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  • Imran Khan says crackdown on party worse than Zia, Musharraf eras

    Imran Khan says crackdown on party worse than Zia, Musharraf eras

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has expressed concern on recent crackdowns by law-enforcement authorities on party members.

    In a tweet, Khan said that such episodes didn’t even take place during General Ziaul Haq and General Pervez Musharraf’s regimes.

    He added that despite all of this his party will not bow down.

    The Punjab government has claimed that terrorists who were involved in the attack on military installations on May 9, are hiding at Khan’s Zaman Park residence. The authorities have asked the former Prime Minister to hand them over. On May 18, an operation was expected to take place at Imran Khan’s home, however, it didn’t happen.

    Now, it is being reported that Punjab police have obtained warrants from the court to carry out a search operation in Zaman Park.

    According to details, an officer of the rank superintendent of police will lead the party which will also include female personnel. Commissioner Lahore Division will accompany the search team.

  • Renowned PCB official sacked, some in the line of fire

    Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee has seen immense changes after the arrival of Chairman Najam Sethi.

    Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Najeeb Soomro, has been sacked by the Board, and it is being said that he was unable to play his role in saving several players from injuries.

    Despite a power show of performance by the players in the New Zealand series, many players are playing without proper rest and recovery which caused problems for the management committee. Several players, including Yasir Shah, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shahawaz Dahani, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, and Imam-ul-Haq have suffered injuries. Despite not being fully fit, some players were given the go ahead to play, which not only aggravated their injuries but also affected the team.
    Meanwhile, PCB has given an advertisement for the post of Director Sports Medicine.

    Senior General Manager Finance and Accounts, Ateeq Rashid, was also recently asked to hand in his resignation. Another official was sacked due to apparent irregularities regarding honorary match tickets.

    Another director is now also on the hit list. Board officials are not satisfied with his work. Sethi is currently in England, therefore a decision is expected after his return to Pakistan.

  • 5 Pakistani’s make it to the Forbes ’30 Under 30′ list

    5 Pakistani’s make it to the Forbes ’30 Under 30′ list

    Forbes magazine has unveiled its highly anticipated list of 30 under 30 successful individuals across Asia, which features 300 people who have excelled in the fields of arts, tech, medicine and more. This year, spotted among the prodigies, are five Pakistanis who exceeded against the odds and made their mark in the fields of media, finance, marketing. Check them out below!

    Azam Mahmood as screenwriter for ‘Ramy’

    Originally from Karachi, Azam Mahmood is a story editor for the Peacock show ‘Queer As Folk’, who is also working with the Golden Globes award winning actor Ramy Youssef for the show ‘Ramy’.

    Anas Niaz as the founder of ‘Bioniks’

    Niaz is a mechatronics engineer who is the founder and CEO of Bioniks, a social enterprise from Karachi which is developing low-cost bionic arms using 3D printing technology, to create custom-made prosthetics which can allow users to manipulate objects using robotic fingers.

    Ayesha Mubarak Ali as a visual tech artist

    Mubarak is a multimedia visual tech artist whose work revolves around identity politics, space applications and the future of humanity. She made history by becoming the first Pakistani artist to collaborate with NASA scientists with her work being sent to the International Space Station for the Maleth II mission.

    Shershah Hassan and Waleed Amjad Islam, co-founders of KalPay

    Shershah Hassan and Waleed Amjad Islam are co-founders of the fin-tech startup KalPay, a Sharia compliant buy now pay later venture, which aims to provide financial access to a country where credit card use is less than 1%. The company had previously partnered with Pakistani ventures like Food Panda and Muawin to provide users with a convenient and easy way to conduct banking transactions.

  • Currency crisis alert: Pakistani rupee could drop to Rs350 against dollar without IMF assistance

    Currency crisis alert: Pakistani rupee could drop to Rs350 against dollar without IMF assistance

    The Pakistani rupee is poised to face a significant downfall, with expectations that it may plummet to as low as Rs350 against the US dollar. This alarming projection has raised concerns among stakeholders, as the weakening currency is anticipated to have far-reaching implications, particularly in terms of inflationary pressures that will disproportionately affect the lower and middle classes.

    According to Geo, the steep devaluation of the rupee, which has already lost approximately 20 per cent of its value this year, positions it among the worst-performing currencies worldwide.

    Experts, including economists Ankur Shukla and Abhishek Gupta, attribute this weakness to a range of factors. Capital flight from Pakistan is intensifying due to the growing apprehension that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may not provide the much-needed bailout required to prevent a fiscal default in the upcoming fiscal year commencing in July.

