Current Final

Author: News Desk

  • Cargo train operations to resume between Pakistan, Turkey after nine years

    Cargo train operations to resume between Pakistan, Turkey after nine years

    The Pakistan Railways has announced that international goods train services will resume between Pakistan and Turkey from March 4 after a hiatus of nine years.

    According to a statement issued, the train will travel from Turkey to Karachi over a time span of two weeks. It will reach Karachi via, Rohri, Quetta, Zahedan, and Iran.

    The first international cargo train will be bringing electronics for domestic consumption. The same train will leave Karachi for Turkey this month carrying other goods.

    The administration carried out several test journeys on the route. The transit line was not regularised due to pending infrastructure development.

    In December, last year Turkey’s Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoglu announced that the Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad (ITI) railway is expected to resume operations in 2021. According to Karaismailoglu, both container and freight transportation will soon resume on the route. The growing changes in the diplomatic landscape between the three countries have allowed the railway operation to resume.

    ITI project was initially launched in 2009. The railway line starts from Istanbul, through Tehran, to Islamabad. This routes takes eleven a half days and has a maximum capacity of twenty 50-feet containers.

  • Job opportunities for Pakistanis to increase in Qatar

    Job opportunities for Pakistanis to increase in Qatar

    Qatar has planned to increase employment opportunities for Pakistanis to over 300,000 in the coming year from the current 150,000, Qatar consul General Mishal M Al-Ansari said on Monday.

    While addressing members of the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI), he said that the companies with 100 per cent Pakistani ownership have increased significantly in Qatar.

    The Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) agreement between Pakistan and Qatar is a great milestone. Both countries are already working on many joint ventures in areas like defence production, JF-17 aircraft project, defence training, agriculture, food and other industries.

    Al-Ansari said that despite terrible conditions due to coronavirus we are fully prepared for FIFA World Cup 2022 and many mega infrastructure projects have been completed.

  • VIDEO: Bushra Bibi makes rare public appearance, visits Panah Gah in Lahore

    Prime Minister Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi made a rare public appearance and visited a Panah Gah (shelter home) in Lahore to inspect the facilities given to the people residing there.

    Pictures and videos of her ‘surprise visit’ were shared on PM Khan’s official Instagram account with the caption: “Bushra Begum paying a surprise visit to see if the needy in Panah Gah are being looked after.”

    “The staff, the cleanliness and the arrangements were good but she was not happy with the quality of the food. We will now ensure the quality of food is improved,” added the statement.

    During the visit, while responding to a reporter about her contribution as the “woman behind Imran Khan’s successes”, Bushra Bibi said: “Behind every successful man, there’s his wife, right? Isn’t that right? Then?”

    Read more – PM Imran’s love for wife Bushra, who has ‘great wisdom’, melts hearts

    Later, talking to the media, she also praised the PTI government saying: “[The] government has given shelter to people sleeping under the open sky.”

    “Funds will be provided on a priority basis for the necessary repairs to shelter buildings,” she added.

  • Senate Election on March 3 will be conducted as per past practice: ECP

    Senate Election on March 3 will be conducted as per past practice: ECP

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday said that it deliberated on the order/opinion of the Supreme Court passed yesterday in Presidential Reference and has “decided to implement it in letter and spirit”.

    In a statement, the ECP said that it is taking all possible steps and measures to fulfil its constitutional duty to check that corrupt practices in the Senate Elections are guarded against.

    The ECP has decided to constitute a committee in this regard so that they can give their recommendations regarding the use of technology in the Senate Elections within a period of four weeks.

    The ECP has decided that “due to time constraint, ensuing Senate Election scheduled for March 3, 2021 will be conducted as provided in the Constitution and Law as per past practice”.

    https://twitter.com/profaltafkhan/status/1366629264746020866

    In a short order issued yesterday, the Supreme Court observed that the Senate Elections are held in accordance with the law and the Constitution, saying it “is the responsibility of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to protect the polls from the menace of corruption”.

    Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry tweeted that though the Supreme Court’s opinion on the matter was different, the ECP’s decision to delay the use of technology till the next Senate polls was astonishing.

    He added that both the apex court and ECP are respectable for him.

    All eyes will be on former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani’s election tomorrow.

    He is contesting as the joint candidate of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) against PTI’s Finance Minister Hafeez Sheikh.

    The election between Gillani and Sheikh is important as a Gillani win would prepare the ground for a no-trust vote against Prime Minister Imran.

