Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Makhdoom Tahir Rashiduddin has won a by-election in Rahim Yar Khan with a huge margin, securing one lac sixteen thousand four hundred twenty-nine votes.
The by-election, held on Thursday in NA-171, saw the PPP candidate defeat the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Hasan Mustafa, who could only secure fifty-eight thousand two hundred fifty-one.
In a well-hyped campaign, the polling process continued without a break from 8 AM to 5 PM.
The by-election took place after the death of PTI Member National Assembly (MNA) Mumtaz Mustafa in the NA-171 constituency, which has 5 lac twenty-six thousand nine hundred seventy-three (526,973) votes.
Under section 73 of the Election Act, a by-election occurs when an elected official dies, is disqualified, resigns or is unable to continue serving as a lawmaker.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has cancelled its protests today across the country, to save its strength for the upcoming September 22 Lahore power show.
The protests were scheduled against the arrests of PTI leaders after the September 8 rally.
PTI leaders said that the Friday protests were called off at the instructions of founder PTI Imran Khan. The party wanted to gather its strength and mobilise its leaders and workers from across the country.
Hammad Azhar also tweeted yesterday that the Friday protest has been “postponed” per Khan’s directions, and all focus should be on the Lahore rally.
PTI spokesman in Punjab, Shaukat Basra, spoke with Dawn News, saying, “Since every peaceful PTI activity has resulted in party leaders and workers’ arrests and registration of FIRs, the party has decided to save its strength and attend the Lahore jalsa with full force and enthusiasm.”
“The PTI is determined to hold its meeting in Lahore on Sept 22, come what may,” said Basra regarding the issuance of NOC (no objection certificate) by the Lahore administration.
Senator Faisal Vawda, known for his sensational political claims and explosive press conferences, while talking on the Aaj News programme, claimed, “Murad Saeed is that parrot that holds two people’s lives – Faiz Hameed and Imran Khan.”
In a reply to a question, Vawda alleged, “Former ISI Chief Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed will throw Khan under the bus, and Khan will blame Faiz in the coming days.”
“He [Murad Saeed] has been sandwiched between the two because he’ll get in trouble either way whichever side [Faiz or Khan’s] he chooses,” alleged the former PTI senator.
Furthermore, Faisal Vawda hinted at a nexus between Gen Faiz and Khan regarding the murder of journalist Arshad Sharif and the PTI’s long march on May 25, 2022.
Vawda also criticised KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur, saying that he used to say nobody’s father could arrest Imran Khan and now claims the same thing about Khan’s possible military trial.
Former spymaster General Faiz Hameed gifted a brand new bulletproof car to the Chief of terrorist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Noor Wali Mehsud, a step taken allegedly to win his confidence amid negotiation.
Veteran journalist Azaz Syed took to his YouTube show Talk SHOCK to reveal that TTP head Mehsud presented three demands to ex-spymaster Gen Faiz during the tenure of the government led by founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan. One of the demands was to settle forty thousand families, including militants, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
The second demand was to abolish the merger status of the Federal Administrative Tribal Area (FATA) with KP, while the third demand was to provide TTP with six billion rupees of financial support.
However, the state resisted the financial demand, expressing concern about the possible use of financial aid against Pakistan in terror activities.
Azaz further revealed that Gen Faiz urged Mehsud to have friendly relationships with the state of Pakistan, to which Mehsud sarcastically responded, saying that they are not as isolated as Pakistan in terms of cordial relations with border countries.
The cricket Test match between Afghanistan and New Zealand, scheduled for Noida, India, has been washed out amid rain and a wet outfield.
Although the weather was good and the sun was shining on the first two days of the Test match, the outfield was wet, raising questions about the staff’s preparation of the ground. On the remaining three days, both teams could not enter the field as rain continued to pour down.
On the last day of the match, umpires inspected the ground, but due to the accumulation of water in the ground and the wet outfield, the match ended without a toss.
In the history of Test cricket since 1890, only seven matches have ended without a single ball being bowled. The last time it happened was in 1998, when a game between India and New Zealand in Dunedin was abandoned due to rain.
