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  • Is Meera lying about being stranded in New York?

    Is Meera lying about being stranded in New York?

    Earlier this week, a video of an emotional Meera appealing to Prime Minister Imran Khan to bring her back home went viral on social media. In the video, Meera had said that she was stranded in New York for the past two months and that she was running out of resources and funds to sustain herself. Meera urged the Government of Pakistan to facilitate her journey back home as soon as possible because New York was turning into a graveyard and she did not want to die in a foreign land.

    Read more – Meera says she wants to die in her own country, appeals to PM Imran for help

    Soon after Meera’s video went viral, several media outlets reported that the actor is not telling the truth and that she is in fact at her husband and father-in-law’s house in New York. The media reports also suggested that her video was shot in a room at their house and not in a hotel room as she claimed.

    Furthermore, Meera in her first video had also said that she had travelled to the US with Humayun Saeed and that while he had managed to return home she was left behind. However, Humayun Saeed while speaking to GNN stated that he had gone to the US with Adnan Siddiqui and Hira Mani for Meray Paas Tum Ho shows. He said that Meera was not part of their contingent and that he had met her last six months ago. Humayun further shared that Meera had approached him for a film but because he was busy with the shoot of London Nahi Jaunga, he has to turn down her offer.

    Following the reports and speculations, Meera, in another video message denied the rumours and called out those spreading false information.

    “In my video, I had asked requested Prime Minister Imran Khan to bring me home. As a Pakistani, it is my right,” she said. “This is not the time to mock or ridicule people.”

    Slamming those twisting her story, Meera further said that the Pakistan embassy in New York knows of her whereabouts and that she is grateful to Council General Ayesha Ali [for her help].

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_TeQ5JH-2V/?utm_source=ig_embed

    Meanwhile speaking on Bakhabar Savera among other media outlets, Meera further clarified that the videos of her enjoying BBQ parties were from a few days back and that for the past one week, she has been stuck in a hotel in New York.

    Meera also shared a series of erratic social media updates.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Tf7NbnHEe/
    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Th88YjQvQ/
    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_ToAyijNqT/
    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_T_HyYDBFl/
  • PM Imran’s Ehsaas Telethon collects Rs550 million

    PM Imran’s Ehsaas Telethon collects Rs550 million

    Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday raised Rs550 million through his Ehsaas Telethon bid for coronavirus affectees, a private media outlet reported.

    The telethon was held at Prime Minister House with journalists Mohammad Malick, Mansoor Ali Khan, Hamid Mir, Nadeem Malik, and Kashif Abbasi in attendance. Shiffa Yousafzai and Muniba Mazari were the hosts of the transmission.

    PM Imran urged people to adopt safety precautions against the coronavirus. “The virus spreads at a very fast rate,” he said. “There have been viruses and people have been infected with the flu before. But this is unprecedented,” he added. 

    Former cricketing greats, including Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis also called in the telethon to express their views and wished best of luck to the country and prime minister.

    Speaking about COVID-19, PM Imran said that “No single government can battle the pandemic. The entire nation needs to join hands to fight this virus, keeping in mind the times that are ahead.”

    Speaking on the occasion, PM Imran said, “I always tell this to my children and to others as well; whenever you spend in the way of Allah, it brings you a lot of other rewards, such as the feeling of contentment. He further added “one’s bank balance should not be the measure of his wealth. True wealth is what you feel inside.”

    Speaking about the lockdown, PM Imran said that the country will have to move towards a “smart lockdown.” The prime minister made it clear that an indefinite lockdown was not an option and any decision on a smart lockdown should be for all Pakistanis and not just the elite.

    On the conference of doctors from yesterday, he said that their concern for complete lockdown is valid but it is not sustainable in the long-term.

    The transmission was concluded with the special prayer by Maulana Taiq Jameel, who also advised the people to recite supplications like Ayat Kareema to seek Allah Almighty’s forgiveness and blessings in the distressing situation. 

  • WATCH: Groom takes bride on motorbike amid lockdown

    WATCH: Groom takes bride on motorbike amid lockdown

    A marriage ceremony took place in Karachi, where a groom came on a motorbike to take his newly wedded wife.

    As per reports, the groom went to his in-laws’ house with two witnesses for nikkah on motorbikes due to lockdown and imposed section 144 due to coronavirus spread.

    https://www.facebook.com/100000740856625/videos/3136085909759407/

    Last month, at least nine members of a family contracted coronavirus after they attended a marriage ceremony in Karachi.

    According to details, the nine-member family attended a marriage ceremony, where a woman infected with COVID-19 was present. The woman had arrived from Saudi Arabia and was diagnosed with the deadly virus.

    The coronavirus patient met with the family in the marriage ceremony and had dinner together and infected all the people with the virus.

