Tag: Pakistan

  • Pakistanis for ‘boycotting UAE’ after Turkish journalist highlights Emirates’ relations with India

    Pakistanis for ‘boycotting UAE’ after Turkish journalist highlights Emirates’ relations with India

    Pakistani Twitterati on Wednesday eagerly jumped on the Turkey bandwagon to trend “#BoycottUAE [United Arab Emirates]” after Turkish journalist Ali Keskin asked them to do so while seeking sanctions on the Gulf country over its strengthening relationship with India among other reasons.

    Raising objections apparently over Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi being given UAE’s highest civilian award and the country sending medical supplies to India amid the pandemic, the journalist alleged that Emirates was biased towards India and also silent on the Kashmir issue while Turkey had stood by Pakistan on the same.

    https://twitter.com/alikeskin_tr/status/1262756828284252161
    https://twitter.com/alikeskin_tr/status/1262757376538447879

    This led to a war of words over the micro-blogging website. Reactions to the trend were myriad, with many netizens highlighting Pakistan’s outstanding debts to the UAE and how it has been, along with China, among the main avenues for Pakistan to seek bailouts.

    https://twitter.com/Muhammad_Adil_1/status/1262765905198616576
    https://twitter.com/TheZaiduLeaks/status/1262773114305462277
    https://twitter.com/PTItigresss/status/1262767308193140736

    Indians also reacted to the tweet:

    https://twitter.com/MohitJamwal77/status/1262990675781382152

    It may be noted that the Turkish tweet came amid UAE’s growing support for warlord Khalifa Haftar’s forces after they criticised Turkey’s actions in the Eastern Mediterranean, extending support for Libya’s legitimate government along with countries like Israel and Russia. Pakistani netizens, on the other hand, jumped on the bandwagon agreeing that Pakistan should impose sanctions against UAE when its relations with India were highlighted.

    Pakistan, however, has been a heavy borrower of the UAE, and owes the country $30 billion dollars.

  • Govt to hand over operations and management of Pakistan’s major airports to international firms

    Govt to hand over operations and management of Pakistan’s major airports to international firms

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz has announced the federal cabinet’s decision of handing over operations and management of Pakistan’s major airports to international firms, saying that a special committee to prepare a legal framework by June 30 has been formed.

    Briefing journalists about the decisions taken by Tuesday’s federal cabinet meeting under the chairmanship of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, the info minister said that country’s major airports will be outsourced to bring them on par with international standards. “The government is looking for some international firm with rich experience of operating and managing airports.”

    He said the cabinet was informed that some firms had already evinced interest in the matter and a legal framework had to be clarified before the tendering process started. “To this effect, a committee, to be headed by Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, would fast track the process,” he said.

    According to sources, the members of the committee will include Special Assistant to PM on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfiqar Bukhari, the chairperson of the Board of Investment (BoI) and Adviser on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan as well as Adviser on Commerce, Trade and Industry Abdul Razak Dawood.

    About job security of employees working at airports in case of their outsourcing, Faraz said the government, which came to power on the basis of votes of masses, would like to ensure none was deprived of his or her job rather there could be more job opportunities.

  • PTI MPA passes away two days after testing positive for coronavirus

    PTI MPA passes away two days after testing positive for coronavirus

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member of Punjab Assembly Shaheen Raza passed away on Wednesday, two days after she tested positive for coronavirus and was shifted to an isolation ward at Lahore’s Mayo Hospital.

    While the cause of death earlier remained unclear as Mayo Hospital CEO Dr Asad Aslam said she was also a patient of blood pressure and diabetes, Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar confirmed that his colleague had succumbed to COVID-19.

    He separately also expressed a deep sense of sorrow and grief over the death, and extended sympathies to the bereaved family.

    On Saturday night, Raza was quarantined at a district headquarters (DHQ) hospital after symptoms of coronavirus. Her test sample was sent to a laboratory that on Sunday confirmed she had contracted the deadly virus.

    On the instruction of CM Buzdar, the MPA was later shifted to Mayo Hospital and put on a ventilator.

    Raza becomes the first lawmaker in Pakistan to succumb to the virus that has so far claimed at least 324,970 lives across the globe and over 900 in Pakistan.

  • Afridi promises ending unemployment if he becomes PM

    Afridi promises ending unemployment if he becomes PM

    Former cricket team captain Shahid Khan Afridi has said that he would address the issues of unemployment and education if he became the prime minister of Pakistan.

    During an interaction with journalists, undated footage and pictures of which are doing rounds on social media, Afridi was asked about his plans if handed reins of the country for 10 days.

