Current Final

Tag: Pakistan

  • France to provide Rs4.6 billion for the renovation of Lahore Fort

    France to provide Rs4.6 billion for the renovation of Lahore Fort

    A financing agreement worth more than Rs4.6 billion (€22 million) has been signed by the government of Pakistan and the government of France, through the French Development Agency (FDA), to provide technical and financial support for the restoration of the Lahore Fort.

    A special heritage site in Pakistan is to be protected and restored as part of the HURL (Heritage & Urban Regeneration in Lahore) project. The areas of focus will be increasing economic activity, promoting tourism, and preparing local communities for climate change.

    The walled city and fort of Lahore, which is in the middle of an 11 million-person metropolis, is made up of numerous unique structures with exceptional historical and cultural value as well as numerous compact ancient neighbourhoods.

    The fort faced numerous threats to its integrity, which led to UNESCO listing it as a World Heritage Site in Danger in 1981. The Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA), the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), and the Punjab government launched a ten-year conservation initiative to develop and restore the site in 2012.

    The French government is delighted to be supporting this attempt through AFD: “France is proud to be part of the ambitious plan of the Punjab government to develop and promote the unique cultural heritage of Lahore,” said Nicolas Galey, the French ambassador to Pakistan.

    By enhancing the tourist attraction of the locations and enhancing the living conditions of the riparian populations, the restoration and development of the Lahore Fort surroundings will be a potent engine of sustainable economic development of the City.

    The HURL project will be financed over a five-year period. It is anticipated that this will strengthen the Lahore Fort’s resilience, generate more income and employment opportunities, particularly for women and the transgender community, and contribute to the restoration and improvement of the fort.

    By including the neighbourhoods surrounding the fort as a growth interface, it will also increase tourism development and strengthen the capacity of WCLA and its associates.

    The AFD is reaffirming its dedication to Lahore’s urban development by funding this project. This significant undertaking is just the beginning of the French government’s efforts to support the restoration of South Asian heritage.

  • ‘I was stripped naked’: Tayyaba Gul reveals during hearing on harassment complaint against ex-Chairman NAB

    ‘I was stripped naked’: Tayyaba Gul reveals during hearing on harassment complaint against ex-Chairman NAB

    Tayyaba Gul said on Thursday that Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, the Head of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances and former National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman, threatened to destroy her life. She made this revelation in front of the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

    “Javed Iqbal would tell me that he will destroy my life within a minute,” said Gul.

    “I met Iqbal during a meeting regarding missing persons,” she said, adding that when she asked him not to call her repeatedly, “he got angry”.

    “My number was written on the request filed for the missing person, and he [Iqbal] kept calling me time and again,” she said. “I recorded Iqbal because he was a very powerful official and I wanted to expose him,” she added.

    “My husband and I were arrested under the direction of the former chairman NAB. I was arrested by male officers and cannot even share the barbarity that I endured during the car ride.”

    Tayyaba Gul also revealed that on the orders of DG NAB Lahore Saleem Shehzad, she was stripped naked during a search operation and her nude videos were shown to her husband.

    .

    The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) summoned Justice (retd), Javed Iqbal, today (July 7) after allegations of sexual harassment resurfaced against him. The former NAB chief was summoned on the complaint of Tayyaba Gul. She had written a letter to the PAC chairman levelling harassment allegations against Iqbal.

    However, Justice (retd) Iqbal did not attend the PAC meeting.

    PAC Chairman Noor Alam Khan also raised the issue of the allegations made by human rights activist Amina Masood Janjua in Hamid Mir’s show ‘Capital Talk’ on Geo News.

    Ms Janjua revealed that when a woman went to the commission to inquire about her missing husband’s whereabouts, Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal said to her: “You are so beautiful. Why do you need a husband?”

    https://twitter.com/arshdchaudhary/status/1544359653550727168

    The same allegations were previously made by Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader Manzoor Pashteen in 2018. He narrated the same incident while talking on Neo News‘ programme Khabar Kay Peechay.

  • The Minor case: Zaheer Ahmed gets protective bail till July 14

    The Minor case: Zaheer Ahmed gets protective bail till July 14

    The Lahore High Court (LHC) has granted protective bail to Zaheer Ahmed till July 14. Justice Aalia Neelum presided over a one-person LHC bench that heard Zaheer’s case on Thursday.

    According to Zaheer, The Minor married him of her own free will and he did not kidnap her.

    Zaheer’s lawyer claimed that they were concerned that the police may detain his client and asked the court to release him on protective bail so they could apply for interim bail at the concerned court.

    The Minor’s father Mehdi Kazmi asked the Sindh High Court to recover his daughter and has alleged that Zaheer Ahmed had kidnapped her.

    The petition submitted by The Minor’s father stated that his daughter was 13 years, 11 months, and 19 days old when she was kidnapped by Zaheer Ahmed.

  • Absar Alam asks who is the mastermind behind attacks on journalists after his attackers arrested

    Absar Alam asks who is the mastermind behind attacks on journalists after his attackers arrested

     Police have arrested the accused who shot at and injured journalist and former PEMRA Chairman Absar Alam last year, reports Umar Cheema for The News.

    Absar Alam’s attackers not only confessed to making a life attempt on him but also admitted that they were tasked to hit another journalist, Asad Ali Toor. However, the attackers changed their plans after the hype created after the attack on Absar.

    Taking to Twitter, Absar said that he is thankful that for the first time assailants who attacked journalists were arrested. However, he went on to question the details that have come to the surface after the arrest. “Who was giving information and instructions from Pakistan about me and Asad to this person from Germany?”

