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Category: Lifestyle

  • No space for dead in Karachi graveyards

    No space for dead in Karachi graveyards

    The graveyards maintained by Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) are completely full, KMC Senior Director Municipal Services Mazhar Khan revealed in a show on Samaa television.

    He further said that the administration has approached the Sindh government for acquiring land for new graveyards.


    He stated that on average, 15 to 20 bodies are brought to KMC cemeteries for interment each day, emphasizing that with such an inflow, shortage of graveyard space was a serious issue.

    The Senior Director further revealed that because of these dire circumstances, families were forced to bury their loved ones at cemeteries run by charitable organisations.

    The KMC had requested the purchase of at least 400 acres in each Karachi district, Mazhar Khan told Samaa.


    In response to a query, he stated that after purchasing the site, boundary walls would be built around the area right away.
    Several cemeteries in the megacity are being used to sell graves illegally, according to a KMC official. The undertakers are not employed by KMC, and some of them have already been busted.

  • UK removes Pakistan from list of ‘high risk’ countries

    UK removes Pakistan from list of ‘high risk’ countries

    The United Kingdom on Monday removed Pakistan from its list of “high risk” countries, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari tweeted.
    “Some good news. The United Kingdom has officially removed Pakistan from its list of ‘High Risk Third Countries’ following our early completion of FATF action plans,” the minister wrote in a tweet.

    “His Majesty’s Treasury issued an amendment to the UK’s High-Risk Third Countries’ list ON November 14, 2022, through a Statuary Instrument. The amendment removes Pakistan from the list in accordance with the decision taken by the FATF on October 21, 2022,” the official document read.

    “The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office recognizes the progress Pakistan has made to improve money laundering and terrorist financing controls,” it further added.


    The UK government included Pakistan to its list of 21 high-risk nations with inadequate measures in place to combat money laundering and terrorism funding in April 2021.

  • Climate disaster: Pakistan to receive ‘Global Shield’ funding

    Climate disaster: Pakistan to receive ‘Global Shield’ funding

    Pakistan will be one of the first initial recipients of the Global Shield funding that will be provided to countries hit by climate disasters.
    The Global Shield will build support to be deployed in nations like Pakistan, Ghana, Fiji, and Senegal. It is supported by 170 million euros ($175 million) in funding from Germany and 40 million euros ($41 million) from additional contributors including Denmark and Ireland.The Global Shield was officially launched on November 14, 2022 at the COP27 climate conference.


    Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Fiji, Ghana, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Senegal were identified as some of the earliest beneficiaries of Global Shield supplies in a statement released by Germany on Monday.

    Germany stated that these packages would be created in the upcoming months.

    As many as 33 million people of the 220 million in the South Asian nation have been affected in some way by recent monsoon floods that swept away houses, roads, railways and bridges and submerged around 4 million acres of farmland.

  • Pressure the govt to release Joyland: here is how to do it

    Pressure the govt to release Joyland: here is how to do it

    The government of Pakistan has stopped the release of Saim Sadiq’s Oscar contender “Joyland” for containing “highly objectionable” material.
    An order dated Nov. 11 from Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting says that the country’s censor board had granted a censor certificate to the film on Aug. 17. But it has since reversed the decision.


    “Written complaints were received that the film contains highly objectionable material which do not conform with the social values and moral standards of our society and is clearly repugnant to the norms of ‘decency and morality’ as laid down in Section 9 of the Motion Picture Ordinance, 1979,” the order states. “Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 9(2) (a) of the said Ordinance and after conducting a comprehensive inquiry, the Federal Government declares the feature film titled ‘Joyland’ as an uncertified film for the whole of Pakistan in the cinemas which fall under the jurisdiction of CBFC with immediate effect.”
    The ban has caused outrage on social media with citizens denouncing the decision.


    Actor Nadia Jamil has shared things we can do to put pressure on the government to help Joyland:


    Use the hashtag #releasejoyland on Twitter every time you tweet about the film.


    Tag the following accounts on Twitter every time you post: @MoIB_official (ministry of information and broadcasting) @marriyum_A (Marriyum Aurangzeb)

    Call Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and demand that they stand up to pressure from people looking to malign the film. 051 9103557 9211800 9213649.