  • Top doctors, healthcare professionals ask for strict countrywide lockdown

    Top doctors, healthcare professionals ask for strict countrywide lockdown

    Senior doctors and top healthcare professionals issued a stern warning on Wednesday and appealed to the federal and provincial governments to reconsider relaxation in lockdown given that they fear a spike in coronavirus cases in the country. Doctors said easing relaxation could prove disastrous for Pakistan.

    Addressing a press conference in Karachi, Dr Saad Niaz said that from April 16-April 21, cases have increased around 40 percent.

    “If we don’t strictly enforce lockdown measures, the projected number of coronavirus cases may go up to 70,000 by May 15,” he stated.

    Dr Saad also said that we don’t have the testing capacity. “We are not safe. These are just myths. If there had been no lockdown initially, things would have been worse…Wards are already saturated. We have more patients under the age of 60 than in western countries. We have to realise that we don’t have enough healthcare facilities to cope with cases…In fact, severity is much more than what we think.”

    He said that more than 162 healthcare workers have been tested positive for COVID-19 in Sindh alone. “Don’t take this lightly based on myths. Neither is there any cure nor do we have the capacity to cope with the cases. Lockdown helped contain the spread. The only thing that can help is complete social distancing and lockdown. We know that at least 200 people have died of coronavirus in the last month alone. We don’t want to get to a point where we will be treating people on the roads or deciding who to save – the 35-year-old patient or the 55-year-old one. We are taking risks. It is very depressing for us to see that everything is being opened while we are at the frontline of this war against corona.”

    Watch the complete video of doctor’s press conference here.

    Meanwhile, Dr Atif Siddiqui said that doctors are there for you but please stay at home. “We are running out of beds. We need to understand why the number of cases are increasing.”

    The list of demands by healthcare professionals included :

    • Strict enforcement of lockdown and prevention of congregation of all sorts
    • People will have to cooperate. Do not leave your houses
    • Request the business community to reconsider opening businesses
    • Appeal to religious scholars to review decision to keep mosques open
  • Wikipedia breaks record: 673 million page views in a day on COVID-19

    Wikipedia breaks record: 673 million page views in a day on COVID-19

    A large number of users are switching to Wikipedia as a trusted source to share and find COVID-19 updates. Around 4,504 Wikipedia pages have been created to record different aspects of the pandemic like it’s spread to different countries, research to find its treatment and popular conspiracy theories, a private media outlet reported.

    Although the information on Wikipedia is available in 130+ languages, however, the English-language articles on Wikipedia about the virus alone have registered over 240 million views.

    The report also says that Wikipedia Foundation observed a record five-years high traffic, with over 673 million page views in a single day –the traffic was mostly — if not completely to COVID-19 articles.

    On March 12, 2020, the day World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic, the main English Wikipedia article on virus received over 1.4m page views; which means that it increased by 73 per cent from the day before WHO’s declaration.

    BATTLING MISINFORMATION

    It is not easy to control misinformation, that is why a dedicated page titled as ‘Misinformation related to the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic’ is constantly charting and debunking falsehoods on the outbreak. Also, a large number of people are editing information by citing credible sources.

    According to the editor, the key to maintain accuracy on the platform is to cite sources, a single line cited with the credible source will be published but a complete paragraph written by a doctor, without citation will not be published on the platform.

  • Tarawih Prayers will be telecast live on PTV

    Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has announced that Pakistan Television (PTV) will live telecast Tarawih prayers during Ramadan.

    In a tweet, Awan said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed PTV to live telecast tarawih prayers so that people can take part in the prayers from their homes and practise social distancing. The tarawih prayers will be broadcast live on PTV News every night at 9:30 pm.

    Meanwhile, a consultative session of religious scholars chaired by President Arif Alvi on April 18 agreed to a 20-point preventive measure plan against the highly contagious novel coronavirus disease during prayers in the month of holy Ramadan.

    The government, in a conditional agreement, allowed congregational prayers and taraweeh in Ramadan with preventive measures.

    President Alvi in the meeting said that the people should perform ablutions for prayers at homes and during prayers “a space of two persons should be left between two people offering prayers in a row.”

    It was further agreed that the floor of mosques should be washed with water mixed with chlorine and that no collective Sehri or Iftar arrangements will be made at the mosques.

  • Okara police use drones to catch kite flyers

    Okara police use drones to catch kite flyers

    The Okara police is using drone cameras to stop people from flying kites in the city.

    The police have created teams in each neighborhood to monitor the problem and each team has been given a drone.

    Speaking to a news oultlet, Okara SHO Malik Tariq Awan said the drones have made it easier to catch the kite flyers.

    “Earlier, it was tough for us to know which house’s roof the kite flyers were standing on because Okara is very populated and houses are built close to each other,” said Awan.

