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  • Met department predicts monsoon rains from tomorrow, warns of urban flooding

    Met department predicts monsoon rains from tomorrow, warns of urban flooding

    Monsoon rain-wind/thundershowers are expected in most parts of Pakistan starting from Thursday (June 30), according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).

    Rainfall is expected in Islamabad, Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan, Swat, Mansehra, Kohistan, Abbottabad, Haripur, Peshawar, Mardan, Swabi, Nowshera, Rawalpindi, Murree, Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum, Sargodha, Hafizabad, M. B Din, Sialkot, Narowal, Lahore, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sheikhupura, Faisalabad, Jhang, T.T Singh, Okara, Sahiwal and Bahawalnagar from June 30 to July 4. Isolated heavy falls are also expected during the period.

    PMD has warned that heavy falls may generate urban flooding in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot, and Faisalabad from July 2 to July 4 and in Karachi and Hyderabad from July 3 to July 5.

  • ‘Speed allowed should be more’: Afridi responds to fine for overspeeding by motorway police

    ‘Speed allowed should be more’: Afridi responds to fine for overspeeding by motorway police

    Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi continues to stay in the headlines even after retirement.

    Lala was fined by the Motorway Police for exceeding the speed limit. According to details, while travelling from Lahore to Karachi, Afridi was fined Rs 1,500 for violating the speed limit on the Motorway.

    Afridi gladly paid the fine and thanked the highway police for treating all citizens equally. Lala also took selfies with Motorway Police personnel.

    Lala made a suggestion to the Motorway authorities and tweeted, “My humble suggestion is we have very good highways, the speed allowed should be more than 120kph!”

  • Vintage camera auctioned for PKR 3.1 billion

    Vintage camera auctioned for PKR 3.1 billion

    Leica’s inventor Oskar Barnack’s camera was up for bids and was anticipated to bring in a nice little PKR 753 million ($3 million). The Leica 0-Series Model 105 owned by Barnack has now sold for PKR 3.1 billion ($15 million), that is five times the original bid making it the priciest camera ever sold.

    According to RobbReport, the camera owned by Oskar Barnack was put up for auction and was predicted to fetch $3 million.

    The company released the 0-Series to test the market two years prior to the release of the Leica A. Only about 22 were ever produced, and today there are fewer than 12 left, according to the Leitz Auction.

    Oskar Barnack, the man who created Leica, owned camera number 105; his name is inscribed on the Galilean viewfinder. (This is the kind of viewfinder found in older cameras.)

    This camera was reportedly used by Barnack until 1930, when he gave it to his son Conrad and switched to the Leica I Model C, which has interchangeable lenses. The 0-Series Model 105 was still in Barnack’s family up until 1960, when it was acquired by an American collector.

    With the anticipation that the camera would bring in around three million euros, bidding started at one million euros. A little over $15 million, or 14.4 million euros, was the final selling price. It surpasses the old best set by the auction house, which realised $2.5 million from the sale of a Leica 0-Series no. 122 in 2018.

    In addition to the heavily altered camera (which Barnack used for photographic research), the wealthy buyer will also get the original leather lens cap, an aluminium cap personalised with Barnack’s initials, and correspondence related to the Model 105.

    There were plenty of other intriguing pieces of Leica equipment and memorabilia up for auction, though none have been quite as remarkable as the Model 105.

    A black-paint Leica MP brought in $100,000, while one of Barnack’s original prints created in 1914 on an Ur-Leica sold for $9,400. Leica MP Unique Gold, another object about which we had previously written, sold for just over $75,000 at auction.

  • ‘High hopes from youth and women’: Khan reveals plan for 2 July rally

    ‘High hopes from youth and women’: Khan reveals plan for 2 July rally

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan revealed his plans to lead the July 2 protest at the Islamabad Parade Ground against the “imported government” in a meeting of the party’s political committee.

    Khan said that he had high hopes from the youth and women of the country, urging them to register for the “tiger force”. He said that the youth and women were now politically more mature than ever, as is evident from their reaction against the ousting of his government.

    The meeting also had PTI’s Central Secretary General Asad Umar, Pervez Khattak, and Aamir Mehmood Kiyani in attendance.

    This is Khan’s second call for a protest since Azadi March.

  • Video: Karachiites protest against load-shedding, clashes erupt between police protesters

    Video: Karachiites protest against load-shedding, clashes erupt between police protesters

    Residents of Karachi came out on the streets in the late hours of Monday to protest against the unannounced and prolonged load-shedding in their areas.

    On Tuesday morning, the police used tear gas and baton-charged protestors in an effort to disperse the crowd, which resulted in a clash between the two.

    According to Dawn, the demonstrators have been protesting since last night, burnt tyres, and blocked the road for traffic, which has caused traffic problems.

    The chairman of the All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA) Aslam Pakhali said that over 100 shipping containers carrying mangoes and potatoes are worth an estimated Rs250 million were stuck in traffic since Monday evening.

    https://twitter.com/nshz22/status/1541682874750947328?s=20&t=OIuOxKPZe5onCToMDfxlBw

    According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Asif Bughio, electricity in several areas of Lyari has been suspended since 4pm yesterday (Monday). He claimed that the police tried to negotiate with them but they attacked the law enforcers with stones.

    Their protest has continued for more than 20 hours now.

    According to media reports, in Karachi’s Gadap Town, the load-shedding time has gone up to 18 hours in a day. Similarly, Shah Faisal Colony, Malir, Surjani Town, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, and other areas are seeing power outages of 14 hours or more.

    Following the incidents, Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmad Shaikh contacted K-Electric Chief Executive Moonis Alvi. He noted that load-shedding has made the lives of people miserable.

    “Due to persistent load-shedding, the security situation is deteriorating,” he told the KE official.