During an appearance on Mazaq Raat, hosted by Imran Ashraf, Bashir shared a touching moment with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the famous Bollywood director.
Bashir said, “I believe that the way they [India] understand and appreciate music is truly remarkable. I was sitting with Sanjay Leela Bhansali on set, and I presented a raag to him, and believe me Albela Bhai, he was moved to tears. He told me, ‘The soil of Pakistan is so melodious that I have never encountered such tuneful soil.’”
Javed Bashir is one of Pakistan’s most proficient singers, with many hits to his credit.
The wife of actor Adnan Shah, popularly known as Adnan Shah Tipu, wants schools where only the children of celebrities can study.
Recently, Adnan Shah and his wife Hajira Shah participated in a morning show in which they discussed their four daughters.
The actor shared that when their fourth daughter was born, a family member dejectedly commented that a daughter had been born for the fourth time in their house. He answered by saying, “What is your problem? Are you regretting it or congratulating us?”
His wife added, “We replied, ‘Will you be providing flour, lentils, and rations for our household? We will feed them ourselves.’”
Meanwhile, Adnan Shah expressed that having daughters is a special blessing from Allah. He said, “I am thankful to the Lord that it never occurred to me that I don’t have a son. The fact that Allah has blessed me with children is a great gift.”
The host then asked if their children benefited from being the daughters of an actor at school.
In response, Adnan Shah said, “They do benefit, but they also face many challenges. When a celebrity’s child is in school, other children often feel inferior, which leads to bullying.”
Hajira Shah added, “My daughters are bullied a lot. This is why I am appealing to the government to establish schools in Pakistan exclusively for celebrities’ children, as my daughters and I are suffering because of this.”
Australian Test cricket team captain Pat Cummins celebrated the late Shane Warne’s birthday with an inspiring poetry reading.
Cricket Australia shared an emotional video with a montage of highlights of the legendary king of spin: “Happy birthday, Warne, A poetic tribute to the life and magic of Shane Keith Warne, as read by Australia Test captain Pat Cummins.”
This poem was written by Adam Burnett for Warne in 2022, titled Lightning in a Bottle: An Ode to Shane Warne.
Shane Warne took 708 wickets in 145 Test matches, 293 in 194 ODI matches, and 57 wickets in 55 (Indian Premier League) matches.
Arguably the greatest spinner in the history of the game, Warne died of a sudden heart attack at age 52 while on vacation in Thailand in 2022. Hours earlier he had paid tribute to Rod Marsh, who died on the same day. His unexpected death left the cricketing world reeling in shock.
You can read the full poem below.
Lightning in a Bottle: An Ode to Shane Warne
In your mind’s eye still you see him, standing calm atop his mark,
Ball in hand, it’s fizzing, as he looks around the park
He waits another heartbeat, points his fielders where to go,
It’s all part of the magic act, it’s all part of the show
His walk begins, deliberate, it builds towards its height,
He lets it go, the rest we know – has there been a better sight?
….
But now it’s gone forever, our sport will never be the same,
And so we ponder how to honour a true icon of the game
For where to start with Shane Keith Warne, that otherworldly gift?
We could talk about the wicked spin, the endless flight, the drift
We could talk about the wickets and the bluster and the guile,
We could talk about the character, the look, the hair, the smile
….
