Current Final

Category: Politics

  • ‘IAF pilot Abhinandan’ spotted urging Indians to vote for Modi’s party

    ‘IAF pilot Abhinandan’ spotted urging Indians to vote for Modi’s party

    In an attempt to bag maximum votes in the ongoing Indian general elections, Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched “Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman” for electioneering.

    Hailed a hero in India, Wing Commander Abhinandan was captured when his fighter jet was shot down by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in February. He, however, was later released as a peace gesture by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

    With the Hindu nationalist BJP campaigning for Lok Sabha polls in national defence’s name, a fake picture of Abhinandan urging Indians to vote for the ruling party is being shared on social media.

    The picture has been breaking the internet with a claim that the IAF pilot is supporting the BJP and has voted for Modi.

    In the photo, the pilot’s doppelganger — having his trademark handlebar moustache and a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses — can be seen wearing a muffler with the BJP’s electoral symbol.

    The Hindi caption of the viral post urges people to vote for the BJP.

    Nonetheless, upon examining the picture closely, its falsehood is narrated. Indians too are pointing out the deception of the BJP, while IAF has also reportedly declared the poster as fake.

  • VIDEO: Minister says PM Imran can ‘speak to the dead’

    VIDEO: Minister says PM Imran can ‘speak to the dead’

    Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Khan Afridi has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had a detailed conversation with the late former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani over the situation following the suicide attack on Hazara community.

    “PM [Imran Khan] had a detailed discussion with Rafsanjani Sahib,” he said while addressing a press conference after meeting the victim families of April 12’s Quetta bombing.

    With the statement from the interior minister coming two years after Rafsanjani passed away, Twitterati sprung to action to call out Afridi’s blunder.

    https://twitter.com/mSaleemJaved/status/1117797650034823168

    Some, however, defended the statement.


    PM Imran is set to pay an official two-day visit to Iran on April 21 on the invitation of President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hassan Rouhani.

    According to the Foreign Office, the premier will meet Iranian Supreme Leader Seyed Ali Khamenei, besides holding detailed consultations with President Rouhani.

  • Fact Check: Asad Umar was NOT removed from his position as the Finance Minister

    Fact Check: Asad Umar was NOT removed from his position as the Finance Minister

    Claim: ARY News ran the headline that Asad Umar was removed from his position as Finance Minister

    Fact: Severl PTI polticians clarified on Twitter that Asad Umar is still the Finance Minister

    Prime Minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has made major shuffles within its cabinet, removing at least five cabinet members, including Finance Minister Asad Umar, media reports claimed Monday.

    Among other ministers were interior and petroleum ministers, reports said.

    While it was claimed that Umar will be handed over the portfolio of the petroleum minister instead, amid all the confusion, The Current went the extra mile for verification of the claims.

    “No such decision to change ministries or the ministers’ portfolios has been taken,”
    PTI Public Relations head said.

    Not later, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry also stepped up to refute the claims.

    “No truth to reports claiming change in the portfolios of ministers,” he tweeted, adding that “media should act responsibly”. The info minister further said that spreading such rumours wasn’t in better interests of the country.

    Verdict: FALSE

  • Twitter lauds Pakistani troops for rescuing flood-affected Hindu pilgrims

    Twitter lauds Pakistani troops for rescuing flood-affected Hindu pilgrims

    Pakistan’s paramilitary troops have successfully rescued dozens of Hindu pilgrims trapped near Gandawa in Balochistan after a flood hit the area on late Saturday night.

    According to the details, over 150 Hindu pilgrims were rescued through helicopters and shifted to safe places.

    The personnel of Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps (FC), Levies Force and Provincial Disaster Management  Authority (PDMA) took part in the operation launched on the directions of Balochistan chief minister.

    The successful operation was widely lauded by Twitterati. Here’s what they had to say:

    https://twitter.com/CallSignONE/status/1117428543284228096
    https://twitter.com/WA_twets/status/1117678146327851008
  • ISPR chief trolls Indian leader for copying Pakistan’s Defence Day anthem

    ISPR chief trolls Indian leader for copying Pakistan’s Defence Day anthem

    Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor has trolled a leader of India’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for stealing the composition of a song released earlier this year by the media wing of Pakistan’s military.

