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Tag: Top News

  • Ali Tareen says ‘pepper spray for girls a better idea than abaya’

    Ali Tareen says ‘pepper spray for girls a better idea than abaya’

    Multan Sultans owner Ali Khan Tareen has said that giving pepper spray to schoolgirls to avoid harassment is a better idea than asking them to wear an abaya.

    The son of senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Khan Tareen in a Twitter post wrote, “I still think pepper spray is a good idea if local policy-makers feel those girls need protection”.

    In another tweet, he criticised and questioned the logic behind the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government’s decision to make abaya compulsory in all-girl schools.

    “This is directed to girl schools. In all-girl schools what ‘unethical incidents’ are they worried about? If the male staff is so untrustworthy then I suggest the students be instructed to bring pepper spray instead of chadars.”

    In an official circular on Monday, KP Education Department had directed heads of government schools to ensure that girl students were wearing abaya or gown to “cover up in order to protect themselves from any unethical incident”.

    The government had withdrawn the notification after severe backlash on both social and mainstream media.

  • Adnan Sami fined 50 lakhs for illegal purchase of flats

    Adnan Sami fined 50 lakhs for illegal purchase of flats

    The Appellate Tribunal for the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) has imposed a penalty of 50 lakh on singer Adnan Sami for purchasing eight flats and five parking spaces in Mumbai in 2003 without prior permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) when he was a Pakistani national. However, at the same time, a tribunal in New Delhi has set aside the confiscation of the properties saying no foreign exchange was involved in their purchase.

    According to a report in the Hindustan Times, authorities had seized the properties saying Sami acquired them in 2003 without Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s permission in violation of the law. Given that Sami was a Pakistani national at that time, he needed special permission to make the purchases. A penalty of Rs 20 lakh had also been imposed on the singer. Foreign nationals are required to seek RBI’s permission to buy property in India.

    The court in its order quashing the previous order said, “Admittedly, in the present case, no foreign exchange is involved and concomitantly, there has been no loss of foreign exchange as the entire sale consideration has been paid by way of a loan and income which has not only been generated in India, but the tax which has so accrued on such income has also been paid by the appellant [Sami] herein.”

    Sami, who was granted Indian citizenship in January 2016, said that he was not aware of this rule when he made the purchases but was very happy with the ruling of the court. Expressing his joy, Sami is reported to have said he was very emotional as he got this victory on the day of his wife Roya Faryabi’s birthday and that made it even more special.

    “It has been a big struggle of nine years. I am ecstatic about the fact that being an Indian justice finally prevailed. Whatever I earned with my blood, sweat, and tears, I have finally got them all back,” Sami said.

    As for the fine, Sami will have to pay Rs 40 lakh within 3 months as he had paid Rs 10 lakh earlier.

  • VIDEO: Putin quotes Quran to urge Muslim countries for peace

    VIDEO: Putin quotes Quran to urge Muslim countries for peace

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for an end to the conflict in Yemen by quoting from the Holy Quran to urge Muslim countries for peace.

    According to RT, the Russian president was speaking in Turkish capital Ankara alongside President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani when he quoted a verse from Surah al-Imran.

    “And remember the favour of Allah upon you — when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favour, brothers,” he quoted.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    The Russian president’s references to the Holy Quran were noted with approval by both Erdogan and Rouhani, the report said.

    Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Yemen’s civil war and millions face the threat of starvation.

    The war in Yemen is an ongoing conflict that began in 2015 between two factions: the Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi-led Yemeni government and the Houthi armed movement, along with their supporters and allies.

  • Naya Pakistan: Police register blasphemy case against 50 rioters for attacking temple

    Naya Pakistan: Police register blasphemy case against 50 rioters for attacking temple

    Police have registered a blasphemy case against 50 rioters for vandalising a Hindu temple following blasphemy allegations against a local teacher in the Ghotki district of Sindh, journalist Mubashir Zaidi has claimed.

    “Police registers balsphemy case against 50 rioters who vandalized Hindu temple in Ghotki,” he tweeted Monday.

    Heavy contingents of police and rangers were deployed in the district Sunday after violent protests over alleged blasphemy by a school principal belonging to the Hindu community. A temple, school and businesses owned by Hindus in the city were ransacked by the rioters.

    The case against the individuals, who attacked the temple, was registered under sections 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship, with intent to insult the religion of any class),  147 (rioting) and 149 (connivance) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

    Dawn quoted Sukkur Additional Inspector General (AIG) Jamil Ahmed as saying that Section 295 was included because the protesters had vandalised a Hindu temple.

    “The Sindh government and its ministers seem serious to bring the culprits to book,” a rights activist from the Hindu community told a private media outlet on the condition of anonymity.

    However, the activist said that the people still felt insecure and wanted an end to injustice on the basis of faith.

    Another case was lodged against 150 people — 27 named and 123 unidentified persons — for blocking roads. A third FIR [First Information Report] pertaining to rioting and theft was filed against 23 people, including 11 unidentified persons, over reports that protesters had stolen goods from multiple shops in Shahi Bazar.

    RIOTS OVER ‘BLASPHEMY’:

    Law and order of Ghotki and surrounding areas deteriorated on Sunday as people in large numbers took to the streets to protest against an alleged incident of blasphemy.

    The protests began on Saturday after an FIR was filed against the principal of Sindh Public School on the complaint of Abdul Aziz Rajput, a student’s father who claimed that the former had committed blasphemy.

    The FIR was lodged under Article 295(c) — that pertains to “derogatory remarks in respect of the Holy Prophet (PBUH)” — of the PPC.

    Residents of the area demanded that the police arrest the principal, issued a call for a shutter-down strike, and took to the streets in protest. Videos of stick-wielding protesters were shared on social media on Sunday, in which they were seen vandalising a Hindu temple and damaging the school where the alleged incident took place.

