A recent survey has revealed that 41% of Pakistanis are happy over the arrest of former president Asif Ali Zardari, while the development has left 31% people unaffected.
As per the details, the Gilani Research Foundation survey, based on a sample size of 1,386 men and women, was conducted in both urban and rural areas of all four provinces of the country from June 15-24.
Among other answers, just 22% Pakistanis said they were upset, 2% remarked that they did not hear about the matter and 4% commented that they were either not aware or did not wish to respond.
Former president Zardari was arrested on June 10 by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials and is accused of plotting to “misappropriate and launder” money out of the country through fake bank accounts.
Other allegations against the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman include his use of Omni Group “front men” as associates in crime and receiving millions in cash.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA Shahina Karim on Wednesday submitted in the Punjab Assembly a resolution to safeguard the rights of transgender children, ARY News reported.
“Most of the times during childbirth, the kid is not transgender, but is presumed so,” the resolution read.
“Such a child can be assigned gender after corrective surgery and appropriate measures so that they too can spend life like a man or a woman,” the resolution stated further.
The move comes amid rising numbers of transgender persons’ killings across the country. Just last week, a 19-year-old transgender woman was found “riddled with bullets” beside a river bank.
The teenager’s father and uncle were arrested for her murder.
The list by GFP relies on more than 50 factors to assign the 137 countries included in the survey an individual Power Index (PI) score, based upon their conventional war-making capability across land, sea and air.
According to the 2019 GFP Index, Pakistan’s armed forces have been ranked the 15th most powerful in the world, beating Israel and other countries, including oil-rich Saudi Arabia.
The ranking also includes factors concerning the respective states’ economic muscle and geographical characteristics. The report details Pakistan’s present military strength at 654,000 army personnel, 786 jet aircraft and 2,200 operational tanks.
In addition, Pakistan’s naval capacity stands at a total of 197 vessels.
Israel’s armed forces, on the other hand, have been ranked 17th, with a total of 170,000 military personnel, 506 warplanes and 2,760 tanks. Its naval strength stands at 65 assets.
The ranking comes amid a flare in tensions between Pakistan and Israel, owing to alleged Israeli involvement in the failed February 26 airstrikes by India in Balakot.
The world is coming down, the flags are up and the
similarities between the 1992 and 2019 cricket world cups are uncanny.
Back in the 1992 edition, Pakistan were hanging loosely off
the edge, having their World Cup journey on the verge of conclusion before
striking back; which is something that can be witnessed in 2019 as well.
Good thing for Pakistan? The Imran Khan-led 1992 squad
lifted the coveted trophy 27 years ago.
While not just fans and critics, but even the International
Cricket Council (ICC), observe the eerie similarities between the two
tournaments, here’s a list of players from our current squad and their counterparts
from the ’92 cup.
Mohammad Amir and Wasim Akram
Like Akram in 1992, Amir is carrying Pakistan’s bowling
attack forward in 2019.
BabarAzam andJaved Miandad
Like Miandad, Babar has stepped up to perform brilliantly and
rack up runs for his side.
Shaheen Afridi and Aaqib Javed
Like Aaqib was a second fiddle to Wasim, Shaheen is undoubtedly
that to Mohammad Amir.
Haris Sohail and Inzamamul Haq
Inzamam played some brilliant innings in ’92; quite similar
to Haris’s against South Africa and New Zealand.
Shadab Khan and Mushtaq Ahmed
Mushtaq had a huge impact 27 years ago, while Shadab has one
for Pakistan in 2019.
Hassan Ali and Iqbal Sikandar
Hassan is rather non-existent in the World Cup so far; and just
like Sikandar, not many people might even remember if he even played or not.
Shoaib Malik and Saleem Malik
Saleem was horribly out of form in 1992 and did nothing for
his side; Shoaib hasn’t done anything so far either.
Imad Wasim and Ijaz Ahmed
Just like Ijaz, Imad is an “all-rounder” who is playing in the team for the sake of his label. Does knowing a little bit about both batting and bowling really make you an all-rounder? (Ijaz quit bowling in the later days of his career)
Imamul HaqandRamiz Raja
The thing both Imam and Ramiz have in common is the strike
rate. Imam in 2019 bats at the same strike rate as Ramiz did in 1992.
Sarfaraz Ahmed and Moin Khan
Both Sarfaraz and Moin, other than being wicketkeeper-batsmen, have a role crucial for the entire team. In Shoaib Akhtar’s words, “Moin didn’t, while Sarfaraz doesn’t perform up to the mark”.
Imran Khan
Last, but undoubtedly not the least is Imran Khan – the dashing skipper who steered his ‘Cornered Tigers’ to victory in the 1992 World Cup. In all honesty, Khan has no match on the cricket field; however, he still is the captain.
Among many other Pakistani female military and staff officers is Major Fozia Parveen, who is making the country proud by serving the United Nations’ (UN) Peacekeeping Force.
Taking to social media, Pakistan’s Representative to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi, lauded Major Fozia’s services as a UN peacekeeper in Cyprus.