    The video being recorded during a ceremony held as part of Afridi’s nationwide campaign titled “Taleem Ho Gi Aam, Her Beti Key Naam”, suggests it is from later last year.

    Addressing the ceremony, Afridi said that women were giving birth to children on streets in Sindh, adding that it was 21st century Pakistan where humans and animals were being forced to drink water from the same place.

    Seeking support from the youth, the former captain went on to say that Pakistan was stuck in a swamp of problems and we have to unite and make it an ideal country.

    “More than 20 million children are missing out on education and the goal is to bring them to school,” Afridi said.

    “Our culture and religion are very beautiful,” he said and added that loving humanity was the need of the hour.

    The former cricketer also reportedly highlighted the plight of Muslims in occupied Kashmir.

  • Two girls killed for ‘honour’ over leaked mobile video

    Two girls killed for ‘honour’ over leaked mobile video

    Two teenage girls were killed in the name of ‘honour’ allegedly by a family member in a village located on the border of Pakistan’s North and South Waziristan tribal districts after a short mobile video of them with a young man circulated on social media.

    The North Waziristan police on Sunday arrested two men for their alleged involvement in the murder.

    An FIR was filed at the Razmak police station in North Waziristan, where the murders were reported. According to the FIR, the incident took place on May 14 at the border village of Shaam Plain Garyom.

    “A confirmed report was received that two girls aged 16 and 18 were killed in the name of honour by their paternal cousin, whose name and address is not known, in Shaam Plain Garyom,” the FIR said.

    It said the reason behind the killings was believed to be a video that shows a young man recording himself with three young girls in a secluded area outdoors.

    A senior police officer in Waziristan told a news outlet that two of the three girls seen in the 52-second mobile clip have been killed. He said police were collecting information about the third girl and the man seen in the video.

    Meanwhile, another police official said that it appears the video in question was shot nearly a year ago and probably went viral on social media only a few weeks ago.

    “At the moment, our topmost priority is to secure the life of the third girl and the man before taking any action,” stated the official.

  • The Current Projections: 45,000 COVID-19 cases by June

    The Current Projections: 45,000 COVID-19 cases by June

    The number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan is likely to rise upwards of 45,000 by the first week of June, suggests the stable trend of rise in infections in the country since its first case of the COVID-19 was reported on February 26.

    The tally reached 1,235 on March 25 (in 30 days), which was followed by an increase of 11,875 in a single month (until April 25) — putting the total number of infections past 12,000 — and later a record spike of 11,416 cases in just 11 days from April 26 to May 7.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) has already warned that the number of COVID-19 cases in Pakistan can rise to 200,000 by mid-July if “effective interventions” are not taken.

    Despite the rising number of cases, countrywide lockdowns have been eased to save the economy while the government is planning to entirely lift the ban on inter-city transportation ahead of Eid holidays.

    READ: Supreme Court orders reopening of shopping malls across Pakistan

    The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Pakistan stood at 42,227 by the time this report was filed. The number of fatalities was 899 with 11,922 recoveries. Sindh had the most number of infections — nearly 18,000 — with Punjab trailing behind at 14,500 cases of COVID-19.

  • VIDEO: Hareem Shah ready to play Halime Sultan if Prime Minister Imran Khan plays Ertugrul

    VIDEO: Hareem Shah ready to play Halime Sultan if Prime Minister Imran Khan plays Ertugrul

    As ‘Diriliş: Ertuğrul’ fever continues to grip Pakistan, TikTok celebrity Hareem Shah has made headlines for saying that she is ready to play the role of Halime Sultan — the wife of Ertuğrul — if Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan plays the lead of the hit Turkish series.

    “Turkish actor Esra Bilgiç performed so well in the drama. Her acting made me travel back in time to the era depicted in the series,” Shah said in an interview with vlogger Moin Zubair.

    READ: Pakistanis lose it over ‘un-Islamic’ Instagram of ‘Diriliş: Ertuğrul’ star

    It wasn’t later that the internet celebrity expressed her desire to play the role of Halime Sultan, to which she was asked who would she want to play the lead role of Ertuğrul.

    “[Prime Minister] Imran Khan can be Ertuğrul,” Shah said.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmFg43_k1eg

    Turkish historic fiction series ‘Diriliş: Ertuğrul’ has been trending ever since its first episode aired on PTV Home. Pakistanis are loving the drama series and it has become a sensation in the country to the point that PTV is now aiming to set a new record with the series.

    READ: Fans spot ‘Virat Kohli’, ‘Usman Shinwari’ in Ertuğrul

    In an exclusive interview with The Current, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Javed Khan revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gifted the drama series to Pakistan as a goodwill gesture.

