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Author: News Desk

  • Don’t have time to go and look for Valentine’s Day present? Here’s what you can find online

    Don’t have time to go and look for Valentine’s Day present? Here’s what you can find online

    It’s so difficult to find V day gifts in Pakistan and if you go out looking, they probably won’t be that nice and will be super expensive. If you’re working, you probably don’t even have the time to go out looking for something grand. Here are three online platforms you can check out and order valentine’s day presents for your loved one.

    THE WAREHOUSE

    An online website, its got a lot of Valentine’s Day stuff that you can order and also personalize. We particularly love how they have a lot of shirts and mugs dedicated to singles.

    For all the single folk
    For the husbands

    9LINES

    The young, hip brand does some cool stationery for V day. They also have water bottles and framed images that you can give to your office going Valentine.

    SHEOPS

    So, this isn’t a website but a facebook platform that has many small businesses, most of which are home-based. The sellers are vetted by the admin and people generally have a good experience when ordering from them. Some sellers have posted V day presents that can be ordered.

    Sheops is a facebook group for buying and selling

    People are selling V day items on the facebook group

  • VIDEO: Darul Aman orphan, who accused ministers of rape, found dead

    VIDEO: Darul Aman orphan, who accused ministers of rape, found dead

    One of the orphans at Darul Aman, who had accused ministers and government officials of “misusing girls living in the shelter home to fulfil their demands”, has been found dead under mysterious circumstances.

    According to Afshan Latif — a former superintendent of the state-run shelter — the deceased, Iqra Kainat, has been murdered by those who wanted to protect the perpetrators of sexual abuse of the orphan girls.

    https://twitter.com/AfshanLatif3/status/1226042740896681985

    In a series of videos that had earlier gone viral, Latif had said that she was being threatened for disclosing what the orphans at the shelter were being subjected to.

    Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar had also taken notice of the allegations after the former Darul Aman official had claimed that she was appointed in April 2019 and her predecessor used to bring strangers (men) inside the shelter late at night.

    READ: Darul Aman superintendent says orphan girls being ‘misused’ by minister, govt officials

    However, even after her appointment, Latif had alleged that illegal practices continued at the centre. In this regard, she had filed a complaint against certain high-ups for pressuring Latif to marry underage girls to high-ranking officials.

    The ages of the destitute girls were between 15 to 17 years-old, and they were forcefully married off to favoured bureaucrats and a provincial minister, Latif alleged in her video message.

    In reference to authorities and those involved, she had said that they were trying to wipe out evidence and requested people to spread her message. Latif had added that she did not know what was to happen to her and where she would be taken now.

  • Ishaq Dar to take govt to court for turning his residence into shelter home

    Ishaq Dar to take govt to court for turning his residence into shelter home

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former finance minister Ishaq Dar has accused the federal and Punjab governments of contempt of court for turning his Lahore residence — seized as part of the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) action against him in an assets beyond means case — into a shelter home.

    “They have violated the decision of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and I will take them to court for it,” Dar said in a video message tweeted by the PML-N.

    Dar’s 4 kanal 17 marla residence in Lahore’s posh Gulberg area was seized on July 27, 2019, on NAB’s orders and was to be auctioned last month.

    “The government had raided my residence in Lahore and wanted to auction it in January, but the court had on January 27 barred it from doing so,” Dar said in the video, adding that when the government failed to auction it, it decided to convert the house into a shelter home.  

    He termed the conversion of his residence as “state terrorism”, and maintained that he had proof of his innocence. “I can show it to the world in a global conference but I’m waiting for the right time.”

    Dar had left Pakistan in 2017 to seek medical treatment abroad and hasn’t returned since. On May 8, 2018, he was ordered by the Supreme Court (SC) to return to the country and Pakistan had even sought Interpol’s help for the same, however, on November 7, 2019, Interpol had said there was insufficient evidence against Dar for his extradition.

    His house is going to be inaugurated as a shelter home by Punjab Social Welfare Department on Saturday. As many as 40 people will be given a place to stay in the house, and beds have been set up in what was once a living room. Each room is air-conditioned and separate rooms for women have also been set up.

