Tag: Pakistan

  • Cloudburst causes flood in Islamabad: Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat

    A cloudburst in Islamabad has caused flooding in different areas.

    https://twitter.com/IslamabadiNews/status/1420230380918083589?s=20

    Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Muhammed Hamza Shafqaat wrote in a Tweet, “Cloudburst in Islamabad has caused flooding in various areas. Teams are clearing nullahs/roads. Hopefully we will be able to clear everything in an hour”.

    Later, the DC Tweeted that the Islamabad roads have been cleared for traffic.

    Meanwhile, Pakistan Army troops also helped the local government after the high flood in Nullah Lai.

    “Heavy rains caused high water level in Nullah Lai and water accumulation in E 11. Army troops are busy in assisting civil administration in rescue & relief efforts . Contingencies plans in place to meet any flood situation,” Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement.

  • Bride refuses to go with groom due to his three missing fingers

    A bride in Muzaffargarh refused to go with the groom because three fingers of the groom’s hand were cut off.

    As per reports, the incident took place in the Chowk Sarwar Shaheed area of ​​Muzaffargarh.

    Majid tied the knot with Shabana but at the time of rukhsati, the bride refused to go with the groom because of the groom’s missing fingers.

    Read More: Groom’s mother beats him with chappal during wedding ceremony

    The bride’s father said that the groom’s hand did not have three fingers, which we got to know about just now.

    Despite hours of waiting and requests, the bride did not agree to go with the groom and the groom’s family returned home after waiting for 5 hours.

  • Woman raped in front of 14-month-old baby, both die in hospital

    Woman raped in front of 14-month-old baby, both die in hospital

    A 30-year-old woman, who was allegedly raped and later stabbed in front of her 14-month-old son, passed away after struggling for her life in the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital on Sunday.

    As per reports, the victim’s son Gulfam was also stabbed at the crime scene. He also passed away.

    Police filed a case against the suspect under relevant sections of the law involving rape/murder and a search operation has been launched to arrest him.

    On Saturday at around 12:30 pm, the victim, her son, brother, and uncle Mohammad Ramzan reached Chak Beli Bazaar for begging in the area.

    In the FIR, the victim’s brother stated that they met a man (suspect). His sister already knew him and he offered to take her and her son to Mohra village.

    The complainant said that he was worried when his sister and her son did not return after a long time. He started looking for them and found them lying injured in the Mohra area.

    The victim told her brother that she was sexually assaulted by the suspect.  The suspect also tried to kill her by stabbing her in the neck with a knife, which left her seriously injured. She said the suspect also stabbed her son and fled away.

    The complainant said he and his uncle were taking the injured mother and son to a nearby hospital in Rawalpindi, but Gulfam died on the way. The body of the 14-month-old boy was handed over to his relatives after postmortem on Saturday.  The mother who was struggling for her life in the emergency ward of DHQ Hospital and breathed her last on Sunday.

    Initial postmortem report shows that the woman’s neck injuries were the cause of her death whereas forensic analysis was being carried out to determine if she was raped.

    The investigating officer said the victim originally belonged to Vehari and was unable to record her statement due to her critical injuries.

    After the incident came to light, Station House Officer Mohammad Asif, SI Yasir Mehmood, who is investigating the incident, and other senior police officers reached the spot and collected evidence and other relevant information.

    Police have arrested the suspect identified as Wajid Ali on Tuesday.

  • ‘Will seek India’s help’: PML-N’s Ismail Gujjar served show-cause notice over remarks

    ‘Will seek India’s help’: PML-N’s Ismail Gujjar served show-cause notice over remarks

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Secretary-General Ahsan Iqbal has served a show-cause notice to Ismail Gujjar for his controversial statement a day ago during the Azad Jammu and Kashmir election wherein he threatened to “call India for help” if attempts were made [by the government] to rig the polls.

    Talking to the media, Chaudhry Ismail Gujjar said, “If you try to commit such an act [rig elections], I will call India for help … I warn you this is the election of Azad Kashmir and its people, let it be peaceful.”

    Reacting to the statement, Ahsan Iqbal issued a show-cause notice to Gujjar.

    “A statement given by you appeared on the electronic media in which you have irresponsibly stated that you will seek help from India for your election,” the notice reads, asking Gujjar to give an explanation within seven days.

