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  • LUMS grad Foodpanda employee shot dead in federal capital

    LUMS grad Foodpanda employee shot dead in federal capital

    Qasim Awan, a graduate from LUMS and a Foodpanda employee, succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday. He was shot on Sunday.

    Awan was shot in a mobile snatching incident near F-9 park in the capital city. The robbers opened gunfire after Qasim resisted, reports suggest. Qasim remained in the hospital after the incident took place.

    Twitter users were quick to question the current government and its failure to protect citizens.

    https://twitter.com/cereal_twit/status/1534727163684995074?s=24&t=QhstoMvDn2ccUyOUy91n1Q

    The fact that the incident took place in the federal capital was also alarming, with many pointing out the widespread increase in crimes in allegedly safe cities like Islamabad.

    JusticeforQasimAwan trended as users mourned the loss of life.

    Qasim was the only son and brother of his grieving parents and two sisters.

  • 60% of Pakistanis don’t agree with PTI’s long march: survey

    In a public survey by the Institute of Public Opinion and Research (IPOR), 60 per cent of Pakistanis do not like Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s idea to lead a long march towards Islamabad.

    According to 60 per cent of responders, Khan should run his campaign from the assemblies. On the other hand, only 23 per cent of Pakistanis support the idea of PTI’s long march.

    It has also been revealed that 48 per cent of PTI’s own supporters think that leading a long march is right, while 44 per cent are in favour of a struggle against the government in the assemblies rather than a long march.

    In the survey, more than 2,000 people from across the country participated.

    Meanwhile, 54 per cent of Pakistanis support the idea of holding fresh elections in the country, although 35 per cent of people suggest the assemblies should complete their constitutional term.

    A big majority of 86 per cent of PTI voters backed the idea of early elections, while 57 per cent of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) voters and 31 per cent of PML-N supporters said they favoured early elections.

  • West Indies cricket players reach Multan for ODI series against Pakistan

    West Indies cricket players reach Multan for ODI series against Pakistan

    The West Indies Cricket Team arrived in Multan on Monday and received a warm welcome. They will play three International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup Super League One Day International (ODI) matches against Pakistan.

    The visiting squad is likely to have a training session today (Tuesday). The two teams will lock horns on June 8, 10, and 12 in Multan.

    The West Indies team just finished their series in the Netherlands, whitewashing the home side 3-0. However, Pakistan, who won their last ODI series by 2-1 at home against Kangaroos reportedly started their training on Monday.

    Under the captaincy of Babar Azam, Shaheens currently stand at tenth position with six wins out of 12. Whereas, West Indies stands at fourth position with eight wins in 18 matches.

    Earlier, the entire series was moved from Rawalpindi to Multan due to the critical political situation in Islamabad.

  • Shafqat Mahmood resigns as Punjab PTI president because of ‘health issues’

    Shafqat Mahmood resigns as Punjab PTI president because of ‘health issues’

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and the former Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood resigned from his post as the party’s Punjab President on Friday because of health-related issues.

    In a tweet, Mahmood wrote: “It was an honour and privilege to serve as President PTI Punjab and I thank chairman Imran Khan for the opportunity. It is time for change due to my surgery and convalescence. I congratulate the new President and will serve the party in whatever capacity assigned.”

    According to Geo News, Vice-President Shah Mehmood Qureshi will look after the PTI Punjab President post. However, the names of Ejaz Chaudhry and Mian Mehmood ur Rasheed are under consideration for the post.

    After the PTI’s Azadi March, Shafqat Mahmood remained hospitalised and underwent surgery.

    It is pertinent to mention that PTI Punjab leadership remained under extreme criticism as they were unable to put up a solid power show in Islamabad.

    The news has come forward at a time when PTI has a real test ahead, in which it will have to fight the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for 20 vacant seats of the Punjab Assembly (PA).


  • PML-N divided over filing treason charges against Imran Khan

    PML-N divided over filing treason charges against Imran Khan

    Government officials have been discussing about going ahead with filing treason charges against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Chief Ministers (CMs) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Mahmood Khan, CM Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Muhammad Khalid Khurshid Khan after PTI’s Azadi March in Islamabad, reports Geo News.

    In a special cabinet committee, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah strongly recommended that the federal cabinet should file a treason case against Khan.

    The minister termed PTI’s long march fitna and fasad March. “With planning, around 2,500 miscreants were already sent to the federal capital and they tried to capture D-Chowk before the arrival of Imran Khan,” he added.

    Sanaullah further said Khan had violated the Supreme Court’s (SC) order and asked workers to reach D-chowk.

    On the contrary, in Geo News’ programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’, Sanullah’s party’s senior leader Khawaja Asif said that the government should leave Khan on his own and shouldn’t file any charges against him.

    “He destroying himself as a politician, let him do that,” Asif added. He further said that PTI attacked Islamabad and the party itself accepted that their workers and supporters were armed.

    Talking about initiating a talk with the PTI Chairman, the PML-N leader said if there is any chance of a diplomatic talk, it should take place [between PTI and the government].”