  • Tamghae Imtiaz recipient Mehwish Hayat supports public hanging of child rapists

    Tamghae Imtiaz recipient Mehwish Hayat supports public hanging of child rapists

    As the National Assembly (NA) resolution seeking public hanging for child rapists attracts mixed reactions from all quarters, Tamghae Imtiaz recipient Mehwish Hayat has supported the same despite the opposition of many, including federal ministers Farrogh Naseem, Shireen Mazari and Fawad Chaudhry.

    The NA on Friday adopted a resolution seeking public hanging of those convicted for sexually abusing and murdering children, with a majority vote amid opposition from two government ministers and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). While the two ministers — Shireen and Fawad — condemned the resolution and termed it as an expression of extremism, Federal Minister for Law and Justice Barrister Farrogh Naseem opposed it as “contravention to Islamic teachings and the Constitution”.

    With the never-ending debate on capital punishment continuing on Saturday, actor Mehwish Hayat took to Twitter to support the resolution.

    “Strange when these rapes and murders of children are reported, we all call for the perpetrators 2 be hung in public. When the govt agrees we all begin 2 hide behind ‘human right violations’. Unfortunate as it is, we need strong deterrents to stop this rot in society! [sic]” she tweeted with ‘#hangchildrapists’.

    Meanwhile, Minister Farrogh Naseem, in a media talk, said that the Supreme Court (SC) had declared public hanging of a culprit as unlawful back in 1994. “The apex court has declared public hanging of a convict a violation of the Sharia and the Constitution.”

    “The Law Ministry will not hammer out a law against the constitution and the teachings of Sharia,” he said.

    The resolution was tabled in the Lower House by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan. He had on Friday said that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan wanted capital punishment for child abuse convicts.

  • Even I’ll lose my house if DHA is investigated: chief justice

    Even I’ll lose my house if DHA is investigated: chief justice

    Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed has reprimanded officials from the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and the Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC) over their failure to stop the rise of encroachments in Karachi, directing them to demolish all illegally constructed buildings in Punjab Colony, Delhi Colony, PNT Colony and Gizri Road areas of the metropolis.

    According to Daily Times, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) — headed by the CJP and comprising Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah — while hearing a case pertaining to encroachments in the provincial metropolis, at the apex court’s Karachi Registry on Friday issued orders to clear illegal structures built on government properties in the port city.

    During the hearing, the CJP reprimanded both DHA and CBC officials over their failure to stop the rise of encroachments in Karachi, directing them to demolish all illegally constructed buildings in Punjab Colony, Delhi Colony, PNT Colony and Gizri Road areas of the metropolis.

    He admonished the CBC land director for “closing his eyes when ill-gotten money was being made”, and lamented that fortunes had been amassed and now the court was being told that the buildings are illegal. “If permission is granted for ground-plus-one buildings in cantonment areas, how is it that high-rise buildings have been built in these sectors? Buildings with nine stories are being built, and they must be razed to the ground,” the CJP told the CBC.

    “If an investigation is launched [into encroachments], the entire DHA would be found to be illegal. All leases will be dismissed, and hum bhi farig hojaein gay [we will be made to walk as well],” said the CJP as he himself lives in DHA. “But that does not matter, we have to live by the law.”

    Addressing the attorney general, the CJP once again questioned as to who gave permission for constructing the buildings. “It’s not as if the cantonment board can go around doing as they please,” he said.

    This prompted officials from the CBC to say that they have taken action against illegally-constructed buildings on several occasions. “We have given orders for razing unlawful constructions,” stated an official, adding that the laws allowed for constructing ground-plus-two buildings on residential plots and five-storey buildings on commercial plots.

    The court also directed the chief secretary to get rid of all the encroachments in the city and put in a request for the re-settlement of the residents of the katchi abadis and the affected people. He also directed the officials to invite the recommendations of experts through media.

    The case was later adjourned till February 21.

  • Anonymously report harassment, bias at work with this new app

    A tool called AllVoice is here to make it easier for employees to anonymously send feedback to the company’s leadership, and report harassment or bias.

    According to the details, the app has been launched by Eponymous, and the company has raised $3 million in seed funding for the facilitation of their startup.

    AllVoices is a platform that lets people send complaints to the human resources (HR) department. All complaints are displayed on the dashboard of the application that helps HR to launch investigations.