    Issuing a clarification on to Geo News, Ismail had said his statement was directed towards the administration. “India kills Kashmiris in occupied Kashmir and over here, these people are taking down our camps,” he had added.

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry, while appreciating the PML-N for issuing a show-cause notice to a “political orphan” [Gujjar], said it would have been better had the party served a notice to Nawaz Sharif for meeting Pakistan’s enemy. Fawad was referring to Nawaz Sharif’s meeting with Afghan National Security Adviser (NSA) Hamdullah Mohib in London.

    Fawad also commented on the Afghan NSA’s meeting with Sharif on Geo News‘ programme, ‘Jirga’.

  • Bahawalpur Police deny rumours: Samiullah Khan statue intact

    Bahawalpur Police deny rumours: Samiullah Khan statue intact

    Bahawalpur Police, in a tweet, clarified that the statue of hockey legend Samiullah Khan is intact, stating that the police checked it after rumours started circulating on social media about its hockey stick, ball getting stolen again.

    A video on social media shows that the hockey stick and ball were missing, again.

    Prior to this, the police arrested a suspect for stealing the items from the statue. The theft occurred less than two weeks after the statue of hockey player Samiullah was set up at a crossing to honour him.

    However, after that incident, the administration restored the statue to its original condition.

    Khan, now 69, is a former and veteran hockey player. He made Pakistan proud at the international level, winning a bronze medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics and a gold medal in Asian Games 1978, 1982.

  • Pakistan economic security on the rise, ranks top 10 in business environment

    Pakistan economic security on the rise, ranks top 10 in business environment

    Pakistan has reformed to simplify initiating a company and obtaining a construction permit, applying a series of preferential policies in the latest years, says the Annual Report on Investment Security of China’s Belt and Road Construction (2021), jointly released by China Belt and Road Think Tank Cooperation Alliance, Beijing International Studies University, and other institutions.

    The report puts forward the results of researches on the political, economic, social, cultural, and ecological investment security in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

    According to the report, these steps upgraded Pakistan’s ability to attract foreign investment and strengthened the ease of doing business year by year, making Pakistan one of the world’s top 10 economies with the most improved business environment, China Economic Net (CEN) reported.

    In terms of political security, the report stated that South Asia as a whole is greatly affected by the superpower game.

    China, the United States, Russia, Japan, and other countries outside the region have historical ties and practical cooperation here, which makes the geopolitical environment of South Asia complicated.

    The conflict between India and Pakistan has also increased pressure on political security in the region, under which the dispute over Kashmir poses a long-standing risk of war.

    From the perspective of economic security, Pakistan’s economic security scored up by 220% in 2019 compared to 2010, showing an overall trend of growth.

    The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) construction has greatly boosted public confidence, stimulated domestic demand, and driven production.

    However, it is worth noting that since 2019, the accelerated marketisation of the domestic exchange rate in Pakistan has led to market fluctuations, currency devaluation, sustained inflation, forcing the government to raise the benchmark interest rate. Besides, the debt burden increased and the international sovereign rating lowered.

  • Hockey stick, ball stolen again from statue of Samiullah Khan

    Hockey stick, ball stolen again from statue of Samiullah Khan

    A thief in Bahawalpur again stole a hockey and a ball from the statue of the former hockey player, Samiullah Khan.

    As per reports, the thief made a video after stealing the hockey then put it back on the statue.

    Police say they have initiated a search operation to look for the suspect. While the cantonment board has announced to install CCTV cameras with the statue.

    Earlier, the police arrested a suspect identified as Noman for stealing hockey and a ball from the statue of Samiullah Khan.

  • Sindh govt to block phone SIMs of unvaccinated people

    Sindh govt to block phone SIMs of unvaccinated people

    The Sindh government has officially decided to write a letter to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) to block phone SIMs of unvaccinated people amid a rise in Covid-19 cases in the province.

    Adviser to Chief Minister Sindh on Law, Murtaza Wahab, took to Twitter to announce the decision.

    “#SindhGovt has decided to write to NCOC & PTA that mobile sims of unvaccinated people should be blocked,” he wrote in a tweet.

    According to details, Chief Minister Sindh has also said that the PTA would be contacted through the federal government to encourage the users via text messages to get vaccinated and those not getting a shot in a week will have their SIMs blocked.