    The series set in pre-Ottoman era centres around the life of Ertuğrul, the father of Osman I.

  • Supreme Court orders reopening of shopping malls across Pakistan

    Supreme Court orders reopening of shopping malls across Pakistan

    Despite coronavirus continuing to spread across the country, the Supreme Court (SC), which seems to be at odds with the government over the latter’s handling of the pandemic, has ordered the reopening of shopping malls across the country.

    According to the details, a five-member larger bench of the apex court was hearing a suo motu case regarding measures taken to curb the spread of COVID-19.

    The bench was headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed while Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed were also on the bench.

    During the hearing today, Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed remarked that if the shops are shut down then shopkeepers will ‘die of hunger rather than the coronavirus’.

    CJP Ahmed said that in Karachi, except for five big malls every market has resumed operations.

    Upon which, Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shallwani said that a few markets were sealed for not following the Standard Operating Procedures laid out by the government.

    “The sealed markets should be opened and instead of intimidating them (shop owners) make them understand (the situation and SOPs),” remarked the top judge.

    The CJP noted that the SOPs will be ‘better implemented’ at the big shopping malls.

    The apex court also ordered that on the weekends, all the small markets should remain open to public.

  • ‘One Indian is enough for your thousands,’ Dhawan tells Afridi, gets trolled with Abhinandan pictures

    ‘One Indian is enough for your thousands,’ Dhawan tells Afridi, gets trolled with Abhinandan pictures

    Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan, who hit out at former Pakistani skipper Shahid Afridi for his comments on Kashmir during a recent visit to the Pakistan-administered side of the valley, is being trolled by Pakistanis for saying that “Kashmir belongs to India” and “one Indian is enough for 125,000 Pakistanis”.

    As per the details, a video clip of Afridi speaking to the people of the Azad Kashmir village went viral on social media, which showed the former Pakistani cricketing star criticising Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi for deploying forces in Kashmir and making it a living hell for Muslims.

    “At a time when the whole world is fighting corona[virus], you are concerned about Kashmir. Kashmir is ours and will remain ours. Bring your 220 million, one [Indian] is enough for 125,000. You do the math,” Dhawan tweeted while tagging Afridi.

    It wasn’t later that Pakistanis started trolling the Indian batsman, reminding him of what happened last year when an Indian Air Force (IAF) jet violated Pakistani airspace.

    The jet was shot down by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and the pilot captured. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was released a day later by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan as a goodwill gesture to promote peace between the two countries.

    While Afridi himself is yet to respond, here are some other responses to Dhawan’s tweet:

    What do you think of the Indian cricketer’s tweet? Let The Current know in the comments.

  • Living with corona

    Last week when we wrote our editorial, there were a little more than 30,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases. At the time of writing this today, Pakistan’s confirmed coronavirus cases are more than 41,000. Deaths, too, have increased — last Sunday, they were more than 600… this Sunday, they are almost 900.

    A spike of around 11,000 new cases and almost 300 deaths in just one week. This is the reality of coronavirus even though we will have to live with it. At least for a year or more.

    And since we have to live with corona now, we should at least have some rules: face masks should be mandatory and for those who can’t afford them, the government should provide them. Qatar has made the wearing of face masks compulsory and anyone defying the order can face a jail term of up to three years. A fine of up to $55,000 has also bee announced for those who repeatedly fail to cover up.

    We need to make and implement rules like these. If malls and shopping centres are open, proper protocols like social distancing must be followed and implemented by the local administration. Businesses and factories that have opened up or will be opening up soon should also follow strict SOPs. Anyone who fails to follow these rules should face imprisonment or heavy fines for endangering people’s lives. If there are no strict penalties, there will be no deterrent. And if there is no deterrent, then it is open season for coronavirus.

    Just look at what happened at retail shops earlier this week. People thronged clothes shops and other markets. It was sheer madness. Some say it is because of the timings (shops are not allowed to open past 5 pm or over the weekend). But there is another view that says how many people still think of COVID-19 as flu and are not really bothered unless and until they or their loved ones get it. This is downright dangerous. Coronavirus is not flu. It has already taken more lives in just a few months than flu takes in an entire year. The damage coronavirus causes to vital organs of even those who survive it is way more dangerous than anything else.

    Pakistan will see a peak at the end of this month and we can only hope that our health sector is able to deal with it.

    We understand the economic implications of stricter measures but we should also realise that the global pandemic is leading the world to recession in the first place. Pakistan will be no different. The post-corona world is one that we may not even recognise. It will cause a lot of misery around the world, both in terms of being deadly and when it comes to financial hardships.