Tag: Pakistan

  • KYA BOLA? (Aug 19): ‘People’s Party walay kamray mein aur, bahar aur’ to ‘Jamhooriyat k khilaaf saazishein’

    KYA BOLA? (Aug 19): ‘People’s Party walay kamray mein aur, bahar aur’ to ‘Jamhooriyat k khilaaf saazishein’

    Following are some snippets that stood out from Urdu newspapers on August 19, 2020, which The Current takes no responsibility for.

    ‘People’s Party Walay Kamray Mein Aur, Bahar Aur’

    Daily Jang has quoted Information Minister Shibli Faraz as saying, “People’s Party walay kamray mein baat maan letay hain magar bahar jaa kr kuch aur kehtay hain.”

    ‘Opposition Aur Hukoomat Ka Sath’

    According to Daily Dunya, Jamat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq has said, “Opposition ki dono barri partiyaan ankhein band kr k hukoomat ka sath de rahi hain.”

    ‘Jamhooriyat K Khilaaf Saazishein‘

    It has been reported by Daily Dunya that Awami National Party (ANP) President Asfandyar Wali Khan, while reacting to the completion of two years of PTI government said, “Dou saal k dauraan jamhooriyat k khilaaf saazishon mein mazeed taizi aayi. 18th Amendment pr bhi kai hamlay huway. 50 lakh ghar denay k daway dharay k dharay reh gaye balkeh ghurbat ne lakho afraad ko beghar kr dia.”

  • KYA BOLA? (Aug 18): ‘Idaaron ko dhamkiyan’ to ‘Hukoomat aur corona ki beemari mein koi farq nahi’

    KYA BOLA? (Aug 18): ‘Idaaron ko dhamkiyan’ to ‘Hukoomat aur corona ki beemari mein koi farq nahi’

    Following are some snippets that stood out from Urdu newspapers on August 18, 2020, which The Current takes no responsibility for.

    ‘Idaaron Ko Dhamkiyan’

    Daily Jang has reported that Federal Minister for Communication Murad Saeed has accused PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari of threatening institutions. He said “Chori ka hisaab denay k liye bulaya jata hai tou karkuno ko dhaal banaa kr idaaron ko dhamkanay k liye aa jatay hain.”

    ‘Shikayat Ka Mauqa Nahi Milega’

    It has been reported by Daily Dunya that Nawaz Sharif has called Fazlur Rehman up. “Nawaz Sharif ne Maulana Fazlur Rehman ko bharpoor opposition ka kirdaar adaa krnay ki yakeen dahani krwatay huay kahaa hai k inhein ainda shikayat ka mauqa nahi milega.”

    ‘Hukoomat Aur Corona Ki Beemari Mein Koi Farq Nahi’

    Daily Dunya has quoted PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal as saying, “Wazire Azam Imran Khan Pakistan ko ujaarna, jab k Nawaz Sharif taraqqi dena jantay hain. PML-N taraqqi ki jamaat hai aur PTI tabahi ki jamaat. Hukoomat aur corona ki beemari mein koi farq nahi.”

  • VIDEO: After Asif Magsi, Bhakkar youth jumps over 12 motorcycles

    VIDEO: After Asif Magsi, Bhakkar youth jumps over 12 motorcycles

    After Asif Magsi from Thatta, who jumped over 11 motorcycles, another young man — Dilawar Baloch — showed his talent by successfully jumping over 12 motorcycles in Bhakkar.

    According to details, the locals awarded Khan, a resident of Behl Nasheeb area of Bhakkar, a cash prize for his long jumping skills.

    Recently, the army recruited Magsi from Thatta after his video went viral on social media and said it would provide training to him.

  • Indians are having a meltdown over Aamir Khan’s meeting with Turkish first lady Emine Erdoğan

    Aamir Khan, who is currently in Turkey for the shooting of his film ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’, has met the Turkish first lady, Emine Erdoğan, drawing strong reactions from Indians, who are not happy with the meeting that took place Saturday, India’s Independence day. 

    According to reports, Aamir had requested the meeting, as he wanted to update Erdoğan about the work of Paani Foundation, a non-profit organisation set up by the actor and his wife Kiran Rao.