    Flying kites has been banned in Pakistan since 2005 when the Supreme Court imposed a ban on its production. The ruling decision was made to prevent the loss of lives due to kite strings that are laced with chemicals.

  • PM Imran to raise funds for corona relief through live telethon today

    PM Imran to raise funds for corona relief through live telethon today

    Prime Minister Imran Khan will collect donations from the public for the PM’s Corona Relief Fund while appearing on different channels today at 4 pm.


    According to PTI Senator Faisal Javed, a large number of philanthropists and humanitarians would be part of the telethon. The donations would be made to an account in the Karachi branch of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP).

    He announced that religious scholar, Maulana Tariq Jameel will also be a part of the telethon today.

    Earlier, the senator has tweeted that every citizen can also contribute towards Prime Minister’s COVID Relief Fund by sending a text message “Fund” at 6677.

    PM Imran had announced the relief fund on April 1 to fight the pandemic in the country.

    “Prime Minister’s COVID-19 Pandemic Relief Fund-2020 has been set up to help us fight this pandemic. I want everyone to donate towards this fund which will be used to take care of all those who have been made destitute by the lockdown,” the premier said on Twitter.

    PM Imran asked the citizens to send their tax-deductible donation to account number 4162 786 786 set up at the main branch of National Bank of Pakistan in Karachi.

    The PM had said money from the fund will be used to buy essential items for their families.

  • Saudi Arabia gifts 150 tonnes of dates to Pakistan

    The Saudi Embassy in Pakistan delivered 150 tonnes of dates as a gift from the Saudi Arabia to Pakistan ahead of Ramzan.

    As per reports, the gift was delivered by the Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan, Nawaf bin Saeed Al Malki, during a ceremony that was held at the Saudi Embassy’s headquarters in Islamabad.

    The ceremony was attended by the Director of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) Branch in, Pakistan Dr Khalid bin Mohammed Al Othmani.

  • Turkish mosque turned into temporary ‘supermarket’ for those in need

    Turkish mosque turned into temporary ‘supermarket’ for those in need

    At the entrance of an Istanbul mosque, racks usually reserved for the shoes of the faithful are loaded with pasta packages, oil bottles, biscuits — like a supermarket. But they aren’t for sale. Instead, they are destined for the needy, hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

    The sign on the mosque’s window ask anyone, who can, to leave something, and says those in need can take something.

    Abdulsamet Cakir, 33, imam of the Dedeman mosque in the Sariyer district, came up with this idea of reaching out to the poor via the place of worship after Turkey suspended mass prayers in mosques until the risk of outbreak passes, AFP reported.

    The young imam, who takes the products from the floor and places them on the shelves at the entrance, said he was inspired by a donation culture in the Ottoman period called “charity stone” — a small pillar stone erected at certain locations of the city to connect rich people with the poor.

    In this Ottoman system aimed at giving charity in a dignified manner without offending the needy, people with means would leave whatever amount they wanted in a cavity on the top of the charity stone. Those who were in need would then take the amount they needed and leave the rest for others.

    “After the coronavirus pandemic, we have thought about what we can do to help our brothers in need,” said Cakir, who would already help the poor in his neighbourhood before the outbreak.

    “With the inspiration from our ancestors’ ‘charity stone’ culture, we decided to fill the racks in our mosque with the help from our brothers with means,” he added.

    Cakir hangs a list on the wall of the mosque where citizens who need help write their names and telephone numbers.

    The imam later sends the list to local authorities who check whether the names are really in need and his team then sends a message that they can visit the mosque and receive whatever they need: eight items at maximum.

    The mosque has been providing services for two weeks and reaches out to 120 people in need per day. And the list includes over 900 people.

    A maximum of two people wearing masks and gloves enter the mosque and take what they need, while others wait outside, standing a few paces from each other.

    “We spread the services through the day. We call 15 people for each half an hour so that we respect social distancing and do not cause big queues,” the imam said. “We are doing our best to help our sisters and brothers in the best possible way without offending them.”

    The mosque does not accept cash donations and instead receives aid packages and the mosques shelves are full of products sent from all over Turkey and even abroad.

    “Producers also donate. A miller brings in flour, a baker brings in bread, a water distributor brings in water,” Cakir said, adding, “Everyone does whatever they can to help people in need. For example, a brother who lives in France did online shopping and directed the aid to our mosque.”

    People, receiving the aid, are very thankful to the mosque for arranging this service. They said that due to the coronavirus lockdown, they are facing unemployment and with Ramzan a few days away, the situation appeared to be very bleak.

    Turkey’s official death toll from the virus now stands at 2,259 after 119 more deaths were reported on Tuesday, and major cities including Istanbul will be under lockdown for four days from Thursday.