    The delay in receiving aid, which has been stalled since November, is suspected to be linked to political unrest, further exacerbating the rupee’s decline. The country’s leadership has been plagued by instability since the removal of Imran Khan, Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), through a no-confidence motion vote in April last year.

    Khan’s recent arrest has heightened tensions between him, the government, and the military. Following his imprisonment, the rupee experienced a sharp drop to a record low of 299 per dollar, only to partially recover and stabilize at 285 after his release.

    Multiple experts are warning of an imminent massive drop in the rupee, with some analysts even foreseeing a further 20 per cent depreciation. The currency’s future trajectory heavily depends on the ongoing clashes between Khan and the government, as well as the IMF’s decision regarding financial assistance.

    Adil Ghaffar, CEO at Premier Financial Services Pvt in Karachi, concurs, stating that failure to secure the loan could lead to a slump in the rupee’s value to Rs350 per dollar in June. Market sentiment remains precarious, and economists such as Farooq Pasha highlight the persistent uncertainty surrounding the rupee’s path.

    In the near term, politics will continue to pose a key risk until the elections. The bond market has also been adversely affected, with bond investors growing increasingly nervous as the spread between Pakistan’s dollar bonds and US Treasuries reached a record high of over 35 per cent this month.

    With the looming prospect of the rupee’s significant decline, the economic landscape of Pakistan hangs in a precarious balance.

  • ‘Ignored all science, history, humanity’: Activist expresses anger over Shariah Court’s decision to declare changing gender ‘unislamic’

    ‘Ignored all science, history, humanity’: Activist expresses anger over Shariah Court’s decision to declare changing gender ‘unislamic’

    The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) has announced its verdict on pleas against the Transgender Persons Rights Act 2018, stating that no one can change their gender on the basis of their self-perceived identity, which means a person cannot change their gender at will.

    Gender will remain the same as it is assigned at the time of birth.

    Lawyer Asad Jamil wrote in a tweet,” FSC has accepted petitions challenging Transgender Persons Rights Act2018. Principle of self-perceived identity is declared unIslamic and cert defs in s.2 & 2020 Rules also declared unIslamic.”

    Transgender people’s gender will be decided on physical factors rather than their emotions. Section 2F has been repealed by the court, and section 3 of the act has also been declared null and void.


    Dr Mehrub Moiz Awan, while talking to The Current, expressed her disappointment with the verdict, “Federal Shariah Court has ignored all science, history, and humanity, to give a decision that looks like a copy paste out of a Western transphobic playbook.”

    “Ironic that Pakistani Shariah is much closer to JK Rowling and Candace Owens now, then it is to the fatwas of Imam Khomeini and Shah Tantawi that affirmed transgender existence back in the 80s,” she added.

  • Despite fantastic win in Bangladesh, Pakistan’s U-19 coach still unhappy

    Pakistan U-19 team has scored a tremendous win in Bangladesh despite the team’s head coach Sabih Azhar saying that young players need a lot of improvement.

    Pakistan’s U-19 squad returned home from Bangladesh on Thursday after a memorable tour, winning in all three formats — one-off four-day match, One-Day series and a single T20 against their Bangladesh counterparts.

    LThrashing Bangladesh in their backyard is not a piece of cake, however Sabih feels like that there is still room for betterment.

    “It was not easy to beat Bangladesh in their own backyard. I am satisfied with the team’s achievement but this does not mean we relax. There are still some areas which the coaches have marked and there is still room for improvement in that,” Sabih said in a statement.

    “We are looking ahead now with a focus on finding the best winning combination that consistently performs,” the coach added.

    “Before coming into the [Bangladesh] series, we not only worked on the players physically, but we also looked after the mental aspect of the game to prepare them for performing [well] at crucial junctures. We are fully focused on doing well at the 2024 ICC U-19 World Cup, even though there is still time for the event.”

  • ‘Horrifying’: Twitter users slam ‘Tere Bin’ promo for depicting assault

    Trigger warning: discussions of marital rape, assault

    In the topsy-turvy world that is Pakistan right now, ‘Tere Bin’ is playing its part by keeping fans running around in circles. With the love-hate relationship between the main leads Murtasim (played by Wahaj Ali) and Meerab (Yumna Zaidi) switching from adorable to toxic to downright horrifying in the recent episode, fans have had enough.