    The main reason behind Indians’ outrage was that Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan has always condemned Indian brutality in occupied Kashmir and extended his support to Pakistan and Kashmiris following the troubled valley’s illegal annexation.  

    The Kashmir conflict can be solved not by conflict or oppression, but on the basis of justice and fairness, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had said in his address to Pakistani parliament in Islamabad.

    The Turkish leader had also called President of Pakistan on Eidul Azha and shared their views on different issues.

    A tweet by the president’s office read, “President Dr Arif Alvi and President Erdoğan exchanged Eidul Azha greetings in a telephonic conversation. Important matters, including Kashmir and COVID-19 were discussed.”

     With Aamir meeting Erdoğan, Indians called him “anti-national” and expressed their disappointment.

    https://twitter.com/tarun_priyanshu/status/1295260188228771842?s=20
    https://twitter.com/Bhavana17851510/status/1294998721143476227?s=20
    https://twitter.com/Gyana46465996/status/1294995521082241024?s=20

    Some also came forward in the defence of the actor and posted pictures of Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi with the Turkish leader.

    https://twitter.com/Nadeem_gaur92/status/1295076278769455109?s=20
  • KYA BOLA? (Aug 17): ‘Punjab chief minister k liye 300 se zaid umeedwaar’ to ‘Opposition ka flop drama’

    KYA BOLA? (Aug 17): ‘Punjab chief minister k liye 300 se zaid umeedwaar’ to ‘Opposition ka flop drama’

    Following are some snippets that stood out from Urdu newspapers on August 17, 2020, which The Current takes no responsibility for.

    ‘Punjab Chief Minister K Liye 300 Se Zaid Umeedwaar’

    Daily Jang has quoted Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry as saying, “Punjab mein tabdeali aayi tou phri poori assembly hi wazire aala ki umeedwaar hai.”

    His statement comes amid rumours that Punjab might soon get a new chief executive.

    ‘Ghulami Kya Hoti Hai’

    Prominent Journalist Hamid Mir, in his column for Daily Jang, has written, “Mein 2009 mein Gaza mein tha. Mujhe Falasteeni currency chaheye thi tou mein aik bank gya jahaan local currency jo mujhe mili woh Israeli Shekel. Mein hairaan reh gya k aik Falasteeni bank k paas Falasteeni currency nahi thi aur pehli bar ehsaas hua ghulami kya hoti hai.”

    ‘Opposition Ka Flop Drama’

    It was reported by Daily Jang that Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar has said, ”Opposition jamaato ki jaanib se APC ka drama lagny se pehle he flop ho gya. Opposition rehnumao ne sirf zati mufaad k liye APC ka shosha chora.”

    CM Buzdar was referring to opposition parties’ plan of holding a joint moot to decide on the fate of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

  • You can now join CPEC as an intern, here’s how

    China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Chairperson Lt Gen (r) Asim Saleem Bajwa has announced the launch of a three-month internship aimed at human and social development.

    In a series of tweets, Bajwa said in the spirit of youth empowerment, CPEC has offered the youth an opportunity to develop skills and experiences that would allow the country to grow and prosper in the future.

    With 60 per cent of the population falling under the youth category, a tremendous opportunity exists to develop young leaders with maximum productivity vis-à-vis other regional economies, he said.

    The initiative has been well-received by Twitterati.

  • Targeting women

    Targeting women

    A large group of Pakistani women in media have released a joint statement about organised trolling, abuse and harassment they face online. The statement says, “Vicious attacks through social media are being directed at women journalists and commentators in Pakistan, making it incredibly difficult for them to carry out their professional duties.”

    The statement further says that online attacks are instigated by government officials and then amplified by a large number of Twitter accounts, which declare their affiliation to the ruling party.

    They asked the government to restrain its members from repeatedly targeting women in the media, send out a clear message to all party members, supporters and followers, to desist from launching these attacks, whether directly or indirectly and, hold all such individuals within the government accountable and take action against them. #AttacksWontSilenceUs, the hashtag used by the women who released the statement, trended at No 1 on Twitter.