  • Anti-polio infrastructure collapsing in Waziristan, 6th case registered

    Anti-polio infrastructure collapsing in Waziristan, 6th case registered

    On May 27, the Government of Pakistan issued a press release on the Pakistan Polio Erradication Programme’s website. In this report, it was confirmed that on May 26, two new cases of polio were confirmed by the Pakistan National Polio Laboratory at the National Institute of Health, Islamabad.

    This marks the 5th and 6th cases of polio, reported in Pakistan this year. The two news cases are associated with two 18 months old children born in Mir Ali Tehsil, a girl and a boy, who both started experiencing the onset of paralysis as early as May 10 and May 11, respectively.

    All six children who have contracted polio are from North Waziristan, where more cases are expected through the year due to a high rate of refusal to give the vaccine and the illegal but process of finger-marking without vaccinations. Considering that the only endemic countries at this point in the whole world are Pakistan and Afghanistan, it must be noted that there is great significance to exploring the causes of this reoccurrence of the disease in the context of polio campaigns and their efficacy in KPK and FATA.

    Polio scam

    The problems with Pakistan’s polio vaccination programme are complex and multifold. On May 28, The News reported that only recently around 8,000 children from 22 union councils, up to the age of five have been identified as never been vaccinated with the oral dose of the polio vaccine. Vaccinators, refusing parents and area incharges colluded to carry out the scam. This was immediately revealed after the two new cases in North Waziristan were registered. Reportedly, so far the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) has been relying on fake reports which claimed that 95% children were being vaccinated during each campaign. This leads to a gross underestimation of the number of children still unvaccinated.

    Abduction of Dr Zeeshan

    Journalists working on Waziristan also tweeted on May 26, reported the abduction of Dr Zeeshan, who was serving as a Polio N-STOP officer in Waziristan, who had been working effortlessly on the polio campaign there. He was kidnapped while still on duty. Dawn reported that Dr Zeeshan had come from Swat to specially oversee an anti-polio drive. After involving the law enforcement alongside jirga negotiations, Bannu commissioner Arshad Khan managed to recover Dr Zeeshan.

    The political atmosphere in Waziristan actively creates the strongest hurdle in Pakistan’s journey towards a polio-free nation. 260,000 workers are deployed across the nation to vaccinate children under the age of five. Considering the perceptual concerns of people of Waziristan, it seems unlikely that the situation would improve radically unless some really necessary steps are taken to tackle the perception regarding the vaccine. Access to children in security-compromised areas, attacks on health care workers coupled with governance and operational failures continues to elongate this problem for Pakistan.

    KPK govt failure

    In 2014, Imran Khan government launched the Sehat ka Insaf campaign in KPK where the aim was to target all 9 vaccine-preventable diseases, including polio. This program was restricted to the provincial government and sought to undo completely any international involvement. Although it may seem like this is a good strategy to gain people’s trust to vaccinate, this utter lack of oversight has heavily contributed to the fake markings. This is apparent from the fact that the kids who developed polio were marked in the national record as having been vaccinated six or even seven times.

  • 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.

  • ‘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.

  • Excise, Taxation Department intensifies action against tax defaulting vehicle owners

    Excise, Taxation Department intensifies action against tax defaulting vehicle owners

    The Sindh government has issued a warning to car owners who have not paid their taxes. The Excise, Taxation, and Narcotics Control (ET&NC) Department has been conducting a road inspection for more than a week now. Authorities have inspected a total of 21,303 vehicles across the province.

    A total of 1,358 automobiles were seized for various reasons, with the paperwork of 1,958 vehicles also being confiscated during the road check, according to The News.

    Mukesh Kumar Chawla, the provincial minister in charge of (ET&NC), has planned a tax-collecting campaign. He went on to say that the campaign will run until June 3, after which the government will take action against automobiles that have not paid their taxes.

    Kumar issued a statement urging citizens to pay their taxes as soon as possible. Meanwhile, authorities claim to have recovered over Rs252 million in taxes from non-compliant car owners.

    The authorities had collected about Rs21.4 million in taxes from the car owners by the fourth day. Chawla has directed that non-compliant car owners be dealt with harshly by the authorities.

  • Khan angry with PTI leaders over failure to mobilise supporters

    Khan angry with PTI leaders over failure to mobilise supporters

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan is unhappy with his party’s top leaders for failing to mobilise supporters to participate in his long march to Islamabad, revealed Geo News anchorperson Shahzeb Khanzada in his programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’.

    According to him, Khan thought that more people would turn up but people did not show up in Rawalpindi. Even his party leaders appeared to have gone missing in action.

    On the contrary, sources say, PTI leaders argued that they were not given enough time to prepare by their leader. They even asked him to extend the date but Khan wanted to maintain an element of surprise for the government.

    According to PTI leaders, except for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) supporters, PTI does not have many supporters elsewhere who would brave the police or tear gas or the heat in an effort to try and reach Islamabad, the anchor revealed.

    Moreover, the leaders thought that the long march would not be a good idea, and the announcement of a dharna (sit-up) would end up more of a problem for PTI. According to Khanzada, they are even unhappy with Khan’s six-day ultimatum to the government.

    According to PTI sources, Imran Khan seems to be only listening to some people who are close to him, instead of politicians better adept at traditional constituency politics.