Tag: Pakistan

  • Two escaped crocodiles found in Bahawalpur’s national park

    Bahawalpur National Park administration captured two crocodiles that escaped from the lake, Geo News reported.

    According to Deputy Director Wildlife Muhammad Zahid, crocodiles were experimentally transferred to the lake at Lal Sohanra National Park in Bahawalpur, out of which two crocodiles suddenly went missing.

    Read More: Seven rare deer die mysteriously at Bahawalpur Zoo

    According to Deputy Director Wildlife, 15 days later, the two crocodiles were found in an empty canal in the park premises.

  • Shaniera Akram tells Australia, England what they should be worried about when touring Pakistan

    Shaniera Akram tells Australia, England what they should be worried about when touring Pakistan

    Shaniera Akram, who is a humanitarian, environmentalist and wife of legendary Pakistani cricketer Wasim Akram, has told Australian and English cricket teams what they should be worried about when touring Pakistan.

    Taking to Twitter, Shaniera wrote: “The only thing Australia & England should be worried about when coming to play cricket in Pakistan is The Pakistan Cricket Team!”

    “Thank you @CricketAus and @ECB_cricket for this opportunity,” she wrote, adding, “Like we always do, Pakistan & @TheRealPCB will welcome both teams with open arms & hearts!”

    Australian and English Boards have announced a visit to Pakistan. Yesterday, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja met England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Chief Executive and Deputy Chairman. The series was discussed. Two additional matches were also announced after the meeting.

    The schedule of Australia’s visit to Pakistan has also been released two days ago, this will be Australia’s first visit to Pakistan after 1998.

    Fans are eager to know whether Shaniera, who lives in Pakistan but is of Australian origin, will be supporting Pakistan or Australia during the T20 World Cup semi-final.

    “Million dollar question: I’m deeply interested in knowing that who would @iamShaniera Bhabhi be supporting at #PAKVSAUS in the 2nd #SemiFinal of #T20WorldCup?” asked Twitter user Samra Tariq.

    At this, Shaniera did not give a clear response.

    “I want to know from all of you ??? Which team do you guys think I will cheer for???” Shaniera said.

    Pakistan will face Australia in the semi-final in Dubai on November 11. Pakistan remained undefeated in the Super 12 and ended the stage on a high.

  • Govt faces defeat twice in NA over two bills, Opposition demands PM Khan’s resignation

    Govt faces defeat twice in NA over two bills, Opposition demands PM Khan’s resignation

    The government faced defeat twice at the hands of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday during voting on motions seeking introduction of two bills, reports Dawn.

    Under the session chaired by Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly (NA) Qasim Suri, the Opposition first defeated the government with a 117-104 vote on a motion moved by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) MNA Javed Hasnain. The bill was to seek permission to introduce a private member’s bill aimed at preventing politicians from changing their parties. After the first defeat, most of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members had left the house.

    A motion moved by PTI’s lawmaker Asma Qadeer for a bill seeking to enhance punishment for those who passed offensive remarks against women didn’t pass. Because the deputy speaker announced that he could not allow Qadeer to introduce the bill as the Opposition members had rejected it with a majority and did not give the vote count as the Opposition had visibly outnumbered the treasury members.

    It is reported that there had been a significant increase in the number of members on the Opposition benches due to the arrival of PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in NA.

    A day earlier, the government got seven bills passed in the absence of Opposition members from the lower house of parliament.

    After the defeat, PML-N’s Ayaz Sadiq said, “Morally, Imran Khan should resign before convening of a joint sitting of the parliament.” He was referring to the government’s plan to call a joint session of parliament this week.

    PPP’s Syed Khursheed Shah, who had been in the custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for more than two years, was welcomed by a loud desk-thumping by the Opposition members.

  • ‘Are we about to sign a surrender document once again?’: Supreme Court asks PM Khan

    ‘Are we about to sign a surrender document once again?’: Supreme Court asks PM Khan

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan appeared before the Supreme Court after he was summoned earlier today by the apex court to attend a hearing of the Army Public School (APS) massacre case.

    When the prime minister appeared at the rostrum, Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan said the parents of the martyred children are demanding action against the rulers of the time when the APS massacre took place, reports Geo News.

    The premier responded and said that when the massacre took place, his party was in power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and he had met the parents in hospitals when the brutal massacre happened.

    “Parents are asking where was the security system [that day]? Despite our comprehensive orders, nothing was done,” replied Cheif Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed.

    “There are no holy cows in Pakistan, I believe in rule of law. We won a war against terrorism,” he said. “There were bomb blasts taking place at the time every single day,” replied PM Khan.

    “The government should take action against those involved in the APS massacre,” said the Supreme Court. 