    Targeting women in media is easy as there are only about five percent of women who are journalists in Pakistan. They not only face vile abuse related to their gender, but they also face a barrage of allegations that they take ‘lifafa’ or are paid by Opposition parties. These bullying tactics are used to either silence them and/or discredit them. Last year, a report titled ‘Hostile Bytes – a study of online violence against women journalists’ by Media Matters for Democracy (MMfD) said that 95 percent of women journalists feel online violence has an impact on their professional choices, while 77 percent self-censor as a way to counter online violence. In the recent statement by women media practitioners, self-censorship was identified as a problem as well as hacking attempts of their social media accounts. The mental toll it must take on those who are at the receiving end of this constant abuse is another factor that leads to self-censorship.

    Targeting women is a worldwide phenomenon. In neighbouring India, the trend is quite similar. Amnesty International published a report earlier this year, which said that women politicians in India face a shocking scale of abuse on Twitter. “Women are targeted with abuse online not just for their opinions – but also for various identities, such as gender, religion, caste, and marital status.” It has also been seen how women journalists who do not toe the official government line in India are viciously trolled by the ‘Modi Bhakts’ on social media platforms, especially Twitter.

    The National Assembly’s Human Rights Committee has invited women media practitioners who released the statement to come and highlight their issues in a meeting on Tuesday. Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari also lent her support to the women media practitioners in her tweets. It is important that these issues are raised at the right platforms so that Pakistani online spaces can be safe for women from all spheres of life. A civil discourse is the need of the hour instead of online abuse. We hope that those who are behind such campaigns can actually get past their political differences and ensure that online spaces are used for meaningful discourse instead of bullying.

  • Corona times: What’s next for educational institutes, wedding industry, restaurants and cinemas?

    Corona times: What’s next for educational institutes, wedding industry, restaurants and cinemas?

    The spread of coronavirus in Pakistan has decreased significantly. In June, Pakistan ranked 12th on the list of the countries hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, but within two months, it has improved its ranking with a drop in both the number of daily infections and fatalities.

    Not only the drop but anti-corona efforts of Pakistan’s government which led to it are being praised internationally as president-elect of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Volkan Bozkir, has termed the same a “good example for the world to follow”.

    The decline in COVID-19 cases has been followed by the government allowing to reopen all sectors that had been closed for months, excluding educational institutions and marriage halls. The two are likely to reopen on September 15, after a final review by authorities concerned on September 7. 

    While it’s still difficult to estimate the economic losses Pakistan suffered due to the global pandemic, it can be said that people associated with educational institutions, wedding halls, cinemas and restaurants were more vulnerable amid lockdowns.

    EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS:

    Pakistan’s 317,328 educational institutions have remained closed for the past six months and as a result, more than 40 million students are suffering. Teachers, on the other hand, and other staffers have no source of income. While many have been sacked by private institutions, some private school owners such as Muhammad Danish from Karachi, who had been running the school for the past 14 years, has now been forced to set up a biryani stall at his own school.

    While reopening of the institutions still is to be decided upon, experts believe it will be hard to bounce back from the current situation and that with extra precautions.

    WEDDING INDUSTRY:

    As the second most-affected industry remains wedding, marriage halls have been served a severe blow. According to Punjab Marriage Halls Association President Khalid Idrees, as many as 12,000 marriage halls run the households of over four million staffers and management members in Punjab alone, all of whom have been jobless since March.

    Trends suggest that a number of people are awaiting the new wedding world order to once again resort to huge gatherings or continue shifting towards smaller, simpler functions.

    RESTAURANT SECTOR:

    Meanwhile, as the restaurant sector also remains affected by COVID-19, Arab News reported that 30% to 40% of restaurants in Lahore have shut down permanently.

    Admin of popular food blog Foodies ‘R Us, Asad Sheikh, believes some of the government-issued guidelines for coronavirus prevention are beyond comprehension as the dine-in capacity of restaurants being reduced by 50% would affect sales and ultimately leave owners with no other option but to prefer managing takeaways.

    CINEMAS & THEATRES:

    In the case of another hard-hit industry, cinema and theatre owners are not yet ready to implement social distancing SOPs for coronavirus either and ensuring limited seating capacity.