    Founder Claire Schmidt was inspired to create AllVoices after former Uber engineer Susan Fowler investigated sexual harassment and discrimination in the ride-hailing company.

    Once the report is sent to the department concerned, it sends text notifications for the complainant to track the response from the company.

    Employees in HR won’t see any information such as names, and AllVoices won’t know which employer is involved. All communication is encrypted, the company says.

    After 60 days have passed following a complaint, AllVoices asks the employee if he or she knows whether the company has taken any action and, if so, how satisfactory it is. AllVoices then gives that data to the company.

    AllVoices is hoping to create a free version of the app for employees who work at companies that do not use the app. They’d be able to report issues by sharing an email for someone in their human resources department.

  • Naya Pakistan? Irregularities worth over Rs6 billion detected in PIA accounts

    Naya Pakistan? Irregularities worth over Rs6 billion detected in PIA accounts

    The Directorate General of Commercial Audit and Evaluation (South) Karachi — a department of the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) — has pointed out 16 irregularities worth whopping Rs6.85 billion in the accounts of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), The News reported.

    According to the report, besides financial irregularities, numerous serious violations of rules and regulations have also been noticed and reported in hiring, promotions and postings of staffers of the national carrier, 87 per cent shares of which are owned by the government of Pakistan.

    The Directorate General of Commercial Audit and Evaluation has audited PIA’s accounts and scrutinised its affairs after receiving several complaints regarding accounts of PIA Corporation in Islamabad and Karachi.

    It has observed that PIA suffered an operating loss worth Rs5,282 million, noticing that the appointment of the national airliner’s chief executive officer (CEO) was irregular and dual benefits worth Rs2.9 million were awarded to him against rules, PIA had suffered a loss of Rs71.866 million due to illegitimate elevation of allowances and benefits of officers on deputation from Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

    It further pointed out that the national flag carrier had suffered another loss of Rs1.24 million due to the holding of dual jobs/services by a regular employee of PIACL and withdrawal of unjustified salaries from both sides, and the fraudulent settlement of advances paid to the district managers of PIA, Rawalpindi, had inflicted a loss of Rs 1.638 million to the organisation.

  • VIDEO: PM Imran enjoying basant in Lahore

    VIDEO: PM Imran enjoying basant in Lahore

    An old video of Prime Minister Imran Khan is doing the rounds on social media in which he is celebrating basant. The location is likely to be Yousaf Salauddin’s iconic haveli with Lahore’s famous Badshahi Masjid in the background.

    Watch video:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeYK6SpFlyE&feature=youtu.be
  • Govt launches ‘Sehat Tahaffuz’ helpline to provide health-related information

    Govt launches ‘Sehat Tahaffuz’ helpline to provide health-related information

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, Dr Zafar Mirza introduced the ‘Sehat Tahaffuz’ helpline ‘1166’ at a ceremony in Islamabad to provide health-related information services to the public.

    As per reports, through the helpline, people will be able to get instant assistance to their queries and concerns, particularly related to polio and routine immunization services.

    The helpline will also provide information and address queries of parents related to the vaccine. It will be active from eight in the morning to twelve midnight daily.

    Pakistan remains one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where the poliovirus is still prevalent.

    There is a strong national and international commitment to eradicate polio. It is a collective responsibility to ensure all children are protected and vaccinated against the poliovirus.

  • Man kills female coworker for fat-shaming him

    Man kills female coworker for fat-shaming him

    An Indonesian man murdered a female colleague after she called him fat and compared him to a sumo wrestler.

    As per reports, Ali Heri Sanjaya, 27, was arrested on January 28 after his colleague Rosidah, 18, was found dead in village Banyuwangi, Java.

    Sanjaya and Rosidah worked at the same restaurant and had known each other for years as they lived in the same neighbourhood.

    The local police chief said that Rosidah had allegedly made fun of Sanjaya in public and compared him to a sumo wrestler triggering his anger.

    Sanjaya had been planning the murder for a while. He waited for Rosidah outside their workplace on the pretext of dropping her home but took her to an unknown place instead.

    When they reached the abandoned coconut plantation at Pondok Nongko Village, he asked her to get off the vehicle, strangled her and burnt her body using gasoline.

    Sanjaya has been arrested and is likely to get capital punishment or life imprisonment.