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  • Buzdar tells DCs to promote ‘qawali’, wants pictures of programmes

    Buzdar tells DCs to promote ‘qawali’, wants pictures of programmes

    As Punjab grapples with coronavirus outbreak and poor economic situation, the provincial government has asked its deputy commissioners to promote ‘qawali’ in the province.

    The News reported that Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has directed the DCs to have qawali performance in their respective areas and also promote them on cable networks.

    In addition, these civil servants have also been asked to send weekly reports to the Chief Minister’s Office about the concerts.

    It reported “a regular monitoring mechanism” has been devised and the CM wants the DCs to send his office the pictures of the programmes as well.

    The report claimed that the order to promote qawalis in the province might have come from Banigala — residence of PM Imran Khan where he lives with his spouse Bushra Bibi.

    The chief minister has faced a lot of criticism for his inability to run the province. During the two-year tenure of Buzdar, there has been a decline in almost departments of the provincial government.

    During his rule, at least six police chief of the province have been changed, five chief secretaries have been shown the door, but things have remained the same.

    However, despite all the odds, the PM has decided to stick with Buzdar and said he would emerge as the best chief minister of Punjab.

  • Govt says will cancel Nawaz’s passport on Feb 16

    Govt says will cancel Nawaz’s passport on Feb 16

    In a bid to bring former prime minister Nawaz Sharif back to Pakistan, the federal government will cancel his passport on Feb 16, said Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed on Wednesday.

    Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, the minister said that the passport of the ex-PM will be revoked owing to his refusal to return to Pakistan.

    Nawaz had left for London for a medical check-up last year after his health deteriorated in jail. The ex-premier, who was convicted in two graft cases, has refused to return since.

    Rasheed also said that now people will be able to obtain visas for any country online.

    It may be noted that the interior ministry’s decision to revoke the passport of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader came two months after a request by the National Accountability Bureau.

    According to Geo, NAB had sought cancellation of the passport and the CNIC of the ex-PM in OCt. “During the course of proceedings, the said accused [Nawaz] deliberately absented himself from the court and after the due process…whenever accused is arrested, he be produced before the court.”

    “In view thereof, copies of the said court order and perpetual non-bailable warrant of arrest are forwarded for processing of blacklisting/cancellation of the passport and blockage / impounding of CNIC of the accused through the Ministry of Interior,” NAB said in an order.

  • Fawad Alam hits 2nd Test 100 in lost NZ match

    Fawad Alam hits 2nd Test 100 in lost NZ match

    Fawad Alam’s heroic ton went in vain as the home team won the first Test by 101 runs in Tauranga’s Mount Maunganui stadium on Wednesday.

    Eleven years, five months and 16 days on from that other lifetime when he scored his first Test hundred, Fawad pulled Wagner behind square – that shot had served him well both in defence and attack – past a diving deep fielder to bring up a second Test hundred.

    The last one he scored was way back in 2009 when he hit 168 on Test debut against Sri Lanka while opening the innings. Since then Alam has played just six Tests having made a comeback in 2020.

    Babar Azam’s injury gave him another go and yet he proved to be an ace for the team.

    The Green Caps began the final day’s play at 71-3 in chase of 373-run target with Azhar Ali and Fawad batting at 34 and 21 respectively.

    He put on a 165-run partnership with captain Mohammad Rizwan who scored a gritty half-century as well. 380 balls faced by Alam and Rizwan during their partnership – the second-longest stand for Pakistan in Tests.

    The wicketkeeper-batsman’s dismissal sparked a collapse as he was trapped leg-before by Kyle Jamieson for 60 while Fawad, who hit 14 boundaries in his 102-run knock, was caught behind on the bowling of Neil Wagner.

    The tail-end pair of pacemen Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah provided resistance to salvage a draw but it wasn’t to be as the latter was caught and bowled by Santner for one with just four more overs to go.

    Here are some reactions by cricketing experts on Fawad’s resilient innings:

    https://twitter.com/DennisCricket_/status/1344128439100481536?s=08

    Later PCB released a video in this fawad talked about his patience and test performance…

    What do you think of Fawad’s innings? Let The Current know in the comments

  • Archie speaks publicly for the first time on Meghan, Harry’s first podcast

    Archie speaks publicly for the first time on Meghan, Harry’s first podcast

    Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan on Tuesday thanked essential workers and offered encouragement to people who suffered during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in their first podcast released on Spotify.