    While there are 160 cinemas in the country with almost 24,000 seating capacity, reopening to public at the cost of half their audiences would be unprofitable.

  • 184 recipients of civil awards announced; Edhi, Faraz, Ali Zafar, veteran actors, foreign delegates among others on list

    184 recipients of civil awards announced; Edhi, Faraz, Ali Zafar, veteran actors, foreign delegates among others on list

    A list of 184 civil awards recipients has been issued by the government on the occasion of Pakistan’s 73rd Independence Day, all of whom, including actors, poets, soldiers, television anchors, singers and foreign dignitaries, will be presented their respective honours by President Dr Arif Alvi in a ceremony on Pakistan Day next year.

    Philanthropist and Edhi Foundation head Faisal Edhi will be awarded the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz. The Nishan-i-Imtiaz will be awarded to ace painter Sadequain Naqvi. Other recipients of the award include singer Abida Perveen and late poet Ahmed Faraz.

    Actors Bushra Ansari and Talat Hussain have been named for the Sitara-i-Imtiaz award. They have entertained audiences both inside and outside Pakistan for more than two decades. Anchor Naeem Bukhari is also one of the recipients of the award.

    President Alvi will also present the Pride of Performance award actors to Humayun Saeed, singer Ali Zafar and religious scholar Maulana Tariq Jameel. Sakina Samo will also get the same award for her acting skills.

    Last year, Mehwish Hayat, Sajjad Ali, Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi, Babra Sharif, comedian Iftikhar Thakur and journalist Arshad Sharif were among others who received the awards.

    Pakistan Civil Awards were established on March 19, 1957, following the proclamation of Pakistan as an independent republic on March 23, 1956. The announcement of civil awards is generally made once a year on Independence Day, and their investiture takes place on the following Pakistan Day, March 23.

    According to Article 259(2) of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973, along with the Decorations Act 1975, the president confers civil awards on Pakistani citizens in recognition of gallantry.

    Awards for pride of performance are conferred for outstanding achievements in the fields of art, literature, science, sports and nursing.

    In December, the ministries and their divisions are invited to recommend candidates to the Cabinet Division. Received nominations are considered by three awards committees after which the final proposal is sent to the president for approval.

    The president can confer awards to foreign nationals any time during the year. For such awards, proposals are made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and approved by the president prior to conferral.

    The awards comprise five orders, each with four descending classes: Nishan [Order], Hilal [Crescent], Sitara [Star] and Tamgha [Medal].

    VIEW THE COMPLETE LIST:

    August 14, 2020
  • Pakistani researchers win Facebook’s ‘Integrity Research Challenge’

    Pakistani researchers win Facebook’s ‘Integrity Research Challenge’

    Agha Ali Raza and Ihsan Ayyub Qazi from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) wins Facebook’s Foundation Integrity Research that solves the problem of misinformation on Facebook.

    In February, Facebook asked academic institutions and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) from all over the world to send proposals.

    “Our goal is to support independent research that will contribute to the understanding of the phenomena and, in the long term, help us improve our policies, interventions, and tooling,” said Alex Leavitt, Senior Researcher at Facebook.

    Raza and Qazi’s research tackles the challenges by measuring the role of prior beliefs and analytical reasoning, and how this impacts the beliefs of internet users.

    Raza and Qazi also designed an educational intervention that uses influential public figures to spread awareness about misinformation on the platform.

    “We are thrilled to have our research been awarded the grant by Facebook which would serve as a stepping stone for us to take our project forward.

    Through our research, we aim to understand how non-textual misinformation (e.g. deepfakes) is perceived by internet users with low digital literacy and the role of pre-conceived notions, and analytical reasoning in shaping the beliefs of such users.

    We are hopeful that by the completion of this project, we will be able to make a substantial contribution towards combating the circulation of false and unverified information on the internet,” stated the winning duo.

    The social media giant received around 1,000 proposals out of which 25 awardees have been finalised for Facebook’s research and policy teams.

    The winners’ will be investigating issues across 42 countries including Canada, Denmark, Pakistan, Turkey, and the UK.