Current Final

Category: Lifestyle

  • Global tourism won’t return to pre-covid levels until 2024

    Global tourism won’t return to pre-covid levels until 2024

    With the highly contagious Omicron variant in the picture, global tourism arrivals have further been affected, and will not return to the pre-pandemic levels until 2024, the World Tourism Organization (WTO) said on Tuesday.

    The highly contagious Omicron variant, though mild, will “disrupt recovery” for 2022. Last year in 2021, tourism saw a four percent growth over 2020, according to the Madrid-based UN agency’s World Tourism Barometer.

    Meanwhile, tourism revenue in 2020 was 72 percent lower than that in 2019.

    “The pace of recovery remains slow and uneven across world regions due to varying degrees of mobility restrictions, vaccination rates and traveller confidence,” the UNWTO said in a press release.

    In Europe and the Americas, foreign visitor arrivals increased by 19 percent and 17 percent in 2021, respectively, when compared to 2020.

    In the Middle East, however, arrivals declined by 24 percent in 2021, while in the Asia-Pacific region, they were 65 percent below the 2020 levels, and 94 percent lower than pre-pandemic levels.

    The statement said tourism professionals “see better prospects” for this year after turbulence in the early months because of the Omicron wave.

    Many countries are highly dependent on tourism and are eagerly awaiting a return to normal.

    “The economic contribution of tourism in 2021 (measured in tourism direct gross domestic product) is estimated at $1.9 trillion (1.68 trillion euros), above the $1.6 trillion in 2020, but still well below the pre-pandemic value of $3.5 trillion,” the statement noted.

  • Six Muslim students wearing hijab banned from Indian college, forced to sign false statements

    Six Muslim students wearing hijab banned from Indian college, forced to sign false statements

    A group of muslim students at a college in the southern Indian state of Karnataka were stopped from attending classes for weeks after the principal refused to allow them to wear headscarves in the classroom.

    “When we arrived at the door of the classroom, the teacher said we cannot enter with the hijab,” one of the students told Al Jazeera. 

    “She asked us to remove it.”

    The college is a government-run women’s college in Udupi district of India’s Karnataka state in the south. The students were forced to sit outside the classroom because the college administration alleges they are “defying the rules” since hijab is not part of the uniform.

    The girls told Al Jazeera the hijab is “part of their faith” and wearing it is “their right guaranteed under the law”.

     The girls have been marked as absent since December 31 despite visiting the college daily.

    “We are not going to budge, no way,” Aliya Assadi, who is a part of the group, told Al Jazeera.

    A photo has gone viral on social media of the students clad in hijab and college dresses sitting on the steps outside their classroom.

    “It is because of this photo that our issue got highlighted in the media,” said Assadi.

    Their protest has riled up the college administration which, according to the group, forced them to write a letter accepting they missed the classes by staying home on their own.

    “We tried to refuse but the principal and the teachers threatened us that they would ruin our careers,” Muskan Zainab, another student, told Al Jazeera.

  • Usman Mirza Case: Court issues non-bailable arrest warrant against victims

    Usman Mirza Case: Court issues non-bailable arrest warrant against victims

    A district and session court in Islamabad has issued a non-bailable arrest warrant on Tuesday against the victim couple in the Usman Mirza harassment case after they did not appear in the court hearing.

    Judge Mohammad Ata Rabbani expressed anger over the absence of the couple in court. On this account, the non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against the couple on the orders of the judge.

    However, the lawyer representing them pleaded that both victims are out of the city and it would take three hours to reach the court.

    The court has dismissed the hearing till January 19, 2022 (today).

    Last year, a video of Usman Mirza harassing a couple went viral on social media which created an outrage across the country. The following day Islamabad police arrested Usman Mirza who is the prime suspect in the case.

    Recently at the time of hearing on January 11, the female victim refused to identify any of the accused and said she does not want to pursue the case and a journalist reported that the couple has reportedly taken one crore rupees from Usman Mirza.

