Current Final

Category: National

  • Islamabad police book college student over alleged blasphemy

    Islamabad police book college student over alleged blasphemy

    Islamabad police have registered a case against a college student under sections 295-A and 298-A over alleged blasphemous remarks against companions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

    The case registered at Shalimar police station on the complaint of a teacher. Section 295-A pertains to deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs, whereas Section 298-A concerns derogatory remarks against holy personages.

    According to the FIR, some students reported the accused after they found “derogatory remarks” written on his coursebook next to the name of a certain companion of the prophet (PBUH). The students engaged in an argument with the student possessing the book, it added.

    The owner of the book hurt the religious sentiments of thousands of people and students, the FIR claimed.

    Last week, a National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) manager was gunned down by a security guard in Punjab’s Khushab district over blasphemy allegations.

    The victim, Malik Imran Hanif, was first taken to a local hospital, however, the nature of his gunshot wounds was so severe, he was shifted to Services Hospital in Lahore, where he succumbed to his injuries.

    Human rights groups say blasphemy laws are often misused to persecute minorities or even against Muslims to settle personal rivalries. Such accusations can end up in lynchings or street vigilantism.

  • PM believes his popularity is rising, opposition is propagandising inflation

    PM believes his popularity is rising, opposition is propagandising inflation

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said the opposition was just propagandising inflation as all economic indicators were highlighting a positive trend, The News reported.

    He expressed these views while chairing a meeting to review the overall political situation in the country as well as the government’s media strategy. Imran directed his economic team to highlight the successes achieved by the government in the media.

    He said the political leaders responsible for the current economic mess were misleading the masses to save their face and politics. He maintained that it was due to the policies of the previous governments that the masses were suffering, say media reports.

    “We have overcome the effects of their economic decisions after two years of work and finally the economy is witnessing stability,” he added. The premier said the benefits of growing economy would soon be shifted to the masses.

    “The economic team should tell the masses as to how the previous governments ruined the economy,” he said.

    The premier added that the public gatherings in Swat and Hafizabad had once again proved that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) enjoyed the confidence of masses.

    “PTI will also clean sweep the Gilgit-Baltistan elections as the support of the people at the rallies prove the rise in our popularity,” he said.

  • ‘Pakistan got no reason to celebrate Pfizer vaccine’

    A day after Pfizer, a US pharmaceutical company, announced 90 per cent effective coronavirus vaccine, Pakistan’s anti-coronavirus task force head Dr Attaur Rahman said that it was “too early to celebrate the success” for multiple reasons.

    In a statement on Monday, Pfizer said that an early peek at the data suggested the shots may be a surprisingly robust 90% effective at preventing COVID-19. “We’re in a position potentially to be able to offer some hope,” Dr Bill Gruber, Pfizer’s senior vice president of clinical development, told The Associated Press. “We’re very encouraged.”

    Reacting to the celebrations, Dr Rahman said the vaccine would not be suitable for Pakistan owing to multiple problems, especially the storage issue.

    According to the task force chairman, the vaccine needs to be kept at a temperature of -80 °C, which was a major problem for third world countries, including Pakistan.

    “We should not think much about this vaccine, instead focus on other vaccines that are being developed and have seen similar results but haven’t been announced with fanfare. They are working quietly,” said Dr Rahman.

    It may be noted here that the number of coronavirus cases are soaring across Pakistan amid resurgence of the virus. On Monday, Pakistan registered over 1,500 infections and over a dozen deaths.

    The government, as a result, has tighten restrictions to curb the infection rate.

    PFIZER VACCINE:

    Dr Anthony Fauci, the US government’s top-infectious disease expert, said the results suggesting 90% effectiveness are “just extraordinary,” adding: “Not very many people expected it would be as high as that.”

    “It’s going to have a major impact on everything we do with respect to COVID,” Fauci said.

    Pharmaceutical companies and various countries are in a global race to develop a vaccine against the virus. Fauci said that the Pfizer vaccine and virtually all others in testing target the spike protein the coronavirus uses to infect cells, so the results validate that approach.

    Monday’s announcement doesn’t mean a vaccine is imminent: This interim analysis, from an independent data monitoring board, looked at 94 infections recorded so far in a study that has enrolled nearly 44,000 people in the US and five other countries. Some participants got the vaccine, while others got dummy shots.

    Pfizer Inc. did not provide any more details about those infections and cautioned that the initial protection rate might change by the time the study ends. Even revealing such early data is highly unusual.

    Authorities have stressed it’s unlikely any vaccine will arrive much before the end of the year, and initial supplies will be rationed.