“We are proud of our female (and male) peacekeepers who serve in UN missions. Major Fozia Perveen is serving in the UN Mission in Cyprus (UNFICYP), seen here on a patrol in the Buffer Zone. Picture thanks to the UN, [sic]” she said in an Instagram post.
Pakistan earlier crossed the target set by the UN from zero to 15 per cent deployment of female military and staff officers in the peacekeeping mission within just 18 months.
“We believe, increased participation of female peacekeepers, and encouraging more women to take up mediation roles helps in the stabilisation and reconstruction phases of conflicts,” Lodhi had said earlier in April while participating in a debate on ‘Women in Peacekeeping.’
Maleeh Lodhi herself is the first woman to hold the position of Pakistan’s representative to the UN. Previously, she has served as the country’s envoy to the Court of St James and twice as its ambassador to the United States (US).
The video of a Sikh fan cheering for the Pakistan cricket team at Edgbaston on Wednesday, has gone viral over the internet.
The unnamed fan has won hearts of Pakistani supporters all across the globe with his gesture during the must-win match against New Zealand at the packed cricket stadium.
WATCH VIDEO:
A Sikh supporting Pakistan cricket team and chanting slogans “Pakistan Zindabad” in Edgbaston yesterday. #PAKvNZ#CWC19 Via Wadood Mushtaq pic.twitter.com/MUZ6zQd0wl
In the video, he can be heard raising the slogan “Pakistan Zindabad” while thousands of other Pakistan team supporters join him.
Green Shirts defeated New Zealand by six wickets to stay in the hunt for a place in the World Cup Wednesday. They next face Afghanistan and Bangladesh on June 29 and July 5, respectively.
Pakistan Army has rebuilt a girls school for higher secondary education where once existed the headquarters of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant Hakimullah Mehsud, a private media outlet reported.
The school, located in the Orakzai Agency of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Kohat division, was completely destroyed during the war on terror and later converted into the headquarters of Mehsud, who was the deputy to TTP commander Baitullah Mehsud.
With the war abated after years of unrest, Pakistan Army has rebuilt the school at the same spot.
The TTP has been a strong adversary of the idea of sending girls to schools. The militant group claims “educating women goes against Islam”.
In 2012, Nobel Peace Prize winner and activist Malala Yousafzai was also shot by the Taliban after advocating for girls’ education using a pen name, bringing global attention to the group’s violent threat on the nation’s young women.
An Indian parliamentarian has demanded that Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman’s gunslinger moustache be declared the “national moustache of India”.
“Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman should be awarded and his moustache should be made the national moustache,” Indian National Congress (INC) leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was quoted as saying by India Today.
On February 27, the IAF pilot was captured after Pakistan Air Force (PAF) shot down two Indian jets for intruding into Pakistan’s territory.
Pakistan, as a goodwill gesture, had handed over the captured pilot to Indian authorities at Wagah border on March 1.
According to Indian media reports, the opposition party’s leader has now argued that the pilot should be given a national honour “for his bravery”.
Earlier, the shot down and captured Indian pilot’s facial hair had become the talk of the town as India hailed him as a “war hero”.
Head coach of the national cricket team, Mickey Arthur, has said Pakistan’s defeat against arch-rivals India was so painful that it left him “wanting to commit suicide”, Khaleej Times reported.
“Last Sunday I wanted to commit suicide. But it was, you know, only one performance,” he was quoted as saying.
Pakistan faced a humiliating 89-run defeat against India in Manchester on June 16, a result which sparked a furious backlash as the country’s hopes of reaching the World Cup semi-finals were put in grave danger.
“It happens so quick. You lose a game; you lose another game; it’s a World Cup; media scrutiny; public expectation and then you almost go into sort of survival mode. We’ve all been there,” Arthur said.
While the head coach’s emotional comment may have been exaggerated to show how passionate he is about his job, some believed it was in bad taste considering former coach Bob Woolmer’s sudden death after Pakistan suffered a bruising defeat against Ireland during the 2007 World Cup.
Pakistan lifted Arthur’s spirits with an impressive 49-run win against South Africa at Lord’s on Sunday. They now need to win their remaining three matches and improve their inferior net run-rate to have a chance of advancing to the semi-finals.
Pakistan play New Zealand in Birmingham on Wednesday.
As many as 2,397 Afghan families living in Mansehra have been served a final notice to vacate their refugee camps for the security of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), ARY News reported.
According to reports, Mansehra Assistant Commissioner (AC) Talat Fahad has directed the refugees to leave the three camps situated in the area latest by June 30.
“The decision has been taken to ensure the security of CPEC”, the AC said in a notification issued in this regard.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Pakistan is hosting over 1.4 million Afghan refugees, making the country the second largest host of the refugee population in the world.
Some refugees have been living in Pakistan for three generations. They have established their business here while some of them have married locals and been deeply integrated into Pakistani society.
The interim stay of Afghan refugees extended by the Pakistani government is coming to an end on June 30, and Minister of State for States and Frontier Region Shehryar Khan Afridi has affirmed that the country supports voluntary repatriation.
In a recent meeting, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the UNHCR have agreed to launch an awareness programme to enable Afghan refugees to make a decision to voluntarily return with Pakistan’s facilitation.
