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Tag: Pakistan

  • Most infectious XBB.1.5 Covid subvariant detected in Pakistan through genome sequencing: AKU

    Most infectious XBB.1.5 Covid subvariant detected in Pakistan through genome sequencing: AKU

    The most contagious COVID subvariant, XBB.1.5, has been found in Pakistan through genome sequencing, according to the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), The News has reported.


    “Yes, we have found the XBB.1.5 sub-variant of Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 (Coronavirus) through genome sequencing of the virus from an infected patient”, The News has stated while quoting an expert associated with AKU.


    A very small number of COVID-19 cases were reported from the country, the expert, who asked to remain anonymous, claimed. The expert also believed that the majority of those infected with the new sub-variant of the Coronavirus were not getting themselves tested despite having upper respiratory tract infections.


    Infectious diseases expert Dr Rana Jawad Asghar while talking to The News said that genome sequencing of only 0.5 per cent of COVID-19 positive cases was being carried out in Pakistan, which is a relatively small and adhoc proportion when compared to the rest of the globe.

  • Huge surge in malaria, TB in Pakistan after floods

    Huge surge in malaria, TB in Pakistan after floods

    The devastating floods of 2022 have caused a significant increase in the number of cases of malaria and tuberculosis in Pakistan among the poorest people of the nation.
    The executive director of the largest health fund in the world revealed the report on Monday at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual conference in Davos, Switzerland.


    According to Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, climate change is increasing the number of the mosquito borne infections. He also said that there has been a rise in malaria infections, following the recent floods in Pakistan and storms in Mozambique in 2021.


    Poorer communities are more vulnerable as a result of the rise in extreme weather occurrences and the stagnant water that persist after such events.

    He said that mosquito habitats were shifting as a result of climate change. A change in the low temperatures that historically rendered the region unsustainable for mosquitoes has led to malaria becoming more prevalent in the highlands of Africa, particularly in Kenya and Ethiopia.


    In some of the world’s poorest countries, Sands oversees the largest global fund, which provides aid in the fight against tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS.

    He said that mosquito habitats were shifting as a result of climate change. A change in the low temperatures that historically rendered the region unsustainable for mosquitoes has led to malaria becoming more prevalent in the highlands of Africa, particularly in Kenya and Ethiopia.
    In some of the world’s poorest countries, Sands oversees the largest global fund, which provides aid in the fight against tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS.

  • UN rights experts urge Pakistani authorities to end forced child marriage

    UN rights experts urge Pakistani authorities to end forced child marriage

    On Monday the United Nations’ rights experts condemned an increase in forced marriages, conversions, and kidnappings of girls from Pakistan’s religious minority and urged the government to immediately put an end to such practices.


    “The group of around a dozen independent United Nations rights experts includes the UN special rapporteurs on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, contemporary forms of slavery, violence against women, and minority issues,” the statement read.

    “We are deeply troubled to hear that girls as young as 13 are being kidnapped from their families, trafficked to locations far from their homes, made to marry men sometimes twice their age, and coerced to convert to Islam,” the experts said. They pointed out that abductors often “force their victims to sign documents which falsely attest to their being of legal age for marriage as well as marrying and converting of free will”.

    The experts demanded that the Pakistani government act right away to stop and fully examine these activities.

  • Russian delegation will visit Pakistan tomorrow to discuss long-term oil and gas deal

    Russian delegation will visit Pakistan tomorrow to discuss long-term oil and gas deal

    The much-touted $3 billion Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline (PSGP) project, as well as a long-term trade agreement for oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), will be the topics of bilateral negotiations between Pakistan and a Russian delegation that will arrive tomorrow.

    The team, which consists of 80 personnel, will land in Pakistan on Tuesday for three days of bilateral discussions through the Inter-Governmental Commission forum (IGC).

    For the IGC negotiations, the Pakistani delegation will be led by Federal Minister Sardar Ayaz Sadiq. Both states must first negotiate the IGA (inter-governmental agreement), which was finalised and signed in the case of the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline Project (PSGP), formerly known as the North-South Gas pipeline project, in order to import Russian oil and LNG on a GtG basis.

    According to The News, the shareholding and facilitation agreement for PSGP was still in draught form on February 24, 2022, when former prime minister Imran Khan travelled to Moscow. Both parties wanted to sign the PSGP agreement during the Imran and Putin meeting, but it was not able to be done since the experts from both sides could not agree on several terms of the shareholding agreement.