    “Who is the real mastermind behind the murderous attacks on journalists by criminals in Germany and France?”

    “The big test of the police, intelligence agencies, and the government has now begun,” tweeted Absar.

    In April 2021, Absar was shot in Islamabad. He was walking in the F-11 park near his home when he got shot.

    In May 2021, journalist Asad Ali Toor was attacked by three unidentified men, who broke into his apartment and tortured him.

  • Anti-corruption department summons Bushra Bibi’s brother

    Anti-corruption department summons Bushra Bibi’s brother

    Former Prime Minister (PM) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi’s brother Ahmed Mujtaba has been summoned by the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Punjab over his alleged involvement in a corruption case, reports Geo News.

    The former first lady’s brother illegally occupied government land in Depalpur, which is in Okara District. He is accused of “illegally leasing government land earmarked for a market and seizing government land through the chairman of market committee Tahir Zahoor”. Later, he had shops constructed there.

    ACE has asked Mujtaba, secretary Tahir Tanveer and eight others to appear before the Sahiwal office of the anti-corruption department on July 6 (tomorrow).

    The investigation has been opened following Bushra Bibi’s audio leak in which she directed PTI digital media head Dr Arslan Khalid to accuse the former Opposition parties of “treason”.

    Last month, ACE registered cases against former Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar and his brothers for the illegal transfer of state-owned 900 kanals of land. However, the land was transferred by Buzdar’s father to his sons when they were all minors in 1982.

  • The Minor’s father files new petition in Sindh High Court for recovery of his daughter

    The Minor’s father files new petition in Sindh High Court for recovery of his daughter

    Minor Girl father Mehdi Kazmi has filed a new case in the Sindh High Court for the recovery of his daughter. He has alleged that Zaheer Ahmed had kidnapped his daughter.

    The petition submitted by The Minor’s father stated that his daughter was 13 years, 11 months, and 19 days old when she was kidnapped by Zaheer Ahmed.

    It also stated that all NADRA documents, educational certificates, passports, and birth certificates are available as evidence.

    The petition asserts that her marriage with Zaheer is a violation of the 2016 Punjab Restoration Marriage Act. According to a new report by a six-member medical board, which established the adolescent’s age to be between 15 and 16. The petition sought The Minor’s recovery.

    Previously, The Minor’s age had been established by a medical board to be between 16 and 17, but the findings of the board had been challenged on a technicality.

  • Indian plane makes emergency landing at Karachi airport

    Indian plane makes emergency landing at Karachi airport

    A private Indian plane made an emergency landing at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi on Tuesday due to some technical fault. The flight was going from India to Dubai.

    “On July 5, 2022, SpiceJet B737 aircraft operating flight SG-11 (Delhi – Dubai) was diverted to Karachi due to an indicator light malfunctioning. The aircraft landed safely at Karachi and passengers were safely disembarked,” said a statement from a spokesperson of the Indian airline.

    “No emergency was declared and the aircraft made a normal landing. There was no earlier report of any malfunction with the aircraft. Passengers have been served refreshments. A replacement aircraft is being sent to Karachi that will take the passengers to Dubai,” it added.

    Over 100 people were aboard the Boeing 737 when it made its emergency landing at the Jinnah International Airport, but they were not permitted to offload.

  • ‘The most handsome police wala,’ Twitter drools over Shaheen Shah Afridi in police uniform

    ‘The most handsome police wala,’ Twitter drools over Shaheen Shah Afridi in police uniform

    The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police named renowned fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi their “Goodwill Ambassador” on Monday. Afridi was awarded the honorary rank of deputy superintendent of police (DSP) at a simple ceremony held in Peshawar.

    Shaheen Shah Afridi’s pictures and videos in uniform have gone viral on social media. Some Twitter users are drooling over him while others are busy making memes. Have a look at some Twitter reactions:

  • MQM’s Babar Ghauri arrested in Karachi after ending seven-year self-exile

    MQM’s Babar Ghauri arrested in Karachi after ending seven-year self-exile

    Babar Ghauri, former federal minister and senior leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), was arrested at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi on Monday after he returned to Pakistan from the United States (US) after ending his seven-year self-exile.

    In a video shared on social media, Ghauri can be seen being taken into custody by the Karachi police.

    Last month, the Sindh High Court (SHC) granted Babar Ghauri a two-week protective bail in a corruption reference and a money-laundering and terror-financing case. After the SHC orders, Ghauri announced his return without giving details of when he planned to return to Pakistan.

    Ghauri had been booked by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in 2017 in a money-laundering and terror-financing case.

  • Woman raped in Faisalabad hospital

    Woman raped in Faisalabad hospital

    A woman who went to Faisalabad Institute of Cardiology for a check-up has been allegedly raped by a security guard, reported Geo News.

    According to the police, the woman is married. In her complaint to the police, she said that she went to the hospital for a check-up where the security guard told her that the doctor is not present and took her to a separate room in the hospital and allegedly raped her there.

    Following the incident, the police registered the case on the woman’s complaint and started an investigation. The accused is still missing and efforts to arrest him are underway.

    Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Hamza Shehbaz took notice of the incident. He sought a report from the Inspector General of Police (IG) Punjab and directed that strict action should be taken against the accused and justice should be ensured.

    Last month, Punjab Home Minister Attaullah Tarar announced that the Punjab government would declare an emergency following an increase in rape and sodomy cases in the province.

    The Current records the tally of rape cases that are reported in news outlets on a daily basis to highlight the alarming situation. We have used many different sources as listed. When will it stop?