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  • Inflation in France hits record-high since 1990s

    Inflation in France hits record-high since 1990s

    Preliminary EU-harmonised statistics indicated that inflation in France surged more than projected in May to a new high, putting additional pressure on President Emmanuel Macron before upcoming legislative elections.

    Consumer prices rose 0.7 per cent in May, for a 12-month inflation rate of 5.8 per cent, up from 5.4 per cent in the last month and the highest rate since France started working on European Union methodology to generate the numbers in the early 1990s, as per the INSEE statistics.

    Inflation was predicted to grow to 5.6 per cent on average, considering a poll of eight economists in a report by Reuters.

    High inflation is at the top of France’s political agenda, and following the elections, Macron’s government has promised a new wave of measures to protect buying power.

    Apart from Malta, France has managed to maintain the inflation lower than the rest of the EU due to a 25 billion euro package of measures that includes, among other things, hefty price limits on gas and electricity.

    Annual inflation in France, as measured by the national consumer price index, climbed to 5.2 per cent in May from 4.8 per cent in April, reaching its highest level since September 1985, according to INSEE.

    This month, economists surveyed by Reuters projected an average growth rate of 5.0 per cent. In France, the national index is regularly monitored, whilst outside the country, the EU-harmonised index is used to assess inflation rates among euro-area nations.

  • Priyanka Chopra lauds Saim-Sarmad’s ‘Joyland’ for winning award at Cannes

    Priyanka Chopra lauds Saim-Sarmad’s ‘Joyland’ for winning award at Cannes

    Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra Jonas is proud to see Asian Talent getting recognition at the Cannes Film Festival 2022. “It’s especially heartening to see the recognition for all the powerful talent from Asia,” she captioned.

    Priyanka Chopra is thrilled to see Asian Talent get recognition at Cannes 2022

    Taking to Instagram, the Krrish 3 star congratulated all the winners at the prestigious festival including Pakistani filmmaker Saim Sadiq for his award winning film Joyland.

    It was followed by story that featured the cast of Joyland which won the Jury Prize of the Un Certain Regard & Queer Palm.

    Priyanka Chopra is thrilled to see Asian Talent get recognition at Cannes 2022

    Taking to her Instagram stories, Chopra wrote, “Congratulations to all the winners at the Cannes Film Festival 2022.”

    Reacting to the story, Pakistani film director Sadiq thanked Priyanka for the special mention. Re-sharing his story, PeeCee again congratulated the artist.

    Priyanka Chopra is thrilled to see Asian Talent get recognition at Cannes 2022
  • CM Hamza Shehbaz finally has a cabinet after a month

    CM Hamza Shehbaz finally has a cabinet after a month

    Eight members of the new cabinet of the Punjab government took oath at Governor House in Lahore in the first phase yesterday (May 30).

     Punjab Governor Muhammad Baligh Ur Rehman administered the oath to the cabinet. Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Hamza Shehbaz was also present.

    The cabinet members include Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan, Sardar Owais Khan Leghari, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, Khawaja Salman Rafique, Syed Hassan Murtaza, Ataullah Tarar, Chaudhry Bilal Asghar and Ali Haider Gillani.

    The portfolios of the new cabinet members are yet to be announced.

    After the oath-taking ceremony, Hamza Shehbaz swore to solve the issues of the people and said, “Our motive is to serve mankind. We will move ahead with new hope and spirit, and our first and last priority is to solve the issues of the masses.”   

  • Maggi case: Man divorces woman for serving him noodles for breakfast, lunch and dinner

    Maggi case: Man divorces woman for serving him noodles for breakfast, lunch and dinner

    A unique divorce case has made news in the Indian media, in which a husband divorced his wife for cooking noodles every day. The principal district and sessions court judge in Mysuru, ML Raghunath, shared the details of the case while recalling his time as district judge at Ballari.

    He termed the case as “Maggi case”.

