Tag: Pakistan

  • Guess who is Pakistan’s favourite anchor, Tiktoker

    Guess who is Pakistan’s favourite anchor, Tiktoker

    The Current starts its day with a morning mood to engage followers and find out what they are interested in. This is done via a ‘This or That’ poll and the winner has to compete in the same category the next day. It is mostly done over a week’s time and we found out a lot about our followers – and Pakistanis – based on what they vote for.

    The Current has compiled a few fun polls it did on its Instagram account.

    Professor VS Berlin: What would you like to be?

    Professor wins with 67%.

    Who is your favourite female anchor?

    We put this poll the whole week and got our winner. Can you guess who that was?

    ARY’s Maria Memon won the vote beating the likes of Sana Bucha, Meher Bokhari and Asma Shirazi.

    Favourite male anchor

    Waseem Badami is clearly the winner beating all prominent news anchors of Pakistan.

    Your favourite TikToker

    Again this one was not surprising.

  • Police arrest TikToker for posing as a beggar

    Police arrest TikToker for posing as a beggar

    A TikToker was arrested by the police in Sialkot for posing as a beggar.

    As per reports, the TikToker was found begging in Daska after disguising himself as a beggar. The patrolling police of the area found him suspicious and took him into custody. Upon interrogation, they discovered US dollars, Riyals and Pounds from his pocket.

    The police said that the youth was misleading people by disguising himself as a beggar but was later identified as a TikTok star, when he washed out his face.

    He has been taken into custody by the police over charges of deceiving people.

  • IN PICTURES: Kaghan Valley experiences its first snowfall

    IN PICTURES: Kaghan Valley experiences its first snowfall

    The mountains of Kaghan Valley are covered in snow after the picturesque valley received the first snowfall of the season. Pictures from the area are being widely circulated on social media.

    As per reports, Naran town received more than 2.5 feet of snowfall. 

    Picture Credit: Gulf News
    Picture Credit: Gulf News
    Picture Credit: Gulf News

    Most hotels in Naran, Kaghan, and Shogran are still open for tourists this year because the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is trying to promote winter tourism.

    Picture Credit: Gulf News
    Picture Credit: Gulf News
  • Police arrest bus driver for playing video game while driving on motorway

    Police arrest bus driver for playing video game while driving on motorway

    A bus driver was caught on camera playing a video game while driving a fast-paced passenger carriage. The driver has been arrested by police and his license has been suspended.

    According to reports, a video did the rounds on social media a few days back wherein a bus driver was caught playing a video game as he drove the bus on the busy Karachi motorway.

    The video shows the driver driving at a considerably high speed on the motorway but his attention is being distracted by the video game. The Inspector-General of Motorway Police took notice of the incident after the video went viral and traced the alleged offender via technology.

    The police reportedly followed the driver, identified as Babar Khan, suspended his license and booked him on relevant charges.

    It was alleged that the driver risked not only the lives of the passengers on board but also of those on the road and showed criminal negligence as a deadly accident could have happened because of it. 

  • Condoms in gutters blamed for Karachi’s sewerage problems

    Disposal of used contraceptives, such as condoms, in gutters has been causing sewerage problems in Karachi, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) has said.

    According to reports, KWSB recovered a massive amount of used condoms while clearing a sewerage line on Thursday, which were affecting the flow of sewage and causing serious blockage problems.

    A KWSB official said the huge quantity of used contraceptives was found while a team was cleaning a sewerage line in Clifton Block 2. But this isn’t an isolated incident: the KWSB often finds items like these in sewer lines across the city.

    Water inflates the condoms up to 400 times their size, which blocks manholes and sewerage lines, the KWSB spokesperson explained. Such items must be disposed of in trash cans, he urged.

    The KWSB stressed the need for generating awareness about the issue and urged government departments and social organisations to play their role.

  • Labbaik leader Khadim Rizvi passes away

    Renowned cleric and Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi passed away on Thursday.

    Earlier it was reported that he was suffering from high-grade fever for the past couple of days, which had led to speculations if he was suffering from COVID-19.

    The same was claimed by journalist Mubashir Zaidi, who quoted a hospital spokesperson.

    While TLP leaders have confirmed reports of Rizvi’s passing, conflicting reports claim that the cleric was not suffering from any illness.

    Meanwhile, condolences are pouring in over social media as people say they “forgive” the late religious leader who was known for his aggressive speeches besides promotion of extremist element in the religio-political landscape of the country.

    He had just earlier this week led a protest rally in the federal capital against the publication of blasphemous cartoons by a French satirical magazine.

    Things had taken an ugly turn when participants of the protest-turned-sit-in had clashed with law enforcement.

    The law and order situation had been dealt with by the government after accepting the protesters’ demands.

  • Stanford University’s top scientists’ list includes 12 Pakistani teachers

    Stanford University’s top scientists’ list includes 12 Pakistani teachers

    Twelve Pakistani teachers have been included in world’s top two percent scientists list compiled by Stanford University.

    Nine of them are from Punjab University and three from Government College University, Lahore.

    US-based Stanford University recently released a list that represents the top 2% of the most-cited scientists in different disciplines. The list consists of around 160,000 persons.