  • Shopkeeper beats up female customer over argument on price in Lahore

    Shopkeeper beats up female customer over argument on price in Lahore

    A shopkeeper in Lahore beat up a female customer with a glass bottle and also thrashed another person after a heated argument ensued between them over the price of a product.

    As per reports, the shopkeeper thrashed the woman and a man over the argument and later also hit the lady with a glass bottle. The woman is being identified as Farah Bibi.

    The police allegedly refused to register a case against the shopkeeper when the injured approached the Ghaziabad police station.

    Commenting on the matter, the station house officer (SHO) Ghaziabad said that a woman named Farah was hit with a bottle. He said that they could only register an FIR after a medical examination of the victim.

    Meanwhile, the woman has alleged that the police are deliberately siding with the shopkeeper and have refused to register a case against him and were delaying a medical report into the matter.

  • Islamabad High Court requested to bar Imran from saying ‘Naya Pakistan’

    Islamabad High Court requested to bar Imran from saying ‘Naya Pakistan’

    A petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has sought a ban on Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s use of the term “Naya [new]” with Pakistan.

    “The word ‘Pakistan’ and the flag of Pakistan are protected by the constitution and any alteration to them is a clear violation of the same”, petitioner Tariq Asad, who is a lawyer of the Supreme Court (SC), has said seeking ban on what has become a trademark of the now ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

    Members of the PTI, including Imran Khan, had widely used the term “Naya Pakistan” while seeking votes ahead of the 2013 and 2018 general elections, highlighting the party’s aim to revamp the system if handed reins of the country.

    According to Gulf News, the petitioner has maintained that the PM has frequently been referring to “Riasate Madina [State of Madina]” while sharing his vision of a welfare state that again is without context and in contrast to the unique history of Pakistan.

    Justice Amir Farooq of the IHC, in this regard, has issued notices and sought a reply from the respondents, including the Law Ministry secretary, principal secretary to the PM, information secretary and the chairperson of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA).

    Asad has maintained that PM Imran has disgraced the national integrity giving Pakistan a nickname as “Naya Pakistan”.

    “Imran Khan having altered and distorted the name of Pakistan as ‘Naya Pakistan’ is inter alia violation of Article 1 and Article 5 of the constitution and fundamental rights of the citizens of Pakistan guaranteed by Article 14 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973,” said the petitioner.

    The premier, as per the petition, has also made an insignia i.e. of a flag of Naya Pakistan Housing & Development Authority which is different from the national flag of Pakistan.

    The petitioner maintains that the new insignia of the Naya Pakistan Housing & Development Authority comprises green and red colours and there is no white colour that is a representation of minorities. Speaking to Gulf News, Advocate Asad said that by omitting the white colour from the housing authority’s insignia, the government authorities had implied the scheme was not meant for the non-Muslims.

    In his prayer, the petitioner has requested the court to restrain the government functionaries, including the members of parliament and cabinet as well as the PTI workers and opposition parties, from patching and using the word “Naya“ with Pakistan or calling this state “Naya Pakistan”.

    The court has also been requested to issue orders to PEMRA to restrain television channels from airing the said word with Pakistan.

  • Military officials to brief parliamentary leaders on national security

    Military officials will this week be briefing parliamentary leaders from both the National Assembly (NA) and Senate on national security issues.

    According to a statement issued by the NA, the military officials will brief the parliamentarians in a meeting called by NA Speaker Asad Qaiser, who will also be the chair. It will take place in Committee Room Number 2 at 2 pm on Wednesday.

    According to the NA’s Twitter account, invitations have been sent to PTI’s Parliamentary leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi, PML-N’s Khawaja Asif, PPP’s Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, MMA’s Asad Mahmood and PML-Q’s Tariq Bashir Cheema.

    Furthermore, BNP-M’s Akhtar Mengal, MQM’s Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddqui and BAP’s Khalid Hussain Mangi have also been invited.

    The NA also said that invitations have been sent out to GDA’s Ghous Bakhsh Khan Mehar, Awami Muslim League’s Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and ANP’s Amir Haider Azam Khan.

    From Senate, invites have been sent to Mushahidullah Khan, Sherry Rehman, Muhammad Ali Khan Saif, Mir Akber Ahmed, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haderi, Muhammad Usman Khan Kakar, Sirajul Haq, Sitara Ayaz, Dr Jahanzaib Jamaldini, Anwar ul Haq Kakar and Aurangzeb Khan.