    As per the details, Raj Singh of Narendra Modi’s party copied the song ‘Zindabad Pakistan’ and recorded it by changing it to ‘Zindabad Hindustan’. He also dedicated the song to Indian armed forces.

    https://twitter.com/TigerRajaSingh/status/1116612649972719617

    “Glad that you copied. But copy to speak the truth as well. #PakistanZindabad,” the ISPR chief tweeted while sharing the clip that later went viral over the internet.

    Here’s the original version:

  • VIDEO: PM Imran Khan spotted with Pakistan’s ‘nuclear launch codes’

    VIDEO: PM Imran Khan spotted with Pakistan’s ‘nuclear launch codes’

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has been spotted with “Pakistan’s nuclear launch codes”, a foreign journalist claimed Tuesday.

    Earlier this week, PM Imran was interviewed by BBC’s John Simpson. The interview that came following heightened tensions with India, discussed future ties of the two neighbouring countries.

    With the premier walking away after the interview, he was followed by an officer carrying a briefcase that Simpson revealed held “nuclear codes”.

    “Following him [Imran Khan], I was told, the officer carrying the briefcase that holds Pakistan’s nuclear codes,” he said.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    While what the briefcase really holds remains a mystery, here’s what Twitterati have to say.

    https://twitter.com/MrBubbyy/status/1116019019994341376
    https://twitter.com/meetdspartan/status/1115979217609478144
  • Another PIA hostess ‘goes missing’ in Paris

    Another PIA hostess ‘goes missing’ in Paris

    The air-hostess of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight has “gone missing” in France.

    According to the administration of the flag carrier, 30-year-old Shazia Saeed was part of the crew on PIA’s April 6 Sialkot-Paris flight.

    “She was found missing when the Paris-Lahore flight was scheduled to leave for its destination on Tuesday. The PIA station manager in Paris reported the matter to the authorities there,” a PIA spokesperson was quoted as saying.

    According to Dawn, the Lahore-based hostess may seek asylum in Europe and in that case, PIA may remove her from service.

    The disappearance of PIA flight crew members in Europe and North America is not new as in September 2018, a hostess, Fareeha Mukhtar, who was earlier barred from traveling on international routes, went missing in Canada.

    Mukhtar was suspended from service in 2015 over allegations of smuggling currency and mobile phones.

    She was later traced in Toronto where she was staying with former air hostess Mahira who had also disappeared two years ago.

  • ‘This isn’t LHC,’ Supreme Court warns lawyers against raising voice for ‘favourable verdicts’

    ‘This isn’t LHC,’ Supreme Court warns lawyers against raising voice for ‘favourable verdicts’

    A day after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shehbaz was granted pre-arrest bail by the Lahore High Court (LHC) amid much drama, the Supreme Court (SC) has taken an apparent jibe at its subordinate court.

    As per the details, a three-member bench of the top court was hearing a case regarding lease of government land to private petrol pumps when Justice Azmat Saeed warned lawyers against raising their voice in the courtroom.

    “This is not LHC where you can create ruckus to get the desired decision,” he remarked.

    Upon this, veteran lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan reminded the top court judge that he too was a part of the LHC once.

    “The existing court is not the one I left behind,” Justice Saeed said while reacting to Ahsan’s comment and cautioned him against the tone in which he was arguing before the bench.

    While Justice Saeed did not clarify his remarks about the LHC, Twitterati believe the observation points towards Hamza’s bail that came amid a standoff between police and party workers.

    As the PML-N leader’s counsel had sought an extension in his bail on Monday, dozens of party loyalists had gathered outside the court and left the premises only after the petition had been approved and National Accountancy Bureau (NAB) barred from arresting Hamza till April 17.

    NAB is after Hamza for the past six months for allegedly accumulating assets beyond known sources of income. The claim, however, has repeatedly been denied by the lawmaker himself.

  • Pakistan’s ‘highest man-made structure’ inaugurated in Thar

    Pakistan’s ‘highest man-made structure’ inaugurated in Thar

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday inaugurated the Thar coal-fired power generation plant which he said was the “highest man-made structure” of the country.

    The 660-megawatt power plant consists of two power generation units of 330 megawatts each and has been launched under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

    According to a report by Bloomberg, Thar alone can produce enough coal to generate 15 GW in 10 years. This cheap alternative to imported fuel can help the country overcome a chronic energy shortage that has been wiping off 2 per cent points from economic growth every year.

    Meanwhile, officials have said that the project has given direct and indirect employment to up to 6,000 people of the much-neglected Thar region.