    The recent episode of the drama tried to one-up itself to see how low it can go in disappointing its viewers, with once again the writers deciding to bring out the Murtasim caught cheating with Haya card, and ending the episode with Meerab’s assault.

    From the promo, viewers can definitely assume that Meerab has been assaulted by her husband and has chosen to leave him.

    Was it necessary that Murtasim, who is currently one of the most feminist male leads on our screens, be thrown under the bus just to churn up some views? Why did the writer even assume that after stalking, slapping and attempted suicide, this ‘love story’ had to hit its peak with the most heinous thing: domestic violence?

    Legal analyst Reema Omer criticised the scene on Twitter, writing:

    “TW: After months of justifying Murtasim slapping, shoving, dragging, asking Meerab to jump off the roof to prove her chastity + other toxic/violent behaviour, even #TereBin fan club is up in arms over the possible marital r*pe suggested by the promo Some silver lining, I guess.”

    Founder of ‘Something Haute, Aamna Isani wrote that she was shocked by the depiction of assault, and how could this possibly be a chance after this that Murtasim’s character would be redeemed.

    Users were tweeting that they were heartbroken at how the writer of the show has completely destroyed Murtasim’s character

    Many were tweeting that this was the end of their support for the drama, given that there is no possible justification to depict marital rape and domestic abuse.

  • Imran finally condemns attack on Lahore CC House

    Almost 10 days after Corp Commander House in Lahore was ransacked and burnt during protests by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters, party Chairman Imran Khan has condemned the attack, Geo has reported.

    In an informal chat with journalists outside an anti-terrorism court in Lahore, Imran Khan said that the attacks led to Pakistan’s image being damaged, adding that they should not have happened.

    “I have condemned it earlier too. Every Pakistani is condemning it,” the former Prime Minister reportedly said.

    He also lashed out at the Pakistan Democratic Movement led government for “arresting 7000 people.” However, he said that he has been stressing on dialogue since 11 months.

  • Fake daddy citizenship scam: Migrant women are offering British men £10,000 to pose as fathers of their children

    Fake daddy citizenship scam: Migrant women are offering British men £10,000 to pose as fathers of their children

    According to reports, there is a growing trend of British men accepting payments of up to £10,000 to have their names added to the birth certificates of children belonging to migrant women.

    A recent investigation by BBC Newsnight has revealed that scammers are utilising Facebook as a platform to find willing participants.

    These individuals claim to have assisted thousands of women in securing UK citizenship for their children and obtaining residency for themselves.

    Facebook, in response to the findings, informed the BBC that such content is explicitly prohibited according to their rules. To delve deeper into the issue, an undercover BBC researcher, assuming the identity of a pregnant woman residing in the UK unlawfully, engaged with individuals offering these services.

    One of the agents, using the alias “Thai,” informed the researcher that he could arrange for several British men to pose as fake fathers. He presented a comprehensive package at a cost of £11,000. The undercover operative was introduced to a British man named Andrew, who would feign being the child’s father and receive £8,000 from the total fee.

    If a migrant woman is residing illegally in the UK but gives birth to a child fathered by a British citizen or a man with indefinite leave to remain, the child automatically attains British citizenship. Subsequently, the mother can apply for a family visa, granting her the right to remain in the UK and pursue citizenship in due course.

    In the previous year, a total of 4,860 family visas were granted to “other dependants,” encompassing individuals applying to stay in the UK as parents of British children. It should be noted that deliberately providing false information on a birth certificate is a criminal offense.

    The Home Office assured the BBC that it has implemented measures to prevent and detect instances of immigration fraud involving falsified birth certificates. The investigation revealed that this illicit practice is prevalent in various migrant communities, including those from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka, and has been ongoing for many years.

    The investigation further uncovered that these illegal activities were widely advertised on Vietnamese Facebook groups intended for jobseekers.

    Meta, the parent company of Facebook, stated that “the solicitation of adoptions or birth certificate fraud on Facebook” is strictly prohibited. The company pledged to continue removing content that violates their policies.

  • President Alvi advises Imran Khan to openly condemn May 9 events

    President Alvi advises Imran Khan to openly condemn May 9 events

    President Arif Alvi has said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan should openly condemn the May 9 violent protests that broke out across the country.

    In an interview with Hamid Mir aired on Geo News, the president called for a probe into the violence.

    “The people involved should be punished in line with the law,” he said, emphasizing that taking action should not mean that the suspects are tortured.

    Alvi, referring to the human rights violations taking place in the country, said that we need to be careful, else it will set a very bad precedent.