We could talk about charisma, a bush ballad come to life,
We could talk about the dramas and the trouble and the strife
We could talk about the slider and the leg breaks and the flipper,
We can contemplate a world in which he was full-time Aussie skipper
…
But single takes won’t encapsulate this giant of the sport,
A Melbourne kid with cricket nous that simply can’t be taught
We’re reflecting on an icon here, Australia’s finest sprig of wattle,
This is Shane Warne – the king – the lightning in a bottle
For such a man we need to go beyond the one-off traits,
Where history meets destiny, and a wider legacy awaits
…
Think miracles and magic, think spin bowling redefined,
Think generations spellbound, think unique, one of a kind
Think mastery and sleight of hand unmatched in cricket’s lore,
Think phenomenon, a genius who allowed an art to soar
…
We can marvel at the theatre, a crowd expectant, still,
We’re all in awe and in his palm, the game bent to his will
We’re watching and we’re waiting as our showman owns the stage,
We’re witnessing the golden glow of Australia’s golden age
…
Then each of us will zero in on moments we hold dearest,
The balls that somehow shaped our lives, the ones we still see clearest
Richardson and Cullinan, you remember who was batting,
Gibbs and Strauss and Stewart, and you’ll always treasure Gatting
…
A hat-trick in the Ashes, a World Cup spun his way,
The comeback in Sri Lanka, that final Boxing Day
So take your pick and go there in the quiet of your mind,
Just close your eyes and conjure – this is what he leaves behind
…
See the wickets we can tally up, but the emotion we can’t measure,
The feelings that he stirred in us, the simple sense of pleasure
A chubby blond in cricket whites, he took a ball and twirled,
For fifteen years he cast his spell, bewitched the cricket world
…
He was just a bloke – extraordinary – but fallible and flawed,
It meant he felt like one of us, made him all the more adored
Which is why he’s left us grappling, left the cricket world defeated,
From Launceston to the Long Room, we’ve all been left depleted
But flip that thought and think instead how enriched we are by Warne,
Let’s salute a pure entertainer – the greatest bowler ever born.
Lahore High Court on Wednesday granted post-arrest bail to an underage driver involved in the fatal car accident in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Phase Seven that resulted in the death of six members of a family last year.
Proceedings of the case
Suspect Afnan Shafqat’s lawyer stated that three co-suspects have been found innocent in police investigation. Additonally, the geofencing of the incident also showed that witnesses were not present at the scene.
The court also inquired whether the suspect, who was 17 and a half years old at the time of the accident, was declared a juvenile. To this the lawyer confirmed that the police declared the suspect a juvenile in the charge sheet.
He said as per law, if the trial does not start within six months, bail should be granted.
Victim’s lawyer opposed the bail and argued that the discrepancies in the versions of his client were due to state of shock when he gave the initial statement and provided a supplementary statement once he regained his composure.
He stated in front of the court that the statements of the witnesses are not relevant to the bail petition.
The bench observed that the decision on bail would be based on the available evidence.
The victims’ lawyer told court that the suspect did not merely hit the vehicle accidentally, but he forcefully hit it with intent.
Forensic report
The court was told a forensic report of the vehicles was still pending and a medical board had been formed to assess the juvenile status of the suspect.The lawyer argued that a decision on the bail should be made in light of the medical board’s report.
Bail granted
Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi, the head of the judicial bench allowed the bail petition of the suspect after furnishing surety bonds.
Case so far
The Punjab police is yet to receive the test reports of Afnan Shafqat, the primary accused in the death of six members of a family while driving a car without a license in DHA Phase 7, Lahore.
According to sources, the Polygraph and Photogrammetric test of Afnan was conducted by the Punjab Forensic Science Agency. The polygraph test is conducted to detect lies while the photogrammetric test is a part of forensic analysis where an accurate 3D reconstruction of an accident or crime scene is done especially in cases where position, distance, and perspective are important to determine.
However, police has not received the Ossification test conducted to determine the age of Afnan. Police will further proceed with the case after receiving the results of reports, reports The News.
On November 23, an anti-terrorism court in Lahore handed over the underage driver Afnan Shafqat to the police for five days on physical remand. During the hearing, the investigation officer (IO) of the case told the court that the age of suspect was over 17 and a medical test was required to determine his actual age.
Meanwhile, Judge Abher Gul Khan extended the pre-arrest bail of the suspect’s father Shafqat Ali till Dec 4, reports Dawn.
Previously, another suspect named Ibrahim, a friend of the teenage boy Afnan, also sitting in the car with him when the car got into an accident in Defence Phase 7 has been arrested by the police.
According to a report by the Dawn News, four of the friends were there in the car when the tragic accident took place. They were Saad, Ali and Ibrahim along the prime accused Afnan.