    The NA further said that federal ministers Pervaiz Khattak, Ijaz Ahmed Shah, Ali Amin Gandapur, Shafqat Mahmood, Asad Umar, Shibli Faraz. PM’s adviser Babar Awan and SAPM Dr Moeed Yusuf have also been asked to attend the session.

    Meanwhile, Attorney General Khalid Javed, interim CM of GB Mir Afzal, AJK President Masood Khan and AJK PM Raja Farooq Haider have also been sent special invitations.

  • ‘She is counting minutes’: Melania to divorce Donald Trump?

    Donald Trump, who recently lost his presidential re-election campaign to Democratic challenger Joe Biden, could soon find himself facing divorce proceedings, it has emerged. 

    British tabloid Daily Mail quoted a former aide to the first lady of the United States (US), Omarosa Manigault Newman, as saying that the 15-year marriage of Trump and Melania Trump is over and the latter is “counting the minutes until he is out of the office and she can divorce him”.

    “If she [Melania] were to try to pull the ultimate humiliation and leave while he’s in office, he would find a way to punish her,” he said when asked as to why did Melania not divorce Trump earlier.

    The report quoted another former aide, Stephanie Wolkoff Senior, who was the advisor to the first lady, as saying that Trump and Melania had separate bedrooms in the White House and a “transactional marriage”.

    Back in 2016, Melania had burst into tears when Trump won the presidential election as, one friend said, “she never expected him to win”. However, Melania waited five months before moving to Washington from New York allegedly because their son, Barron, had to finish school.

    However, Wolkoff said Melania was negotiating an agreement so that Barron could have an equal share of Trump’s fortune. “Now, four years later, she is going forth with her plan.”

    Reports also say that Trump’s inner circle, including his wife Melania, wants the 45th US president to accept his loss and concede defeat to President-elect Biden and exit the office “gracefully”.

  • Social media divided over ‘IBA students’ inappropriate activity in Karachi University parking’ report

    Social media divided over ‘IBA students’ inappropriate activity in Karachi University parking’ report

    Netizens are divided over a Times of Karachi report from Sunday wherein the media organisation had claimed initiation of action against at least four male and female students of the port city’s Institute of Business Administration (IBA) over “inappropriate activity”.

    According to the report, the four students, including two girls, were questioned by Karachi University (KU) guards over “inappropriate activity” in a vehicle with tinted windows, which was parked within the premises of the Karachi University (KU) on Sunday.

    “The KU administration will write a letter to IBA on Monday to ask them to investigate why students came to the university on Sunday and parked their tinted car at an abandoned place,” the report quoted sources as saying.

    While no official statement confirming or denying the incident has as of yet been issued by either of the two institutions, here’s what social media users have to say about it…

    TWITTER:

    https://twitter.com/iSadiaSheikh/status/1325475695775059968
    https://twitter.com/dsyedasad/status/1325475475511152640

    FACEBOOK:

    Have something to add to this story? Let The Current know in the comments

  • Raheel Sharif asked Nawaz Sharif for extension thrice, says ex-general

    Former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif had asked then prime minister Nawaz Sharif to extend his tenure as the chief of army staff thrice, revealed former minister Gen (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch in a talk show.

    Baloch, who was a SAFRON [ministry of states and frontier regions] minister during the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government, recently parted ways with the party over its supreme leader Nawaz Sharif’s aggressive stance towards the military establishment, especially the incumbent army chief.

    During the TV show, the retired general claimed that as per Nawaz Sharif the former COAS had requested him for an extension thrice. “It was a great disappointment for me as I had expected Raheel Sharif to retire gracefully like a true soldier,” he added.

    Last week, Baloch decided to bid goodbye to the Nawaz league for allegedly speaking against the army. He said that he was leaving the party with “heavy heart” over anti-army rhetoric of the PDM leadership. The ex-general was referring to the speeches made by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leadership during its rallies.

    “I am a product of the army and cannot stand by the narrative of disobedience since it would be extremely injurious to the country. I have taken the decision of parting ways with heavy heart,” said the retired general who had also served as Corps Commander in Quetta.

  • Passenger arrested for carrying quail in pocket on Peshawar flight

    Passenger arrested for carrying quail in pocket on Peshawar flight

    A passenger at the Bacha Khan International Airport was arrested for bringing a quail bird with him on a flight on Sunday.

    According to details, a passenger entered the plane carrying the bird in his pocket and took it out during the flight, flying from Jeddah to Peshawar and started playing with it.

    When an air hostess questioned him about it, he became angry with her, stated officials.

    The passenger was arrested by the Airport Security Force (ASF) on arrival at the Peshawar Airport. ASF officials took the quail into their custody. However, the passenger was later released after a written apology.