    Meanwhile, the premier is taking this contest quite seriously and is leading the Senate campaign for the government. He held back-to-back meetings with lawmakers on Monday and will also host a luncheon today for National Assembly lawmakers.

  • Sindh man builds ‘mini Taj Mahal’ as a tribute for the ‘love of his life’

    Sindh man builds ‘mini Taj Mahal’ as a tribute for the ‘love of his life’

    A man in Sindh, Abdul Rasool Pali made his own replica of the Taj Mahal after he fell in love with the real Mughal monument.

    Known as the monument of love, the Taj Mahal in Agra, India was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Begum. The mausoleum which houses the graves of both Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Begum has been the subject of many poems, songs and films.

    The landlord-cum-lawyer in Umerkot made an exact model of the monument 800km away.

    Speaking to BBC Urdu, Pali said that he is already famous in the village of Dhibo for building the village cemetery. He is now making waves internationally with his recreation.

    The 65-year-old has 9,000 acres of land to his name, being the largest land-owner in the area. He fell in love with the Mughal monument back in 1980 when he visited India for the first time.

    He hired a mason, Sher Muhammad for the task.

    Abdul Rasool and Sher Muhammad plotted the building in their minds to build a small Taj Mahal  with 20 feet height and 18 feet width.

    Pali shared that he got married at a very young age. His wife Maryam was 40 years old at the time while he was 18. Despite the age difference, their ‘arranged marriage’ turned into ‘love’ within a few days and the couple loved travelling together. In Hyderabad, he used to visit Rani Bagh and Jamshoro.

    After 40 years of marriage, his wife died of a stroke in 2015.

    The death of his beloved Maryam made Abdul Rasool more adamant to build the monument despite the opposition of the locals calling it a waste. It took him six months and Rs 1.3 million to tribute the love of his life.

  • Everything yellow: Rehmat Ajmal glows on her mayun

    With spring in full bloom in Lahore, Rehmat Ajmal kicked off her wedding celebrations with a yellow-themed mayun, pictures of which have gone viral on social media.

    Rehmat looked radiant in a simple yellow outfit by Faiza Saqlain. The model-turned-actor paired her peshwas with a bright silk chunri dupatta.

    Check out pictures from the festivities below:

    Ajmal got engaged in October last year in an intimate ceremony.

    A graduate of the National College of Arts (NCA), Ajmal made her way into modelling after being approached by a teacher during her second year. From there, she began getting featured in ad campaigns for different brands before bagging a role in Meray Paas Tum Ho. However, Rehmat later revealed that she is “not proud to be part of something [ Meray Pass Tum Ho] that is so compromising and ill-informed.”

  • Woman orders Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, gets apple-flavoured yogurt instead

    Woman orders Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, gets apple-flavoured yogurt instead

    A woman in China was surprised after she received apple-flavoured yogurt instead of an iPhone 12 Pro Max she had paid for online.

    According to details, the incident happened in China’s Anhui Province as the woman took to Chinese social media app Weibo to share her experience.

    In the video, the woman claims she paid 10,099 yuan for the iPhone 12 Pro Max on Apple’s official website on February 16.

    A box arrived two days later but what she got in that box was not an iPhone but apple-flavoured yogurt.

    The woman said she didn’t directly receive the package from the courier, it was left in a parcel locker inside her residential community.

    As per reports, Express Mail Service has appointed a special team to investigate the matter. Apple has also stated that they are looking into the matter.

    The local police have also been involved in the inquiry and have doubts that it might be a theft case.

  • Islamabad vs Quetta match delayed after player tests positive

    Islamabad vs Quetta match delayed after player tests positive

    Monday night’s Pakistan Super League (PSL) match between Islamabad United (IU) and Quetta Gladiators (QG) has been delayed after legspinner Fawad Ahmed tested positive for COVID-19.

    Ahmed had reportedly shown symptoms two days ago and had been immediately isolated, his franchise Islamabad United said in an official statement. Other members of Islamabad United have returned negative tests while the Quetta Gladiators players are being tested.

    In an announcement, PCB said: “A player from one of the sides featuring in this evening’s match has tested positive. The player had shown symptoms two days ago and had been immediately isolated.”

    “Members of his side have tested negative while the players of the other side are being tested,” the tweet added.

    PCB also later confirmed the match will start after some delay at ‘9 pm’.