The police has started the process of Ossification to determine the age of the suspect. Lahore Investigation DIG Imran Kishwar said the decision was made following the conflicting reports/claims either he was underage or a teen. Initially, the police were told that the prime suspect was 17 years old, he said.
The Ossification is a test that determines age based on the degree of fusion of bone by taking the x-ray of a few bones. This process of the bone formation is based on the fusion of joints between birth and the age of 25 years in an individual.
The police added terrorism and murder charges to the already registered case against a teenage boy who killed six of a family in DHA Phase 7, Lahore. On the other hand, head of the family who was in the other car expressed his disappointment over this new development. Rafaqat Ali claims that the boy killed his family members over a grudge.
He alleges that the boy was not alone at the time when he ‘deliberately’ hit the car of his family while driving his four-wheeler at high speed (over 100 km/h) at Phase VII. He also mentioned that the two other accomplices were also accompanying him in the car at the time of the incident, reports Dawn.
The prime suspect had a prior brawl with his family members when they chased his car on the road, to which he demanded the addition of more sections to the FIR to punish all the suspects.
The Police has stated that the boy was chasing the family in the car and on interruption at a point he had threatened the family that he would not let them drive in DHA’s jurisdiction, another act that reflected his ‘mindset’.
The police had sent notices to the accomplices as mentioned in Rafaqat’s statement.
New revelations are coming up as the investigation continues in the case of a teenage boy who killed six people of a family in a road accident in DHA Lahore.
Crackdown on Young drivers
In light of the accident, the Lahore chief traffic officer (CTO) said the police lodged 998 cases against underage drivers during the last three days and sent many of them behind bars, besides seizing their vehicles, including motorbikes.
Caretaker CM Naqvi also issued a directive to be strict against underage drivers.
The proceedings of the case up till now
Previously, In a geo.tv report, Azam Malik reported that the teenage boy, Afnan, was stalking the car of the deceased victims after he had a brawl with them. The driver of the car Hasnain, reprimanded Afnan for harassing the women travelling with him, raising the speed to dodge Afnan but the boy kept following him.
A third car that was following them was being driven by Hasnain’s father. At some point, near Y Block’s Nala, the two of them stopped the car to scold Afnan but the boy remained adamant and cursed at the two in response.
The stance of the Punjab government
The Punjab government has stated that Afnan hit Hasnain’s vehicle near McDonald Chowk in Phase 7 at a speed of 160 km/hr. As a result, Hasnain’s car overturned and fell some 70 feet away. Four people came to rescue Afnan but left him after seeing the rage of the crowd. Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has told IG Punjab to add sections of terrorism against the accused.
The proceedings of the Court
The family of the victims have alleged that the police is not cooperating with them. Previously, the judicial magistrate at Cantonment Courts on Tuesday sent the boy to jail on judicial remand whereas the police asked for a physical remand. The counsel for the suspect denied the charges, leading to the magistrate turning down the police’s request.
The catch in the case
The case lodged by the police is in line with the statements of the witnesses that the boy was driving the car alone which led to the accident, claiming the lives of six people including two children but a video statement released by the Lahore Traffic Police on Twitter showed the boy himself claiming that he and his friends were going to the McDonalds in Phase Seven in a high speed when they hit the victim’s car.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Board of Governors has proposed to include the Champions Cup in the 2014 Constitution in its 74th meeting.
The Board of Governors suggested that the Champions Cup should be included in the PCB Constitution 2014, along with the T20 and four-day format events, to make it part of the annual calendar, hoping that it will bring continuity and consistency to the domestic cricket system.
Members also suggested that PCB should take full control of Iqbal Stadium, upgrade it to international standards, and restore the venue.
The Board of Governors received an update on the progress of the infrastructure projects, including the design and scope of work. The members expressed their full support and satisfaction with the projects, saying they needed the time. Once the projects are completed, they will help raise the image and profile of Pakistan and domestic cricket.
The Champions ODI Cup began on Thursday afternoon with the opening match between the Markhors and the Panthers at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.