    As cases are increasing in the province, the Sindh government has decided to tighten the restrictions. The Covid-19 task force held a meeting on Friday and made the following decisions:

    • Shopping malls and markets can operate from 6am to 6pm except for pharmacies and bakeries.
    • The government has imposed a ban on indoor and outdoor dining at restaurants. Only takeaways are allowed.
    • Public and private offices have been asked to call in 50 per cent of their workforce.
    • Shrines to be closed once again.
    • Ban to be imposed on weddings and other events.
    • Schools will remain closed, while exams will continue as per schedule.

    The new restrictions will be imposed from Monday, July 26. The positivity rate in Sindh is 10.3 per cent, the task force participants were informed. Karachi’s situation is getting worse day by day. At least 1,002 patients are in critical care.

    As per reports, the province reported six cases of the Delta variant on Monday, the province’s health secretary, Qasim Soomro, confirmed.

    The guidelines to avoid exposure to the new variant are the same:

    • Sanitise hands more often
    • Wear a mask
    • Avoid public gatherings
    • Get vaccinated as soon as possible
    • Avoid meeting people with symptoms
    • Avoid unnecessary travel

    Total tests conducted in the last 24 hours were 25,215 out of which 1,425 cases tested positive. The positivity rate was 5.65 per cent as per NCOC.

  • ‘Sweetest heart’, Noor Mukadam’s Irish friends pay loving tribute

    ‘Sweetest heart’, Noor Mukadam’s Irish friends pay loving tribute

    The daughter of a former senior Pakistani diplomat, Noor Mukadam who was brutally murdered in Islamabad, spent several years in Ireland with her family when she was a young girl.

    One of her Irish friends, Kim Kearns described Noor as a “beautiful” woman having “the sweetest heart”.

    Kearns, Mukadam and another woman, Marilyn Egan, were “the three best friends” growing up, she told to Irish Times.

    Noor had attended Our Lady’s Grove primary and secondary school in Goatstown, South Dublin, after her father had been posted to serve at the Pakistan embassy in the area. Kearns said she recalled Noor joining the school when they were in first grade.

    Her family had lived in Milltown, South Dublin, before they shifted to Leopardstown, her friend said.

    “She had the heart of an angel… If anyone was ever mean to her, she would always be positive, she never retaliated,” Kearns said.

    Read More: ‘Being a govt lawyer, it is alarming that the public mistrusts the system’, Additional Advocate General Punjab on #JusticeforNoor

    “She liked shopping, we’d go to Dundrum shopping centre, she liked Zara, she was into fashion,” her friend added.

    “She just fitted in, Ireland was her home,” she said.

    Kearns stated that when Mukadam was told that her family had to move again and leave Ireland she was “heartbroken”.

    “We would always keep in touch. If I posted anything on Instagram she would comment on it, saying she was thinking of me, or missing us,” she said.

    Both of Mukadam’s friends said that they were upset by the news of their childhood friend’s death.

    The friends are planning to organise a tribute walk from their old school to a pond on the University College Dublin campus. If Mukadam had continued in Ireland that was where she would have wanted to study for college, Kearns said.

  • NCOC Eid ul Azha guidelines: Sacrifice is not allowed at home

    The National Command Operation Centre (NCOC) has announced numerous guidelines for Eid ul Azha, which will be celebrated tomorrow, Wednesday, in Pakistan. The NCOC has recommended that no Qurbani should be allowed at home/residential areas, reported Samaa.

    The government has requested the public to follow all the precautionary measures as the country is heading towards the fourth wave of coronavirus.

    The Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) regarding Qurbani include:

    Provinces to initiate awareness campaigns to educate people on the spread of the virus during meat distribution.

    Religious leaders told to encourage collective Qurbani.

    The skin of sacrificed animals will not be given to banned organisations.

    Minimum persons to be allowed at the Qurbani site.

    Last week, Special Assistant to the PM on Health, Dr Faisal Sultan stated that it is mandatory to wear masks and maintain distance from the crowds even for unvaccinated individuals.

    Following the outbreak of the Delta variant in Karachi, more restrictions have been imposed in various parts of the country. The positivity rate on July 20 remains at 5.25 percent.