    “You are the prime minister, you should have answers,” said CJP Ahmad.

    “Hold on for a minute, Judge Sahab,” responded PM Khan. “Allah will give patience to the parents of the schoolchildren, what more could the government have done apart from giving compensation?”

    “Find out why 80,000 people were killed, also find out who is responsible for 480 drone attacks taking place in Pakistan,” added the premier.

    “Finding out about these things is your job, you are the prime minister. As the prime minister, you should have the answer to these questions,” replied the chief justice.

    “You can constitute a high-level commission on the APS tragedy,” said the prime minister. 

    “We have already formed a commission and it has issued a report as well,” responded the chief justice. “Our order of October 20 clearly states that the government should find out who is responsible for the massacre and take action against them,” he added. 

    The chief justice reminded the prime minister that seven years had passed since the tragedy took place. 

    “Mr Prime Minister, we are not a small country,” said Justice Qazi Amin. “We have the sixth largest army in the world.”

    Justice Amin told the prime minister that he had now brought the culprits of the massacre to the negotiating table. 

    “Are we about to sign a surrender document once again?” he asked.  

  • Two arrested after minor girl’s body found in Metro station washroom

    Two arrested after minor girl’s body found in Metro station washroom

    Police have started an investigation in the case of a young girl whose body was found dumped in a washroom of a metro bus station in Islamabad’s G-11, ARY News reported.

    The girl whose body was found on Monday has not yet been identified. She was aged between 11 and 12 years.

    The police suspect that the marks on her neck indicate that the girl was subjected to sexual abuse before she was strangled. Police will tell the actual cause of the death after the autopsy report.

    The police have detained two security guards of the metro bus station for an inquiry. A team has been constituted to probe her death.

    The body was shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) where a medical board conducted an autopsy on the deceased. Samples were taken from the body and given to the police for chemical examination.

  • ‘I want to gift portrait of Holy Kaaba to PM Imran,’ physically challenged painter’s wish

    ‘I want to gift portrait of Holy Kaaba to PM Imran,’ physically challenged painter’s wish

    A physically challenged artist, Umar Jarral, from Lahore who suffers from cerebral palsy has made very beautiful portraits of the Holy Kaaba and Prime Minster (PM) Imran Khan, which he wants to gift to the PM. He also wants to meet PM Khan one day.

    Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to move and maintain balance and posture.

    Talking to The Current, Umar’s brother, Muhammad Ahmed, said that Umar is trying for four years to meet the premier. He met a few ministers but was not able to meet the PM.

    “We are a total of seven siblings. Five of them have suffered from CP. Our parents are very old. My sister and I take care of the other siblings,” Umar’s brother added.

    “Umar used to speak when he was seven years old but now he has lost his speech ability. He communicates with us by writing messages to us. All of us want to meet PM Imran and request him to arrange an exhibition for Umar’s art,” he said.

    Umar also runs a Facebook page where he posts his artwork. Here are a few more portraits made by Umar.

  • 59% traders consider Pakistan is not ‘moving in right direction’: Gallup Survey

    The ratio of traders who consider that Pakistan is not moving in the right direction has jumped from 37 per cent from the last quarterly report to 59 per cent states Gallup Pakistan’s fourth quarterly report of Business Confidence Index (BCI).

    The survey was conducted from October 13-28 and nearly 580 respondents, belonging to the country’s traders’ community participated in it.

    The report states that responders have expressed great anxiety over the future of business in the country as the ratio of those predicting improvement in future business has dropped from 70 per cent to 61 per cent in the survey, reports Geo News.

    Surprisingly, the given statistics in the report show that in Gallup Pakistan’s second quarterly report, 49 per cent of traders were happy with business activity but now 54 per cent of them expressed their satisfaction.

    While answering the question, “which issues do the respondents want the government to address instantly”, 48 per cent declared inflation as the biggest problem for business, 16 per cent sought relief for the business class, 14 per cent for the stability of the Pakistani currency, 13 per cent for consistency in government policies, 6 per cent for controlling corruption, 6 per cent for the elimination of Covid-19 and ending lockdowns, 3 per cent for ending political instability, 3 per cent for improving export policies and two percent for non-availability of PayPal.

    Among them, seven percent of respondents said they had no issue which could be resolved by the government.

  • Government directs TV channels to show Pakistan map daily before bulletin

    Government directs TV channels to show Pakistan map daily before bulletin

    In a notification issued by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), the government has directed all television channels to show Pakistan map daily before the 9pm news bulletin.

    The notification is titled: ‘Streamlining Correct Use of Pakistan Political Map‘.

    “All the news channels (both public and private) have to flash the political map of Pakistan for 02 seconds before airing the news bulletin at 09:00pm on regular basis,” it reads.