    Punjab University college’s spokesperson said Dr Khalid Mahmood, Dr Mohammad Sharif and Dr Mohammad Akram were selected by Stanford for their lifetime research.

    Six more researchers from Punjab University were selected in the category for international examination of one-year research papers, the spokesperson added. They are Dr Hafiz Azhar, Dr Zeeshan Yousuf, Dr Mohammad Younis, Dr Saima Arshad, Dr Abdur Rehman and Dr Noman Raza.

    Dr Mahmood is the only professor in South Asia to have received an award in Information and Library Science.

    Over 81 professors were recognised in the lifetime research work list.

    Professor Dr Mjuahid Abbas, Professor Dr Zakaullah and Dr Abdul Sattar Nizami were the educationists selected from Government College University, Lahore.

    Government College University, Lahore Vice Chancellor Dr Asghar Zaidi congratulated the teachers and said the professors were honoured to be among the world’s best researchers.

  • Man fined for riding motorcycle with nine children

    Man fined for riding motorcycle with nine children

    A citizen of Lahore was fined Rs300 for riding a motorcycle with nine children.

    As per reports, a motorcyclist named Ibrar was stopped by the traffic police for riding a motorcycle with nine children towards Lower Mall Road. The citizen was charged with a fine of Rs300 over violating the traffic rules and for putting the lives of his children and other people at risk.  

    The traffic police advised the motorcyclist to follow the traffic laws in the future.  

  • Govt reduces COVID-19 testing amid spike in deaths

    Govt reduces COVID-19 testing amid spike in deaths

    As coronavirus cases continue to spike across Pakistan, the government has drastically reduced the number of tests, as it conducted around 29,000 tests on Nov 16 as compared to 39,000 tests on Nov 14.

    According to official data, the number of tests remained above 30,000 since Nov 4 (when positivity rate was about 4 per cent) and the maximum number of samples were taken on Nov 14 i.e. 39,410. But for the past couple of days, the government has slashed the testing by 10,000 even though the positivity rate now stands at 7 per cent.

    Graph of COVID-19 testing

    According to data issued by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) on Tuesday, at least 33 people passed away due to coronavirus, while 2,050 new infections were reported across Pakistan. The positivity rate has also witnessed an increase — from 4 per cent at the start of this month to 7 per cent.

    On Saturday and Sunday, the country saw over 2,000 cases and 2,400 cases respectively, which means more than a 20 per cent increase in cases. These numbers are the highest since July. Seventeen people lost their lives to the coronavirus on Saturday. Pakistan reported over 2,000 cases on Monday as well.

    Meanwhile, SOPs violations across the country continue. The marriage halls, restaurants, and such other places have failed to implement the government directives to stem the growth of the virus.

  • Gen (r) Raheel Sharif says he never wanted an extension

    Gen (r) Raheel Sharif says he never wanted an extension

    Former chief of army staff (COAS) General (r) Raheel Sharif has rubbished reports regarding him seeking an extension in his tenure as the top military commander, denying the claim by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) that the party was being victimised for refusing him the same.

    According to The News, the issue of the very popular former military bigwig recently cropped up again after former PML-N leader Lt Gen (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch said that he was told by then prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif that Gen (r) Sharif had repeatedly approached him to get an extension but to no avail.

    Baloch, who was a SAFRON [ministry of states and frontier regions] minister during the PML-N’s tenure, recently parted ways with the party over its supreme leader Nawaz’s aggressive stance towards the military establishment, especially the incumbent army chief.

    “It was a great disappointment for me as I had expected Raheel Sharif to retire gracefully like a true soldier,” he had said as several PML-N leaders also drew links between the reported civil-military tussle from ex-PM Nawaz’s government as well as Dawn Leaks and Panama Papers scandals.

    According to reports, General (r) Sharif was contacted through Lt Gen (r) Amjad Shuaib, who quoted the former as saying that following a meeting with the then premier and other key PML-N leaders, when he was leaving the meeting room of the PM’s Office, he was approached by Shehbaz Sharif and Chaudhry Nisar.

    Gen (r) Sharif told Lt Gen (r) Shuaib that Shehbaz and Nisar had said that they wanted to give him an extension. According to Lt Gen (r) Shoaib, the former army chief replied that he did not want an extension because he had already announced several months ago that he would not continue to stay in office after his three-year term.

    According to Gen (r) Sharif, as narrated by Lt Gen (r) Shuaib, the PML-N leaders insisted that since he had performed well as the COAS, the country was still engaged in its fight against terrorism and there was a need to bring peace to Karachi, the government, therefore, wanted him to continue.

    Lt Gen (r) Shuaib said that according to Gen (r) Sharif, when the army chief again showed his reluctance, he was offered the slot of field marshal, which he again declined as he was not interested in getting a post where he would become a mere figurehead with nothing to do. It is claimed that the PML-N leaders then told Gen (r) Sharif that the government would consider empowering the post of field marshal.

    He told Gen (r) Shuaib that he had never on his own discussed any such issue with anyone.

    The report quoted an informed PML-N leader as saying that Shehbaz and Nisar had even visited Nawaz in London, where he had gone for his open-heart surgery, to press for an extension fearing that otherwise martial law could be imposed. Even then, Nawaz is believed to have refused to give an extension.