    READ MORE: State will prosecute Usman Mirza case despite victims refusal to give statement

    She also told the court that she did not want to appear for subsequent hearings in the case. However, the judge told her that she would have to appear and adjourned the hearing for January 18.

  • Sindh bans meals in public transport amid Omicron upsurge

    Sindh bans meals in public transport amid Omicron upsurge

    A notification issued by the Home Department, Government of Sindh, on Tuesday says that “in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 3(1) of the Sindh Epidemic Diseases Act, 2014 (The Sindh Act VIII of 2015) is pleased to impose ban on serving of meals / snacks in domestic air travel and public transport within the territorial jurisdiction of the province of Sindh with effect from 17 January 2022 and till further orders”.

    The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Saturday banned the serving of meals on domestic flights in line with the directives of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) to curb the spread of Omicron variant of coronavirus in the country while Sindh has also banned meals in public transport.

    The NCOC decided to extensively engage with provinces, especially with the Sindh government, for necessary measures to tackle the rising disease.

    The Sindh Home Department empowered the deputy commissioners, additional deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners, Mukhtiarkars, as well as the transport department and police officers not below the rank of inspector to take legal action against any violation of the direction.

  • Karachi cop involved in groom’s killing commits suicide

    Karachi cop involved in groom’s killing commits suicide

     A policeman allegedly involved in the killing a newly-married man for resisting a mugging committed suicide to avoid arrest during a police raid. He has been identified as Farzand Ali Jafri who was posted at the Investigation Wing of Karachi’s District West in Karachi.

    According to the police, the suspect killed himself by shooting at his own head to avoid arrest during a police raid.

    On January 17, it was reported that four people, including a policeman, had been arrested for killing a youth, Shah Rukh, in front of his mother and sister on Kashmir Road. 

    The media reports said these arrests were made in Surjani Town, Gulshan-e-Maymar and other areas.

    “The accused shot himself in the head and died on the spot,” according to the police.

    The tragic death became a top trend on the social media as it followed several incidents of street crime in the city. 

  • Hindutva leader arrested for provoking ‘genocide’ of Muslims

    Hindutva leader arrested for provoking ‘genocide’ of Muslims

    Hindutva leader, Yati Narsinghanand Giri who incited hatred and called for ‘genocide’ of Muslims in a seminar, labelled by Indian media as “hate speech conclave”, was arrested by the police.

    Senior Police Officer, Swatantra Kumar said that the Yati Narsinghanand Giri, a far right-right nationalist was initially arrested on Saturday on allegations of making derogatory remarks against Muslims and women during a meeting. He appeared in front of the court the next day and remained in custody for hate speech.

    Kumar claimed that Yati Narsinghanand Giri is a repeated offender and was officially charged on Monday with promoting hatred between Hindus and Muslims based on religion. The charge can carry a five-year jail term.

    In December, the three-day meeting “hate speech conclave” was organised by Hindutva leader Yati Narsinghanand in Uttarakhand’s pilgrimage city of Haridwar, India, where multiple calls to kill minorities and attack their religious spaces were made.

    The gathering had speakers like Annapurna Maa, Dharamdas Maharaj from Bihar, Anand Swaroop Maharaj, Sagar Sindhuraj Maharaj, Swami Premanand Maharaj, and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashwini Upadhyay.

    “If you want to finish them off, then kill them… We need 100 soldiers who can kill 20 lakh of them to win this,” said Annapurna Maa.

    “If the governments do not listen to our demand [the establishment of a Hindu Rashtra through violence against minorities], we will wage a war far scarier than the 1857 revolt,” said Anand Swaroop Maharaj.

    Recently, hate crimes against religious minorities including Muslims and Christians are increased in India with the alleged support of the ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Several Indian celebrities raised their voices against hate crimes against certain communities based on the grounds of religion.

  • Punjab education minister wants private schools to make hijab, caps compulsory for students

    Punjab education minister wants private schools to make hijab, caps compulsory for students

    Punjab Minister for Education Murad Raas has requested private schools to make scarves/dupattas and caps compulsory for female and male students respectively. Murad made the request while talking about compulsory Quran classes in schools.