    The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) also shared a video of protesters breaking the infrastructure of the school and expressed concern over the situation.

    “Alarming reports of accusations of blasphemy in Ghotki and the outbreak of mob violence,” it said in a tweet.

  • KP Govt withdraws compulsory Abaya order for female students

    KP Govt withdraws compulsory Abaya order for female students

    KP government ordered school girls to come to school all covered up, making abayas compulsory for them to avoid harassment. After severe public backlash, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Chief Minister took back the order.

    People were not happy with the authorities implying that it is women who are responsible for sexual harassment they face. Talk about blaming the victim rather than the committer.

    https://twitter.com/ayeshakhalid7/status/1172783267159973888

    After public backlash, the order was withdrawn by KP’s Chief Minister, Shaukat Yousafzai.

    Minister of Human Rights, Shireen Mazari took to twitter to raise the point that on the issue that the victims should not be restricted but the offenders should be punished.

    This isn’t the first time such an announcement came up. Previously, Haripur issued a similar order.

    A notice was circulated from the Peshawar District Officer enforcing compulsory Burka for school-girls’ safety.

  • Shahzeb Khanzada destroys CM KP’s advisor on education

    The most controversial discussion on television last night was the notice to parents by the Khyber Pakhtunkhua government that their daughters will have to wear an abaaya/chadar/burkha when going to and coming from school. This restriction was being placed on them for their “own protection”.

    Social media was in an uproar, as well as television programs. When anchor Shahzeb Khanzada did a program on the issue last night, he took the man who had circulated the notice: the Chief Minister’s advisor on elementary and secondary education, Ziaullah Bangash.

    Shahzeb asked him questions on what the government’s plan was on how to cover up little boys since there were more cases of sexual abuse against boys reported than girls. He also asked Bangash about the co-relation between clothes and abuse, showing data on how there was more sexual abuse of children in madrassahs than schools, and madrassahs being a place where students were fully covered and being given religious teachings, this should not be the case.

    Bangash had no pertinent answer. The notice has since then, been taken back by the Chief Minister.

    Watch Shahzeb’s explosive interview here:

  • Woman swallows engagement ring in her sleep

    Woman swallows engagement ring in her sleep

    A US woman swallowed her engagement ring in sleep while she was having a nightmare and had to undergo surgery to retrieve it. 

    Jenna Evans, 29, had a scary dream in which she and her fiancée were on a train and are attacked by some bad guys. She dreams that she removed her ring and swallowed it so that the attackers do not take it away.

     When Evans woke up next morning she was shocked to see her ring missing and realized that she had actually swallowed the ring in her sleep. The couple went to hospital where an X-ray showed the 2.4-carat ring in Evans stomach.

    The worst news came when the woman was asked to sign release forms in case of her death while undergoing surgery to remove the ring.

    “Then I cried a lot because I would be so mad if I died. I waited a long time for that damn engagement ring and I will marry Bobby Howell,” BBC was quoted as saying Evans. Luckily, the surgery went well, and she later shared her experience in a Facebook post which went viral.

    “I was really happy because I don’t know if I can look at it and appreciate it in the same way,” Evan said.

  • Asim Azhar’s latest revelation has us shook

    Asim Azhar’s latest revelation has us shook

    Just when we thought we had heard every Asim Azhar song there is, Asim drops a huge bomb us which changes our entire childhood.

    We’ve all grown up listening to the Cocomo jingle Cocomo Mujhe Bhi Do and Dairy Milk’s ad which had the tune Kitna maza aye re, dunya dairy milk ki ban jaye. Turns out that Asim had sung both these jingles, with the cherry on top being that he was only ten years old when we recorded the Dairymilk song.

    Oh man, did not see that one coming.

    Even Twitter users seem to think the same. They are as shook as we are.

    https://twitter.com/smoldevilll/status/1173220997727698944?s=20
    https://twitter.com/aqsakehtihai/status/1173277258829750282?s=20

    In case you forgot what the tunes sounded like, here’s a refresher.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpYW3PZELIs
  • Meera Jee admitted in the hospital

    Meera Jee admitted in the hospital

    Meera Jee has been admitted to a hospital in Dubai for tests after she complained of stomach pain.

    According to reports, Meera was admitted to the American Hospital in Dubai, where doctors have advised Meera to undergo an operation for her condition. However, nothing has been confirmed as yet and final decision will be made once the results of her blood tests return. Nonetheless, doctors have advised her to rest.

    Meera has also complained of burning sensations on her skin.

    The star requested her fans to pray for her quick recovery. The reports also suggested that fans visited Meera in hospital.

  • Sindh’s Manchhar Lake to get a floating village

    The Sindh government has decided to restore the once active ‘village of boats’ on the almost-ruined Manchhar Lake and turn it into a model village.

    As per reports, the decision was taken on the instructions of Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah who aims to bring back as many fishermen families as possible to their boat village.

    Initial working on the plan had already begun to restore the lost glory of this one of the largest freshwater lakes in the region.

    Officials said the plan to rehabilitate the lake was multidimensional. It included provision of safe drinking water, a school for the children of fishermen, a dispensary and other basic facilities.

    The floating model village would be a wonderful recreational place for all and plans are being made to develop and establish floating restaurants and resorts for visitors. Towers would be built for birdwatchers, in addition to fishing points, public toilets and marketplaces. Officials said such facilities would attract visitors from across the country and abroad and turn the area into a tourist hotspot.

    People had been living on boats at Manchhar Lake for centuries with scores of villages floating in the lake. However, it was heavily contaminated by the Right Bank Outfall Drain project.