  • Sharing dreams not grounds enough for blasphemy: LHC

    Sharing dreams not grounds enough for blasphemy: LHC

    The Lahore High Court (LHC) has said that the law can not prosecute anyone on the basis of them sharing something they saw in their dream, reports Dawn.


    The Honourable Court was hearing a case pertaining to a first information report (FIR) filed by the Saddar Police Station of Mianwali against a petitioner in accordance with Section 295-A of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The petition was declared invalid by Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh.
    The complaint was filed by an ex-member of the Mianwali district council in August 2021. He said that in his dreams, the petitioner saw Allah and several of the Holy Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) companions as well as being able to fly.

    “The complainant further alleged that the petitioner had made similar statements before a crowd where two prosecution witnesses were also present. He claimed that such propagation hurt the community’s religious feelings and was likely to incite violence,” the petition alleged.


    A petitioner’s attorney claimed that the first information report (FIR) was politically motivated and dishonest. The only specific allegation against the petitioner was that he told a group of people about his dreams and claimed to have seen God and certain holy personages. “Such narration is not an offence under Section 295-A PPC,” the counsel added.
    “We find that the offence under section 295-A PPC is not made out”, said Justice Sheikh before discussing the merits of the case.
    “There is no evidence to suggest that the petitioner intended to offend or harm the religious sensibilities of the complainant or any other person with his statements,” the judge maintained.

  • Govt to spend Rs40 billion to uplift 20 backward districts

    Govt to spend Rs40 billion to uplift 20 backward districts

    In order to initiate rehabilitation projects across 20 backward and underprivileged districts over the course of 60 months in four provinces, the Ministry of Planning has announced a special development project worth Rs40 billion.

    The federal and provincial governments are expected to split the project’s estimated cost 50:50. The project has received approval from the Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal-led Central Development Working Party (CDWP).

    According to DAWN, the project has already been given a budget of Rs18 billion for PSDP 2022–23. Eleven districts from Balochistan, five from Sindh, three from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one from Punjab are among the 20 districts that were chosen based on Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) ratings. The recent flood calamity, notably in Balochistan and Sindh, has severely damaged many of these districts.

    Sherani, Kohlu, Jhal Magsi, Barkhan, Killa Abdullah, Zhob, Musakhel, Dera Bugti, Jaffarabad, Ziarat, and Killa Saifullah are among the 11 districts in Balochistan. Sujawal, Thatta, Tharparkar, Kashmore, and Badin are five in Sindh; Torghar, Shangla, and North Waziristan are three in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; and Rajanpur is one district in Punjab.

    The tentative interventions in these districts will be in the areas of connectivity via roads, access to broadband services and the internet, solarization of off-grid areas, establishment of LPG terminals, development of the agri-livestock and mineral value-chain, tunnel framing, dairy farming, fish farming, etc., establishment of common border markets, investments in skill development, and student scholarships.

    Additionally, the provincial and federal governments will choose sub-projects based on a thorough analysis of the requirements of the marginalised population in their respective regions. These initiatives will be approved by the relevant federal and provincial forums. Steering committees at the federal and provincial levels will oversee the sub-projects.

    “This is the first of its kind project in the economic history of Pakistan where the federal government is undertaking a national intervention to uplift the poorest districts and address the disparity in economic development,” said the planning minister in a statement released on Saturday.

    With the assistance of the UNDP, the MPI survey was finished in 2017–18, allowing for the first time ever to map poverty at the district level nationwide.

    Through targeted investments in infrastructure and the development of human capital in the nation’s poorest regions, the project’s principal goal is to promote inclusive growth and equitable development. One of the main cornerstones of the proposal is investments in human capital development, especially for young people and women.

    According to Pakistan’s MPI estimation for 2017–18, 38.3 percent of Pakistan’s population (87,089,000 people in 2020) will be multidimensionally poor, and a further 12.9 percent will be vulnerable to multidimensional poverty (29,353,000 people in 2020).

    The initiative seeks to significantly contribute to eliminating regional inequality and enhancing national integration and peace in the nation in line with Pakistan Vision 2025 and the Global Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Youth Development Program, which the project is a part of, was introduced last month.