    “I have seen in private schools that they are requesting students to brings scarfs and caps [for Quran classes] from home.”

    He continued by saying that most private and public schools have scarves/duppatas included in their uniforms. He then requested all private schools make scarves part of their uniform.

    https://twitter.com/SedCorners/status/1483062624656973824?s=20

    Have a look at the Twitter reactions:

    Last month, Chief Minister Pubjab approved the appointment of 70,000 Arabic teachers for compulsory teaching of the Holy Quran in all schools of Punjab.

  • One Pakistani dead among three casualties in Abu Dhabi attack

    One Pakistani dead among three casualties in Abu Dhabi attack

    Three people were killed in a suspected drone attack in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates, which involved two Indians and one Pakistani national.

    The incident happened when three petrol tanks blew up near a storage facility of an oil giant company, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). A fire also erupted in a construction area at Abu Dhabi airport.

    The company released the official statement, “ADNOC is deeply saddened to confirm that three colleagues have died. A further six colleagues were injured and received immediate specialist medical care.”

    Police found small flying objects at both places and claimed that they have never witnessed such a huge attack in the peaceful country of the Middle East.

    The Foreign Ministry of UAE said, “The UAE condemns this terrorist attack by the Houthi militia on areas and civilian facilities on Emirati soil…(It) will not go unpunished.”

    It further added, “The UAE reserves the right to respond to these terrorist attacks and criminal escalation.”

    A small number of flights were briefly stopped by Etihad Airways at the airport but after a few hours, normal operations were resumed.

    Police said, “Preliminary investigations indicate the detection of small flying objects, possibly belonging to drones, that fell in the two areas and may have caused the explosion and fire.”

    These attacks have been claimed by the Iran-backed rebel group, Houthi in Yemen.

    The Deputy Minister of Information Nasraddin Amer in Houthi-controlled Sanaa, the capital of Yemen confirmed that the rebel forces had carried out an attack. This attack was launched in reaction to the “UAE’s escalation” in two contested provinces of Yemen, Shabwa and Marib.

    The visit of the South Korean President, Moon Jae In to the UAE was also called off due to the current situation. The summit was planned between the South Korean President and Abu Dhabi’s crown prince.

    UAE is backing Saudi Arabia in a war with Yemen that has been going on for the last seven years.

    Saudi Arabia and Bahrain also condemned the attack and dubbed it as a “cowardly, terrorist” attack.

  • Acceptable for a girl, boy to be in a relationship? Zahir’s lawyer to Noor’s father in courtroom

    Acceptable for a girl, boy to be in a relationship? Zahir’s lawyer to Noor’s father in courtroom

    Lawyer of Zahir Jaffer, the prime suspect in Noor Mukadam’s case in a hearing today questioned Shaukat Ali Mukadam in the courtroom about late Noor Mukadam and Zahir Jaffer’s relationship.

    As per Journalist Saqib Bashir, Zahir Jaffer’s lawyer, Saleem during cross- examination asked Noor’s father: “Keeping that in mind that you have been an ambassador to this country, tell me is it acceptable for a guy and a girl to have such a relation in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan?”

    After the cross-examination he apologised Noor’s father for his “hard questions”

    Zahir was presented in court on a chair today. As per lawyers his mental condition has gotten unstable.

  • Four more children die of malnutrition in Tharparkar, death toll at 10

    Four more children die of malnutrition in Tharparkar, death toll at 10

    Four more children are reported to have died due to malnutrition within the last two days in Tharparkar. The death toll of children in January has climbed to ten.

    A report released by the United Nation’s Children Fund (UNCF) in April stated that Pakistan is among the countries with the highest infant mortality rates, with 22 infants dying before turning a month old.

    The number of children who have lost their lives during the current year due to malnutrition and other diseases in Tharparkar has reached 413.

    Earlier this month, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed asked for the filing of a petition in the Supreme Court for a resolution of the problems of the Thar region.

    The health department in order to avoid humiliation has directed staffers of concerned hospitals not to talk with the media, reports ARY News.