    Currently, the G7 nations have capped the price of Russian crude oil at $60 per barrel and forbade the use of Russian ships to carry oil. In exchange, Moscow promised to stop selling oil to nations who agree to a Western price restriction on its petroleum.

    The Pakistani side will talk about the shipment costs, the premium by the shipping trader, the insurance coverage, and the payment options.

    Agribusiness, energy, customs, industry, education, research and technology, information and communication technologies, communication, roads and postal service, railroads, and finance are all included in the IGC’s agenda as areas for cooperation in trade and investments. Additionally, Pakistan’s debt to Russia will be settled and discussed.

    The potential for cooperation in the areas of electric power, hydropower, renewable energy sources, and oil and petrol production will also be discussed by the two sides.

    In their response, the Pakistani team proposed to change the model of the PSGP project. The Russian side said that the model of the project under GtG (government-to-government) arrangement had already been settled, save for some clauses of the shareholding agreement, which would soon be finalized.

  • Bollywood’s obsession with ‘adab’ Pakistanis is out of line

    Bollywood’s obsession with ‘adab’ Pakistanis is out of line

    It’s 2023 but Bollywood can’t seem to get over its obsession of portraying lame and rather bizarre stereotypes about Pakistanis in its movies.

    Netfilx released the official trailer for Mission Majnu that features Sidharth Malhotra as an Indian spy on a covert operation to expose nuclear weapons in the heart of Pakistan that India must “neutralise”. Everything was fine till Malhotra dresses up like a ‘Muslim Pakistani’. So Indian filmmakers have a starter pack for actors playing the roles of Muslims and Pakistanis. A man with kohl-rimmed eyes who spits adaab in every sentence, wearing a namaz ki topi [skullcap] and something green in the background somewhere to show that this is a Muslim person or from the Muslim community. Women would be shown wearing lehnga aur ghagra, with lots of bangles, and yes the tradition of adaab continues for them too. However, the reality is far different.

    The matter of the fact is that Bollywood has been successfully fooling the world by portraying and creating this image to represent Pakistanis. One of the leading film industries in the world has been adamantly bent on trying to portray and represent Pakistanis as a threat. Due to this portrayal, for the longest time people believed it to be true when it comes to Pakistan.

    Bollywood has been making bad anti-Pakistan propaganda for years now but a little research would tell them that no, Pakistanis do not look, wear or talk like they depict in their movies. From Veer-Zaara in 2004 to Mission Majnu in 2023, Bollywood’s depiction of Pakistan and Pakistani lifestyle has been completely wrong. No, we don’t live in 19th century Lucknow. Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and other cities of Pakistan don’t have men with kajal going adaab-adaab or roaming around in sherwanis as if it’s a norm.

    What is even more appalling is to witness that in India, most leading Bollywood actors are Muslims, some originating from Pakistan and yet they don’t wear and look like anything Bollywood so often depicts Muslims, be they in India or Pakistan.

    We hope that for once Bollywood comes out of its propagandist thinking and portrays ‘Pakistani Muslims’ as they are.

  • Pakistan to immunise 44 million children against polio in 2023

    Up to 44 million children would be immunised across Pakistan as a result of anti-polio campaigns in 2023, ARY has reported.

    The federal government has created a schedule for the campaign through to 2023.

    Six campaigns will be carried out nationwide to eradicate the polio virus in the future year 2023, with the first one scheduled to begin in January.
    The rest of the immunisation efforts will be held in March, May, July, October, and December.


    Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio has not yet been eradicated. To formally eradicate the disease, a nation must be polio-free for three consecutive years. Nigeria was declared free from wild polio in August 2020.

  • Sherry Rehman, Ayesha Malik get featured in Forbes 50 Over 50

    Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman and the first female judge of Pakistan’s Supreme Court Justice Ayesha Malik have been featured in the prestigious Forbes’ ’50 Over 50: Asia 2023′ list.

    Featuring Malik, Forbes detailed her achievement as part of Pakistan’s judiciary.

    The magazine wrote: “In 2022, at age 56, Malik became the first woman to serve as a justice of Pakistan’s Supreme Court, in the country’s 75-year history. Malik issued a seminal judgement outlawing the use of virginity tests in rape cases. She also served on the board of the Punjab Judicial Academy and as chair of the Judicial Officers Female Supervisory Committee.”

    Highlighting Rehman’s achievements Forbes stated, “At the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), Rehman made global news, suggesting a new deal to channel money from rich countries to poor ones that have suffered climate-related disasters”.

    “She was the first female to hold office as Leader of Opposition in the Senate in 2018,” added the magazine.

