiterate, unemployed, disabled, and those over 45 years of age,” it added.

    Since the last couple of years, the percentage of female mobile subscriptions is only 21 per cent of the total subscriptions. This results in a large number of unaccounted women using mobile connections. Of 1,825 million (FY 2021) mobile connections across Pakistan, only 38 million are held by females against their CNICs; the remaining 144 million connections are held by the male population.

    The Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Household Survey 2021 released by PBS reported that 46 per cent of the country’s population (25% female and 65% male) owns a mobile phone. In terms of the rural-urban divide, the gap between male-female mobile ownership in rural areas is much higher compared to urban areas.

    As per the report, out of the total social media users in the country, only 22 per cent are women, while the rest of 78 per cent are men.

    The report also revealed the websites that are most visited local websites by the users, which are Daraz, OLX, Urdu Point, and Dawn.

  • No-confidence to be submitted in 48 hours: PDM

    No-confidence to be submitted in 48 hours: PDM

    Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) leader and official spokesman for the Pakistan Demo­cratic Movement (PDM) Hafiz Hamdullah said that the joint Opposition would submit the no-confidence motion in the next 48 hours.

    The development emerged after PDM chief and JUI-F head Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s talks with reporters regarding the no-confidence motion.

    According to Maulana, the Opposition will make a final decision regarding submitting a vote of the no-confidence motion in the next two to three days.

    PDM chief termed the upcoming days “important”. He claimed they have the numbers required for the success of the no-confidence motion. However, he revealed that it has not been decided yet whether they would bring the no-confidence motion against National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser or Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

    It is pertinent to mention that in order to bring in-house change against PM Khan, the joint Opposition needs the support of 172 Members of the National Assembly (MNAs). For the no-confidence motion against the NA’s speaker and deputy speaker, the Opposition would need simply a majority in the Lower House.

    Moreover, Maulana said that it seems that the “umpires” [establishment] are neutral. He declared that the Opposition is not seeking any support from the establishment, rather they want them to stop supporting the government.

    An insider told Dawn when the Opposition is 100 per cent about the success rate of the no-confidence motion, only then they will table it. He said it is true that some of the government’s own people are in contact with the Opposition but they still don’t have sufficient numbers.