    Harry and Meghan, known officially as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, hosted the episode and introduced reflections and hopes for the new year from singer Elton John, producer and actor Tyler Perry, tennis champion Naomi Osaka and other celebrities, artists and authors.

    During the 33-minute episode, the couple thanked healthcare and frontline workers and others who made sacrifices during a challenging year.

    “From us, I’ll say no matter what life throws at you guys, trust us when we say, love wins,” Meghan said.

    “Love always wins,” Harry added.

    The episode ended with a surprise appearance by the couple’s 19-month-old son, Archie. With guidance from his parents, Archie said: “Happy … New … Year!”

    Harry and Meghan stepped back from their royal duties in January and moved with Archie to Southern California to live a more independent life and escape the hostile British media. The pair made no mention of their move in the podcast.

    Read more – PM Imran shares his thoughts on Megxit

    In September, the couple signed a multi-year production deal for TV programming with Netflix Inc, followed by a multi-year agreement to produce and host podcasts for Spotify.

  • Balochistan govt halts Gwadar fencing after backlash

    Balochistan govt halts Gwadar fencing after backlash

    After backlash, the Balochistan government has decided to halt work on the fencing of Gwadar until a consensus is reached on the issue.

    Home Minister Mir Zia Lango said that Chief Minister Jam Kamal has ordered the authorities to stop the process amid criticism by the locals. He said that a parliamentary delegation would give its recommendation to the chief minister and the government would address the concerns of the locals first and then move ahead with the project.

    The process will move forward after the consultation with the people of Gwadar, he said, adding that the apprehensions of the public were of foremost importance. “The provincial government headed by CM Kamal is working for the betterment of people,” he added.

    The fencing of the city was criticised by local and national politicians, who termed the process discriminatory.

    Pakistan People’s Party leader Raza Rabbani had likened it to the Berlin Wall. “In an era when the Berlin Wall fell, and here the city is being divided in the name of security. It has raised serious concern among people of the area,” he had added.

  • Hamid Mir says Khawaja Asif’s arrest proves ‘someone is really scared’

    Hamid Mir says Khawaja Asif’s arrest proves ‘someone is really scared’

    Senior journalist Hamid Mir has said that the arrest if Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif showed that someone was “really scared”.

    In a tweet, Mir said Asif presented himself for the arrest “with a smile and he will come back from the jail with a smile on his face”. “His arrest only proves that someone is really scared and worried,” he said, without taking any names.

    On Tuesday, Asif was taken into custody in the backdrop of an ongoing investigation into allegations of him possessing assets beyond known sources of income to the tune of whopping Rs260 million. PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said he was arrested from near PML-N general secretary Ahsan Iqbal’s house.

    Mir had also commented on the arrest yesterday. He had said that the former foreign minister knew he would be arrested and had even made preparations beforehand for what he considered an “eventuality”. “He had prepared a bag as well and would say that the NAB would arrest him soon,” said Mir.

    In Oct this year, Asif had alleged that Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted to harm him and his wife by using his political opponents.

    Speaking on a TV show, the PML-N leader had claimed the prime minister wanted his rivals to hold a protest outside his residence, target him in a road accident, and harass his wife by forcing her out of the vehicle.

    Asif had alleged that the PM desired to get him beaten up or implicate in a narcotics case in order to teach him a lesson. He had said that he wanted to raise these issues in the National Assembly, but he was not allowed by the NA speaker to talk.

  • Govt officer commits suicide ‘due to NAB harassment’

    Govt officer commits suicide ‘due to NAB harassment’

    A senior government official, who was named in a corruption reference, committed suicide on Tuesday owing to the alleged harassment by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

    Geo News reported that the deceased, a BS-22 officer, was upset because of NAB’s ongoing investigation against him and others for months. According to the report that quoted a family friend of the deceased, the officer killed himself because he was “deeply stressed” due to NAB.

    A NAB spokesperson rejected the allegations. According to NAB, the deceased was not even in its custody. It added that the case was filed six months ago and it’s sub-judice at present.

    Reportedly, the deceased was named in a case pertaining to the alleged embezzlement of Rs1.657 billion after the Benazir Income Support Programme high-ups awarded an illegal contract to an advertising agency.

    NAB has been accused of pressurising suspects on multiple occasions, and this is not the first time that someone has committed suicide to escape its clutches.