    The magazine includes names of 50 women over the age of 50 from Asia-Pacific, who are reaching new heights in their industries and inspiring the region’s next generation.

    Apart from Rehman and Malik, Forbes included the names of Malaysian biologist Asma Ismail, Indian novelist Geetanjali Shree and Australian businesswoman Vicki Brady and other superwomen who are making headlines globally.

  • ‘Bilawal ko wazir-e-azam banana hai toh Karachi ko sath le kar chalna parega’: MQM-P unites against PPP

    ‘Bilawal ko wazir-e-azam banana hai toh Karachi ko sath le kar chalna parega’: MQM-P unites against PPP

    A few days before scheduled Local Government (LG) elections, Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) Chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal let go of the past grievances as he announced merging his party into Muttahida Quami Movement – Pakistan (MQM-P).

    Addressing a joint press conference in Karachi, Kamal along with Dr Farooq Sattar, MQM-P Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and others took a jibe at Pakistan People’s Pakistan (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for ruining Karachi in the past. During the important presser, all the leaders reiterated that they won’t let LG elections take place on January 15.

    Kamal said that Karachi was not liberated from Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) only for PPP Chairman Asif Ali Zardari to take over and “think of it as his”.

    He also claimed that Zardari wants his son—Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari— to become the Prime Minister. He said, “Bilawal ko wazir-e-azam banana hai toh Karachi ko sath le kar chalna parega” (If you want Bilawal as PM, you have to take Karachi along with you).

    He said that there are no personal fights with Altaf Hussain.

    MQM Revival Committee Head Farooq Sattar addressed the presser and announced rejoining MQM-P.

    He said that the people of Pakistan saw hope in the MQM. “We have kept aside all our differences. This is a message for the entire country. We are presenting a united MQM.”

    He said that if MQM was given a chance, the $10bn raised by Pakistan at a climate conference in Geneva, could be generated in Karachi.

    He said that the MQM had been separated from its past reputation to transform into a part of intellectuals and educated people. He noted that the country was increasingly polarised, saying that Karachi should be “given one chance”.

    Khalid Maqbool, meanwhile, said that all those sitting here wished to see Pakistan succeed despite the difficulties of the past five years. He also alleged that the MQM was defeated in the 2018 general elections through rigging.

    Talking about the local government polls, he said that the party would contest the elections if delimitation was carried out by tonight. “But if these aren’t fixed, then we will fight for our rights.”

    A day earlier, leaders of the Karachi-based party asked Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif to tell them whether or not he was responsible for the situation of the port city and Hyderabad so that the party could accordingly decide about staying with or leaving the federal government.

  • Quratulain Baloch murder case 2021: Husband sentenced to death

    Quratulain Baloch murder case 2021: Husband sentenced to death

    Umar Memon, who murdered his wife Quratulain Baloch after torturing her, has been given the death penalty by a Sessions Court.


    “Quratulain Baloch gets justice. This mother of four was brutally murdered by her husband Umar Memon in 2021. Due to the resolve of Quratulain’s brothers and family, the husband has been convicted for murder and given the death penalty. The children are being raised by Qurat’s family,” Lawyer Jibran Nasir wrote in a tweet

    The brutal murder took place in July 2021 when Qurat-ul-Ain Baloch, a mother of four children, was murdered by her husband Umer Khalid Memon after being tortured in Barrage Colony, Hyderabad. Her murder sparked nationwide outrage and condemnation.

  • Gang allegedly forced nurses, other staff into prostitution at Sheikh Zayed Hospital, investigation ongoing: report

    Gang allegedly forced nurses, other staff into prostitution at Sheikh Zayed Hospital, investigation ongoing: report

    An inquiry committee has gathered testimony from at least 10 victims during its investigation into the alleged existence of an organised gang that reportedly forced nurses and other staff members at the Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Quetta into prostitution, SAMAA has reported.

    Atiq Ullah Khan, the additional secretary for health in Balochistan, stated that some women had offered to testify over the phone in order to safeguard their identities and to share their experiences with the vicious cycle that was being controlled by a strong group.


    Atiq said that he was taking the situation very seriously and that he had visited the hospital to reassure the employees that action would be taken against the offenders.


    He claimed that girls who complied with the gang’s demands while retaining their control were believed to receive unusual privileges from the group which is accused of running the hospital’s prostitution network. Those who disobeyed were subject to the gang’s wrath in one way or another.


    “We have submitted the initial report to the secretary health with several recommendations,” he stated.