International Equal Pay Day is being observed for the first time this September 18 under an initiative by the UN. According to the UN, the day aims to highlight the importance of achieving equal pay for work of equal value.
While, a paycheck may bring a sense of relief or joy, it can also represent inequalities between men and women at the workplace.
According to UN Women Pakistan, “Globally, the gender pay gap stands at 16% meaning women workers earn an average of 84 percent of what men earn. For women of colour, immigrant women, and women with children, the difference is even greater.”
Globally, the gender pay gap stands at 16%, meaning women workers earn an average of 84% of what men earn. For women of colour, immigrant women and women with children, the difference is even greater. As we mark 1st ever Intl #EqualPayDay tomorrow, join us in demanding #equalpay! pic.twitter.com/02ZlY42h2M
These differences in pay add up and have real, daily negative consequences for women and their families.
Equal pay means that all workers have the right to receive equal payment for work of equal value. While the concept is straightforward, what equal pay actually entails and how it’s applied in practice has proven to be difficult.
Work of equal value can mean a job that is similar, as well as a job that is not the same but is of equal value. This distinction is important because women’s and men’s work sometimes may involve different types of qualifications, skills, responsibilities, or working conditions, yet be of equal value, and, therefore, merit equal pay.
Gender pay gap estimates can vary significantly across regions and even within countries. Higher-income countries tend to have lower levels of wage inequality compared to low and middle-income countries.
The Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government plans to make Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) the country’s fifth province, two years after powers of the Islamabad-controlled council for the region were transferred to a local assembly.
The government’s plans have been outlined by Federal Minister for Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Affairs Ali Amin Gandapur, who said the region will be accorded the status of a full-fledged province with constitutional rights such as representation in both houses of the parliament.
“After consultation with all stakeholders, the federal government has decided in principle to give constitutional rights to GB,” he said, adding that the government has decided to deliver on the promise it made to the people there.
PM Imran is expected to visit the region soon and make a formal announcement about the change, Gandapur said.
While there has been no immediate reaction to the minister’s remarks from Indian officials, New Delhi has consistently opposed changes made in the region by Pakistan because it claims GB as part of Jammu and Kashmir.
Gandapur also said that subsidies and tax exemptions for the region wouldn’t be withdrawn after the grant of constitutional rights. “Until the people there stand on their feet, they will continue to enjoy this facility,” he said.
The minister contended that the deprivation faced by the people of GB for 73 years would end with the change. “Besides constitutional rights and a provincial setup, important steps are being taken for developing the region.”
People familiar with developments told The Current that people concerned, including those a part of the establishment, had been in touch with political parties regarding the changes.
“The PTI is backing changes with an eye on upcoming elections in GB so that it can make political gains and form the next government in the region,” an official told this scribe on the condition of anonymity.
Preparations for the elections that are likely to take place in November are complete, and the distribution of tickets by the PTI will begin soon, they added.
Now the schools have reopened and kids are back in classes after a break of almost 6 months, some parents may find it a bit challenging to get their children to go to bed a little earlier or they might worry if their child is getting enough sleep.
Recently, a chart made by a teacher of America’s Wilson Elementary School has been doing rounds on social media which shows the exact time children should go to bed depending on their age and what time they need to get up in the morning.
For example, it claims a seven-year-old, who needs to be up at 7 am in the morning should go to bed at 08:15 pm, while a 10-year-old getting up at 6:30 am should be in bed by 08:30pm.
Nida Yasir is without a doubt controversy’s favourite child. Her morning show has sparked more controversies than you can count and the host appears to have found herself in hot water once again after she invited the family of four-year-old Marwah, who was brutally gang-raped and murdered, on her show and questioned them about the mortifying incident. Several viewers thought that Nida was insensitive in her questioning and forced the victim’s family to relive the horror. They then took to social media to express their distaste and outrage over the matter. As the clips from the show began to circulate on social media, users started calling for a boycott of Nida and her show and demanded PEMRA to take notice.
#BanNidaYasirShow this lady is sick totally sick. For the sake of rating she's asking such dumb and harsh questions first of all they should not be called INSAF IDAR MILNA OR RULANY K LYE BULA LO. https://t.co/QG0jbDfGlL
Following the outrage, Nida posted an apology video in which she responded to the backlash and explained what went on behind the scenes.
“I’ve heard a few people are upset with me over the questions I asked Marwah’s family”, said Nida.
“First of all I’d like to apologise,” said the morning show host. “If I unconsciously hurt anyone’s intentions with my words and the questions I asked Marwah’s parents.”
Nida then went onto say that her shows are planned a week in advance and that her only goal is to make sure that her viewers are entertained with her show.
She then revealed that her team did not approach Marwah’s family, but the victim’s family approached the show because they wanted media coverage and attention. She said that she cancelled whatever she had planned for the day and decided to invite them to her show.
“God is witness”, said Nida. “I did not do this for TRPs. Ours is an entertainment show, not a news show. We get ratings and TRPs on shows which have excitement in them. Such shows are depressing, even I get depressed doing them.”
“But Marwah’s needed my support at this point and I considered it my duty to invite them to my show. And you will not believe it but two days after my show, Marwah’s rapist was caught. Her family is very grateful to me. They are poor people and were in a dire state before they got some financial support because of our show,” shared Nida.
Almost close to tears, Nida further said: “I cannot return Marwah to them, but they only felt relieved once the rapist was caught.”
“In any case, I would like to apologise again if I hurt anyone. I am also a human being. I also got shocked at the revelations,” she continued.
“Please forgive me, I am a human being after all. And I hope that I will be me more careful in the future,” pleaded the host.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFO5ilJBruU/
Later, when a social media user commented that Nida did not let “the poor mother grief for her child properly”, Nida said the lady on the show was not Marwah’s mother and urged everyone to watch the complete show before passing any judgement. It is pertinent to mention here that the lady in question was Marwah’s grandmother.