    A day earlier, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif warned the nation that they might face increased load-shedding in the coming month of July.

  • Four dead in attack on polio team in North Waziristan

    Four dead in attack on polio team in North Waziristan

    One polio worker and three others have been killed as a result of an attack on the polio team in North Waziristan.

    According to North Waziristan DSP Traffic Sher Wali Khan, during a polio vaccination drive in the Dand Kali neighbourhood of Tehsil Datta Khel, unknown assailants opened fire on the polio team, killing two police officers, one polio worker, and a passerby. The incident happened as the polio worker was giving a young patient the oral polio vaccine (OPV).

    Pakistan has reported at least six cases of polio this year, As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two polio-endemic nations in the world.

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has expressed his grief over the incident and has ordered an inquiry.

  • Google is officially killing Hangouts in November

    Google is officially killing Hangouts in November

    Google has announced that it will suspend Google Hangouts in November this year, moving all existing users to Google Chat.

    Hangouts will be available on its desktop site until November, and Google says it will alert users at least a month before it starts pointing the Hangouts site to Chat.

    The tech giant will allow users to obtain a copy of your Hangouts data with the help of its Takeout service before its suspension.

    Moving to Google Chat opens up new and adequate ways to connect and collaborate. For example, users can edit Docs, Slides, or Sheets with side-by-side editing, making it more comfortable to cooperate while continuing the conversation.

    The ability to make direct calls, create in-line threads in Spaces and the ability for users to share and view multiple images and videos are among the new features that Google is currently rolling out.

  • Lahore High Court considering holding Punjab CM elections again

    Lahore High Court considering holding Punjab CM elections again

    The Lahore High Court (LHC) is considering the polls for the Punjab chief minister’s (CM) slot again, the court remarked on Tuesday while hearing the case challenging CM Hamza Shehbaz’s election, reports Geo News.

    The court while hearing the arguments from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) counsel asked how a political crisis would be avoided if matters are taken back to the Punjab Assembly session on April 16 and polls are held again.

    “In this case, the same presiding officer will hold the polls who was on duty during the April 16 polling,” the court said.

    The court adjourned the hearing till 10am on June 29.

    Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi in his plea challenging Hamza’s election maintained that Hamza does not have the number of votes required to be elected as the chief minister in light of the Supreme Court’s order.

    Hamza was elected as chief minister of Punjab in a session of the Punjab Assembly in complete ruckus on April 16, 2022.

  • Pakistan notifies revised export control lists of goods

    Pakistan notifies revised export control lists of goods

    Pakistan has notified revised control lists of goods, technologies, materials, and equipment subject to the Strategic Export Control Division (SECDIV) license for export.

    This was done in accordance with the Export Control on Goods, Technologies, Materials, and Equipment related to Nuclear and Biological Weapons and their Delivery Systems Act of 2004.

    “The act empowers the government to control the export, re-export, trans-shipment, and transit of goods, technologies, materials, and equipment related to nuclear and biological weapons and their delivery systems,” it added.

    According to the statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Strategic Export Control Division (SECDIV) revised/updated the control lists in consultation with other relevant ministries and departments as part of the regular review process.

    In the Pakistani Gazette S.R.O. 551(I)/2022 dated April 12, 2022, the revised control lists were announced. The control lists were first published in 2005 and later updated in 2011, 2015, 2016, and 2018, the statement said.

    According to the notification, the updated lists are in compliance with the standards and lists of these export control regimes. Over the years, Pakistan has improved its export control system, streamlined and strengthened it, and increased its interaction with international export control systems like the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime, and the Australia Group.

    The notification emphasises Pakistan’s continued commitment and strategy as a responsible nuclear state to advance the common cause of non-proliferation and strictly uphold its commitments, the statement said.

  • ‘Khan through paid social media teams is running vulgur, abusive trends against COAS, DG ISPR’: Aisha Gulalai’s letter to CJP

    ‘Khan through paid social media teams is running vulgur, abusive trends against COAS, DG ISPR’: Aisha Gulalai’s letter to CJP

    Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker Aisha Gulalai Wazir has written a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, demanding the apex court to take suo motu notice of the anti-army campaign being run “by PTI Chairman Imran Khan”.

    In the letter, she demanded the court to put Khan’s name on Exit Control List (ECL), for a treason case to be registered against him and that he and his party should be banned.

    Gulalai argued that Khan is “shamelessly” dragging the army into politics. “Criticising it [army] for being neutral, maligning it, threatening with dismembering the country, waging civil war and creating anarchy in the country, if the army stayed neutral,” she added.

    Furthermore, she said, “Acting like a mafia, Khan and his party through social media teams are running shameful, abusive and vulgar social media trends against Pakistan army, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Director General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar.” Along with these allegations, she also attached screenshots as proof.

    Gulalai also alleged that they [Khan and PTI] are using some mainstream media channels and journalists for their propaganda.

    The former PTI member also pointed out that in this way Khan is trying to “instigate the masses” against the armed forces. Moreover, she said, “Khan is threatening the state that he will disclose the security secrets of Pakistan.”

    She also alleged that the provincial government recruited social media influencers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with Rs736 million from public funds.

    Giving the reference of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Altaf Hussain — who is banned due to hate speech — and Member National Assembly (MNA) Ali Wazie, Gulalai wrote that if their hate speech cannot be allowed who actually “never went to such an extent”, Khan “should be no exception and above law”.

    Who is Aisha Gulalai Wazir?

    In 2017, Gulalai quit PTI and alleged that her then-party Chairman Imran Khan had sent her inappropriate text messages but she did not reveal any other details to support her allegations.

    According to her, she is not the only one who faced this and claimed many women in the party are facing similar issues.