    Previously in August, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan had announced the approval of a new political map of Pakistan, which included Indian-occupied Kashmir in its entirety.

    Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir “Disputed territory- final status to be decided in line with the relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions” is written on the map.

  • Asif Ali rises to the occasion

    Asif Ali rises to the occasion

    When, on the last ball of the 18th over, Asif Ali refused to take a single, rather than adding a run to Pakistan’s score with the required run rate almost touching the 12-run mark, it was obvious that he was confident enough in his abilities to take his team over the line. Or so it seemed. Two nights before, his quickfire cameo had helped Pakistan cruise to victory in a grudge match against New Zealand. Against Afghanistan, he picked up from where he had left off against New Zealand and pulled it off with aplomb to ensure that Pakistan’s record in this tournament remains unsullied.

    Heretofore, Asif’s selection in the World Cup squad drew a massive outcry. Many were of the view that he lacked the tools to translate his domestic exploits to the international stage and gratuitously touted him as a tulla, laparoo and fraudiya even though he had shown glimpses of his hard-hitting prowess multiple times for his PSL side. An average of 16 and strike rate below 125 – Asif’s sorry set of batting stats in T20Is prior to the tournament – are without a doubt dismal and not remotely redolent of someone who can thrive at the highest level. Steadfastly determined to prove that he is not a flash in the pan, Asif navigated the choppy waters and chose the biggest stage to rehabilitate himself.

    In both the matches, Asif strode out to the middle in unnerving and high-pressure situations. When he walked out to bat against New Zealand in the 15th over, Pakistan was teetering at 87 for 5 in pursuit of 135 and the required run-rate had shot past nine an over. After kicking off his World Cup campaign with a four-off Trent Boult over the third man region, he took a liking to Tim Southee and whacked him for back-to-back sixes before pulling Trent Boult for a maximum and scoring a brace off him to clinch Pakistan’s second win in the tournament.

    Against Afghanistan, when he came to bat, his side was 122 for 4 and the required run rate had crept up to more than eight with 26 runs required from the last three overs. Asif, however, only needed seven balls to get the job done. After opening his account with a single off Naveen-ul-Haq, he mercilessly dispatched seamer Karim Janat for four majestic maximums in an over to maintain Pakistan’s perfect record in the tournament. Fittingly, it was his bat from which the winning runs flowed in both the games.

    To put into context how good Asif’s six-hitting has been and how hard sixes are to come by in this tournament, take a look at this stat: Asif took 19 deliveries for these seven sixes. On the other hand, Indian batsmen took 250 balls for seven sixes, New Zealand batsmen took 240 balls for seven sixes while West Indian batsmen took 147 balls to hit seven sixes.

    More crucially, none of the seven sixes Asif struck against Afghanistan or New Zealand were mishits or mis-timed slogs. His pyrotechnics featured meaty blows over long-off, midwicket, extra cover and wide long-on — an indicator of his expansive hitting arc.

    Although Pakistan has got world number one and world number 4 T20I batters at the top of the order, they need someone who can put the finishing touches and up the ante down the order. At the biggest stage, Asif has advertised his credentials, repaid the faith of those who had faith in him, and made a telling statement that Pakistan have found the right man in him to do that job.

  • ‘Govt is only giving takleef’, Opposition slams price hike

    The Opposition slammed Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s government for increasing petroleum prices once again and setting a new record in the country’s history.

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif said, “Government officers are being changed because of incompetence but Imran Khan is still sitting on his seat after the biggest incompetence and corruption,” adding that it had been proved that the incumbent government could “only give takleef (trouble) to people instead of relief”.

    “[PM] Imran Niazi has become a killer of people’s joy,” tweeted Shehbaz.

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari took to Twitter and wrote, “Govt increase petrol in the dead of night by Rs8. Increase of almost 20rs in less than a month.”

    PPP leader Sherry Rehman also slammed the government and tweeted, “Days after announcing a ‘relief package’, PTI govt drops another petrol bomb by hiking petrol prices by a whopping Rs8.14/L. Petrol prices now stand at a record Rs145.8/L. First time in Pakistan’s history that prices of all petroleum products are above Rs110/L.”

    PML-N leader Marriyum Aurangzeb demanded the resignation of PM Khan. “Increasing the price of petrol and sugar under the relief package is only increasing the hardships of the people and making life easier for the mafia and filling their pockets.”

    Earlier today, the Opposition protested against the ‘petrol bomb’ by walking out during Senate proceedings.

    Meanwhile, PPP Senator Bahramand Khan Tangi chose to protest the increase in petrol prices by cycling to Parliament House from Parliament Lodges.