Four-year-old Marwah, a resident of Karachi, had gone to a shop on the morning of September 4 when she went missing. Two days later, her body was found from a garbage collection point in the locality. As per the latest reports, an anti-terrorism court in Karachi has remanded three suspects in police custody. The investigating officer told the court that during the course of the investigation and as per statements of witnesses, it was discovered that the minor girl was subjected to sexual assault. One of the suspects has also reportedly confessed to his crime and revealed that the minor girl died after being gang-raped.
Rodzi said he failed to find any trace of his phone until Sunday afternoon when his father noticed a monkey outside their house. He dialed his son’s number from his phone and heard a distant ringing in the jungle behind their back garden. He then found the phone under a palm tree, covered in mud.
The gallery had a few pictures of a monkey, peering down the lens with bright green foliage and birds in the background.
But it remained unclear exactly how the mobile went missing.
“Unlike some parts of the world where monkeys live in or near urban areas, there is no history of monkeys stealing things from houses in the local neighbourhood”, said the student. He suspects the monkey may have entered the house through his brother’s open bedroom window.
The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) has shut down around 22 educational institutions across the country for not following government-approved standard operating procedures (SOPs) and health protocols in the last 48 hours.
“During the last 48 hours, 22 educational institutions across Pakistan have been closed due to non-compliance of health SOPs/protocols and disease prevalence,” read a statement by centre monitoring the pandemic.
Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood had earlier shared the proper guidelines for reopening of educational institutions on Monday.
As many as 16 educational institutions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), one in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and five in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) have been closed, as per the NCOC media release.
Educational institutions were reopened on Tuesday (September 15). Prime Minister Khan tweeted to welcome children back to school after a long break due to Covid-19.
The law & duty bearers must always come forth to protect the women & girls of this country. The Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat & @MashwaniAzhar played a key role in the culprits arrest 👏 pic.twitter.com/MXWY3TAfVF
Recently, Fatima shared her story of being harassed and tortured by a guy named Ibsham Zahid. The girl shared images and video clips that show how she was being forced into a ‘relationship’ by Ibsham.
As per the girl’s account, Ibsham started threatening her after she refused to get into a relationship with him. The girl shared a video in which Zahid is threatening to kill her father if she doesn’t agree to his demands.
Soon after her post went viral, people on social media started demanding strict action against the guy and #IbshamZahidBehindBars started trending on Twitter.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill has hit out at Frieha Altaf and Sarwat Gilani, referring to them as ‘badbakht elite’ after a video of theirs on their way to the celebrity protest went viral on social media.
In the video, Sarwat and Frieha are telling their followers that they are on their way to the protest to demand justice for the motorway gang-rape victim and show a poster which reads ‘Rapped’ instead of ‘Raped’.
It is incredibly difficult to call out women fighting for the same cause because you don’t want to hurt the cause and you want to be a good soldier for this war to protect women.
But honestly I’m exhausted by the fauxtrage, the empty words & the activism that goes with this https://t.co/SPdBU0axu0
Stop turning towards mediocrity. Write your own narrative. Stop looking towards anyone in the entertainment industry because unfortunately ours is just full of tripe. There are thousands of amazing women and men who are shouting slogans for the rights of women. Support them.
While Frieha and Sarwat are yet to respond to Dr Gill’s comments, Sarwat earlier clarified that a second protest was held because “a lot of celebrities were busy with work on the first protest’s date, [so] we decided to get out a day when most of us were available.” According to details, the protest was organised by Yasir Hussain, Frieha Altaf and Asim Jofa.
Sarwat has now made her Twitter account private and only those who follow her can view her tweets.
Meanwhile, fashion designer Maheen Khan, who was also part of the protest, also responded to some users who questioned why the celebrities felt the need to organise a separate protest. She also addressed the allegations that they hijacked the transgender’s protest.
Some of them attended that too . #stoprape was part of the Aurat march agenda and the Monday one was purely for #stoprape . The more people stand up against these atrocities the better. The momentum must not be lost
To all thosewho r questioning the #stoprape protest,the whys&the wherefors.The transgenders whobtw wereverymuch therewith us.Please remember these men&women came because they care about the terror raging in our country.not enough came but those that did i salute them . pic.twitter.com/dLkuxZ3PFZ
Other celebrities present at the protest include Mahira Khan, Sarah Khan, Ayesha Omar, Adnan Siddiqui, Ali Rehman Khan, Aijaz Aslam, Bushra Ansari, Anoushey Abbasi and Gul-e-Rana.
A woman allegedly cut off the genitals of her ‘boyfriend’ in Lahore’s Harbanspura area.
As per reports, the woman was infuriated over the victim’s attempt to blackmail and harass her.
According to the complaint, the 37-year-old resident of the Vehari district came to Lahore six months ago for work. He claimed that he had a date with the woman, who also lived in the same area, for the last 18 years.
The man claimed that the woman had called him over to her place a few days back, revealing that, “She attacked me with a sharp weapon and cut my genitals and then locked me in a room”.
When he cried out for help, some neighbours took him to a hospital.
The police have filed a case, recorded statements of witnesses and gathered all evidence from the crime scene.
According to details, the man was involved in harassing and blackmailing the culprit forcing her to take the law in her own hands and take this step as a ‘self-defense’ move.
Eight teachers of Government Higher Secondary School Rashkai in Peshawar have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
According to the Elementary and Secondary Education Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the infected teachers have been sent to their homes on 15 days leave.
Meanwhile, academic activities are ongoing under strict precautionary measures.