    An Indian judge of the chief district and session court while quoting the husband said, “It was noodles for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He complained that his wife went to the provision store and brought only instant noodles.”

    “Divorce cases are increasing drastically over the years. Couples have to stay together for at least a year before seeking divorce,” he added. According to him, if there was no such rule, the divorce petitions would be filed directly from wedding halls.

  • Woman travelling from Multan to Karachi raped by train staff

    Woman travelling from Multan to Karachi raped by train staff

    A woman was gang-raped by train workers while travelling from Multan to Karachi on the Bahauddin Zakariya Express. According to details, the victim was raped by three men. The incident took place on May 27.

    Pakistan Railways in a statement said that ticket-checker Zahid, took the victim to an air-conditioned compartment of the train, where the manager Aqib was already present. Aqib, Zahid and another train staffer then sexually assaulted the victim.

    A first information report (FIR) was filed at the Railways Police Station under Sections 377 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

    As per Pakistan Railways, the accused persons have been arrested.

    Police is further investigating the incident.

  • Orange line metro surpasses 11,000 daily ridership

    Orange line metro surpasses 11,000 daily ridership

    The Capital Development Authority (CDA) is satisfied with the average daily ridership on the Orange Line Metro Bus route.

    The data on average ridership on the Orange Line Metro Bus route was reviewed during a session at the headquarters of CDA. The average daily passenger load for 15 buses was 11,464 passengers per day, resulting in 30 passengers every bus journey.

    It was also shown that the Faiz Ahmed Faiz junction for the Orange and Red lines was the busiest, with 1,746 passengers per day, while the Police Foundation-Mauve Area Stop was the least used.

    Additionally, May 23, with over 16,000 passengers, was the busiest day of the year. It has been observed that as time passes, the ridership on this route improves.

    The CDA administration expressed their delight that a big number of people are taking advantage of this service, and expressed their optimism that with the upcoming inauguration of the green and blue lines, the connection between various districts of the city will improve, as well as the number of ridership.

    The administration expressed the hope that not only would this reduce traffic congestion, but that it would also assist to reduce air pollution in the city.

    It is important to note that buses are expected to arrive in Islamabad from Karachi by the end of this week; in the first phase, buses for the orange, blue, and green lines are also arriving in the federal capital.

  • ‘Our people had pistols’: Khan admits PTI workers had weapons in Azadi March

    ‘Our people had pistols’: Khan admits PTI workers had weapons in Azadi March

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan admitted that during the Azadi March, PTI protesters were carrying weapons with them. 

    Khan’s comments came while speaking on 92 News‘ political talk show ‘Hard Talk’. The former premier said that had the march continued, the clashes between the protestors and the police would have led to anarchy in the country.

    “There was already hatred among the people due to raids carried out by the Punjab Police on PTI lawmakers’ houses a day prior to the march. I was 100 per cent sure that the situation would lead to chaos after the protestors would have seen me,” said Khan.

    “Our people had pistols on them too. I was afraid that the country will now face riots,” Khan told anchorperson Moeed Pirzada.

    Khan further said that the decision to continue the march would have led to hatred against the police and the army and this would create further divisions in the country. He added that this hatred would have only benefitted the thieves who were now in power.

    Khan also commented on police constable Kamal Ahmed who was shot dead during a raid of a PTI leader’s house in Lahore’s Model Town.

    “We have never engaged in politics of provocation. The government blamed the PTI for the [martyred] constable’s death. Anyone would have thought that a thief has entered a house at 2am.”

  • Energy crisis worsens, electricity gap surpasses 7,000 megawatts

    Energy crisis worsens, electricity gap surpasses 7,000 megawatts

    The demand for electricity in Pakistan has risen to 28,200 megawatts due to the hot weather, while the supply is only 21,200 megawatts, resulting in a power shortfall of nearly 7,000 megawatts.