    It is to mention here that former Military Intelligence officer and prominent defense analyst Brig (r) Asad Munir committed suicide after the emergence of media reports that NAB had decided to file a reference of abuse of office against him. His body was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his apartment in Diplomatic Enclave on March 16, 2019.

    Furthermore, former Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senator Sehar Kamran also compiled data which claimed that “NAB custody is worse than the United States’ (US) infamous military jail, the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp”.

    The scattered data of alleged rights violations by NAB was compiled by Kamran in a brief she reportedly sent to Federal Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari among other authorities concerned earlier this year.

    According to the brief, 11 NAB suspects have lost their lives while in custody or “as a direct result of the harassment by the agency”.

  • PPP says will not quit assemblies, won’t take ‘dictation’

    The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has decided to oppose the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) decision to submit mass resignations, saying it would provide the government with an opportunity to undo democratic legislation.

    The decision was made during a meeting of the party’s Central Executive Committee that had met to mull the options of mass resignations and long march towards Islamabad.

    The PPP leadership said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government could repeal the 18th Amendment and other laws that strengthened democracy.

    It further said the party was open to discussing this option but after the return of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. It may be noted here that Nawaz is in London for the past year on account of frail health.

    The PPP said it will stand by the commitments it made with the PDM leadership, but it will not take dictation from other parties.

    On Sunday, the PPP co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari, made a similar statement, wherein he had said that the PDM parties needed to change their tactics and stop dictating each other on how to put up a fight against the government.

    According to reports, the top PPP leadership wasn’t happy with PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman’s decision to skip the Larkana gathering held to commemorate Benazir Bhutto’s death anniversary.

    “Maulana Fazlur Rehman did not attend Benazir Bhutto’s death anniversary due to local politics,” a report in Geo News claimed. Fazl didn’t attend the key PPP rally, but he still wanted the party to quit assemblies on his call, the report quoted the participants of the CEC as saying.

    Meanwhile, the PDM will hold an important meeting later this week to discuss the future course of the anti-government alliance.

  • #100MostHandsomeFacesOf2020 trends on Twitter, here are a few nominees

    #100MostHandsomeFacesOf2020 is trending on Twitter and people are tweeting pictures of their favourite celebrities, politicians and stars. Here are a few faces that have been nominated by social media users for the title.

    Some Twitter users think that Prime Minister Imran Khan is one of the most handsome faces of 2020.

    https://twitter.com/F_Z1214/status/1343805285153038336?s=20
    https://twitter.com/itsLaryb/status/1343828108286296064?s=20
    https://twitter.com/PTI1Tiger/status/1343873326436020225?s=20

    Others tweeted in favour of Maryam Nawaz.

    https://twitter.com/teasersixer/status/1343812551042359296?s=20

    Of course, how could Pakistanis miss Engin Altan, the lead character from their favourite show Diriliş: Ertuğrul.

    Others who are a popular choice include Shahid Afridi and Hamza Ali Abbasi.

    South Korean music band BTS member V aka Kim Taehyung was also among the people’s choice for most handsome faces of 2020.

    There is a section of people who are nominating Zayn Malik for the title as well.

    A few contestants from an Indian reality TV show Bigg Boss have also been nominated for the title by their fans.

    https://twitter.com/majesticsmiles_/status/1343881618704850944?s=20

  • New COVID strain detected in three UK returnees

    Pakistan has reported three cases of the new strain of coronavirus that first emerged in the United Kingdom, prompting countries to ban travel with the UK.

    This new strain, called the B.1.17 lineage, may be 70% more infectious than the previous strain going around in the UK. According to the Sindh Health Department, three passengers who had arrived from the UK had been infected with this variant of the coronavirus.

    The health department said it took samples of 12 people who had returned from the UK for genotyping, out of which six tested positive for the coronavirus. “Three showed the new variant for the COVID-19 in the first phase of testing,” said the statement of the department quoted by Geo News.

    It said that the samples will be sent to the 2nd phase of genotyping. The health department has already begun tracing the people that these patients had come into contact with.

    Last week, reports that a new strain of coronavirus, similar to the one wreaking havoc in the United Kingdom, had also surfaced in Karachi. Coronavirus Task Force head Dr Attaur Rehman had said that the authorities discovered a new strain of coronavirus in the port city that is similar to the one spreading in Europe.