  • T20 World Cup Final: How much money will Pakistan get if it wins tomorrow?

    T20 World Cup Final: How much money will Pakistan get if it wins tomorrow?

    The T20 World Cup final between Pakistan and England is set to be played at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Australia on November 13 (Sunday).


    The winners of ICC T20 World Cup 2022 will get a whopping amount of $ 1.6 million. In Pakistani rupees , the amount stands around 354,410,596.32. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has also revealed that the runners-up will get prize money equivalent to half the amount the winners’ get Hence, the runners-up team will get $ 0.8 million.


    The teams that lost the semi-finals, India and New Zealand, will also earn $ 0.4 million each.


    For the first time since 1992, Pakistan and England will play each other in an ICC World Cup match. In the 1992 ICC World Cup final between the two sides, Pakistan won the cup.

  • Afghan Taliban ban women from entering public parks, funfairs

    Afghan Taliban ban women from entering public parks, funfairs

    Afghan Taliban have banned Afghan women from entering Kabul’s public parks and funfairs.

    “For the past 15 months, we tried our best to arrange and sort it out – and even specified the days,” said Mohammad Akif Sadeq Mohajir, spokesperson for the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue. “But still, in some places – in fact, we must say in many places – the rules were violated,” he told AFP.
    “There was mixing [of men and women], hijab was not observed, that’s why the decision has been taken for now,” he stated.

    Women and park operators, who have spent a lot of money creating the facilities, were shocked by the news.

    “There are no schools, no work … we should at least have a place to have fun,” said one woman, who asked to be identified only as Wahida, as she watched her children play in a park through the window of an adjoining restaurant. “We are just bored and fed-up with being at home all day, our minds are tired,” she told AFP.


    In May this year Taliban barred men and women from dining together and attending parks at the same time in the Western city of Herat, considered a liberal city in comparison to other cities of the country.

    “There are no schools, no work … we should at least have a place to have fun,” said one ewoman, who asked to be identified only as Wahida, as she watched her children play in a park through the window of an adjoining restaurant. “We are just bored and fed-up with being at home all day, our minds are tired,” she told AFP.

    In May this year Taliban barred men and women in the western Afghan city of Herat, from dining together and attending parks at the same time, according to an official.

    Herat is considered a liberal city in comparison to other cities of the country.

    Despite the international community stating that education for girls is a key demand for any future recognition of the Taliban administration, the group has barred Afghan girls from going to school beyond the seventh grade. Moreover, they have restricted women and girls from working and have limited travel for them unless accompanied by a close male relative.

  • Man kills love interest’s five-year-old nephew to delay her marriage

    Man kills love interest’s five-year-old nephew to delay her marriage

    A man in Lahore allegedly killed the five-year-old nephew of a girl he had fallen in love with to delay her marriage, Samaa has reported. The shocking murder took place in the Badami Bagh area of Lahore.


    Five-year-old Ayaan’s body was discovered by police, hanging from a railroad track.

    “The minor was the nephew of the girl whom the suspect, Zeeshan aka Guddu, wanted to marry,” said the Police.


    “The nikkah ceremony was scheduled to be performed the day after the suspect allegedly kidnapped the child,” police added.
    According to investigators, the suspect killed the boy by beating him beside the railroad tracks.

    The police further stated that the victim and the suspect, Zeeshan aka Guddu, both lived in the same area.

    The police have registered a case and started an investigation.

  • 41 men appointed on seats reserved for lady health workers in Mardan

    41 men appointed on seats reserved for lady health workers in Mardan

    41 male candidates were appointed to seats reserved for women at the District Health Office (DHO) in Mardan, 24 News has reported.


    The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa finance department found that salaries of 41 people were being withdrawn by male staff of the DHO under the code of lady health workers (LHWs).


    The finance department stopped paying the bogus appointees’ salaries after realising the deception.


    200 new employees were hired by the health department in 2022, according to papers, filling all open positions. However, oddly, the DHO appointed 41 men in positions reserved for women.

    These male appointees received pay for nine months in accordance with the code for female health employees.