    According to well-placed sources, the country currently gets 4,635 megawatts of energy from hydropower, 1,060 megawatts from government thermal power plants, and 9,677 megawatts from IPPs. Additionally, due to a lack of oil, gas, and coal, numerous factories have been shut down.

    Several areas of the country are experiencing daily loadshedding of 10 to 12 hours due to the expanding shortfall, which is exacerbated by the hot heat.

    However, in locations with significant line losses, loadshedding lasts longer than 12 hours.

    The scheduled loadshedding technique is not being used due to the lack of data, according to the sources. In Karachi, K-Electric, the city’s sole electricity distribution provider, is imposing daily loadshedding of 9 to 10 hours.

    As per reports, the loadshedding will be resolved within the next several months.

  • Fact Check: Bilawal Bhutto was not rejected as speaker by NYU, Columbia University

    Fact Check: Bilawal Bhutto was not rejected as speaker by NYU, Columbia University

    Claim: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto reached out to Pakistani students in Columbia University and NYU, both rejected to being his audience for a talk

    Fact: Bilawal Bhutto never contacted Pakistani students in NYU or Columbia University and so was never rejected by him

    On May 27, Shandana Gulzar Khan, a former PTI MNA made a tweet claiming that she has been told by “a person in a sensitive post”, that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reached out to Pakistani students at Columbia University and New York University, requesting them to arrange a talk with him but both organizations refused. The thread continues onwards and claims that after these two disappointments, Bhutto asked Pakistani students at Cornell to arrange a talk with him, which they first accepted and then at the insistence of the general student body, eventually rejected as well.

    This thread gathered 1,622 Likes, RTs and replies and has been shared to at least 562,647 followers on Twitter.

    Shandana Gulzar Khan’s tweet which refers to Bilawal Bhutto’s rejected request.

    The following day, on May 28, the Pakistani Students Association at NYU and the Organization of Pakistani Students at Columbia University both made announcements on Facebook clarifying that Bilawal Bhutto never contacted them so naturally they never rejected his proposal.

    To confirm with the final university, we reached out to the Pakistani students’ organization at Cornell on their Facebook page ‘Cornell University Pakistani Students Association’. They directed us to an Instagram post which clarified the same as the other two organizations.

  • ‘Produce missing persons or appear before court’: IHC sends notice to Musharraf, IK, PM Shehbaz

    ‘Produce missing persons or appear before court’: IHC sends notice to Musharraf, IK, PM Shehbaz

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed the government to issue notices to former President General Pervez Musharraf, former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and the current PM Shehbaz Sharif for following an “undeclared tacit approval of the policy regarding enforced disappearances.”

    The court directed that the federal government shall produce the missing persons before the court on June 17 or justify the failure of the state to effectively investigate.

    IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Justice Athar Minallah said, “Musharraf and all other successor chief executives [PM Shehbaz and Khan] shall submit their respective affidavits explaining why the court may not order proceedings against them for alleged subversion of the Constitution in the context of undeclared tacit approval of the policy regarding enforced disappearances and thus putting national security at risk by allowing the involvement of law enforcement agencies, particularly the armed forces.”

    The court also noted that the involvement or even a perception of the involvement of the armed forces in acts “amounting to a violation of human rights and freedom of the citizens weakens and undermines the rule of law.”

    On Sunday, the high court issued a 15-page order in a case related to the disappearance of journalist Mudassar Mahmood Naro and five other people after their petitions were in their final phases, but the federal government requested an “adjournment.”

    The court also noted the fact that how the Pakistani media ignores this form of abuse and that reporting on the matter is not a priority. Moreover, the court also expressed dissatisfaction over the role of parliament in regard to the disappearances. It said that “they are the most important and crucial organs of the state but nothing has been placed on record to indicate that they may have adopted a proactive role to fulfill their Constitutional obligations.”

    Journalist Mudassar has been missing since 2018 from Khyber Pakhtunkhua.