    Later, the official account PSL and IU also tweeted and confirmed the news, writing: “One of our players, Fawad Ahmed tested positive for Covid and was immediately put in isolation 2 days ago. All other Islamabad United players & members have tested negative & have been cleared to play.”

    “We wish Fawad a speedy recovery. Sherus are ready to roar tonight,” the tweet added.

    The game, which scheduled to begin at 7 pm local time, has been pushed back to 9 pm.

    Fawad also took to Twitter and wrote: “Thanks for all the kind messages, please keep remember me in ur prayers, much needed raising hands IU and PSL, and please everyone stay safe.”

    PCB later announced that the match is rescheduled for Tuesday, March 2 at 7 pm. The match is rescheduled to ensure players from both sides get time to prepare for the game.

    The good news for the spectators who bought the tickets for tonight is that their tickets will be valid for tomorrow’s game as well.

  • Aurat March Lahore announces ‘Charter of Demands’ for 2021

    Aurat March Lahore has unveiled its charter of demands for 2021. This year’s charter of demands is based on 15 points with a special focus on women’s healthcare, which is also the theme of this year’s march.

    As per the official Twitter account of Aurat March Lahore, the charter “is centred on our theme of healthcare which intersects with the issues of gender-based violence, the dehumanisation and sexualisation of our bodies, safety, environmental justice and our fraught relationship with the state.”

    “Some of our demands are immediate, some of them are from the state — but we recognise that our long-term struggle and means of emancipation lie outside the patriarchal state and exploitative economic system we’re currently in,” read the official statement.

    Earlier, the organisers of Aurat March Lahore released the poster and theme for this year’s march.

    Speaking exclusively to The Current, Shehzil Malik who designed the poster, talked about the thought process behind designing the poster.

    “To know more about women’s health crisis, I reached out to a friend who works in public health which really gave me an insight into the subject,” shared Malik.

    Aurat March is scheduled to take place on March 8 on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

    Meanwhile, expressing her views on the Aurat March, Sarah Khan in an exclusive interview with The Current said: “I think, instead of fight for the rights, we should educate our sons. Don’t teach your daughters to go to ‘Aurat March’, educate your sons and teach them that their mother is also a woman.

    “[A] woman is the one who runs the house, does the house chores and supports the man. If your wife is not helpful, then how will you be happy? Allah has already granted status to the woman, but I think men should be given the same rights. They deserve the same, not only women,” she added.

    On the other hand, actor Mahira Khan who attends the Aurat March every year revealed her reason for going to the event, saying: “I think it is necessary for me [to go to Aurat March] because I think when I do something, no matter how small it is, it leaves an impact.”

    “So when I go to Aurat March, what I’m actually trying to say is ‘Look, if you like me and if you think what I say means something if you think I that I’m on the right side of history, or whatever you think of me, this is also what I believe in, this is why I’m here,” she added.

  • Malala dreams to see Pakistan and India as ‘good friends’

    Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has expressed her desire to see Pakistan and India as ‘good friends’.

    Read more – Ceasefire, at last

    Talking about her book I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban on the last day of the 14th Jaipur Literature Festival, Malala said: “It is my dream to see India and Pakistan become true good friends and that we can visit each other’s countries. You can continue to watch Pakistani dramas, we can continue to watch Bollywood movies and enjoy cricket matches.”

    “You are Indian and I am Pakistani and we are completely fine, then why is this hatred created between us? This old philosophy of borders, divisions and divide and conquer… they just don’t work anymore. As humans we all want to live in peace,” said Malala.

    The young activist added that the real enemies of both countries are “poverty, discrimination and inequality”.

    She also stressed upon the importance of giving rights to minorities in both countries.

    “Minorities are at risk,” said Malala. “Minorities’ rights are not given to them. Be it Hindus and Christians in Pakistan, Muslims, Dalits and other minorities in India… Palestinians, Rohingya refugees. It is not [just] religion. It is the exploitation of power, it is just elites vs the poor and minorities.”

    Talking about her cause of girls’ education, Malala said that she also dreams of the day when every girl would get to go to school and have access to quality education.

    Malala, who was shot in the head by the Taliban as she was returning home from school in Swat Valley, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her efforts for children’s rights in 2014. The young activist recently also graduated from Oxford University.

    Read more – US Congress passes ‘Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act’ for Pakistani women

    She is now internationally known for human rights advocacy, especially the education of women and children.