Poverty and hunger resulting from the novel coronavirus crisis can lead to more deaths than the disease itself, Oxfam warned. According to an Oxfam report, The Hunger Virus, Covid-19 is “deepening the hunger crisis in the world’s hunger hotspots” like Venezuela and South Sudan. Additionally, the health crisis is giving birth to new “epicentres of hunger” across the world.
Pakistan International Airline’s (PIA) recovery from its downward spiral since the revelation of dubious licences seems difficult, as the United States also revokes privileges. The US transport authority has revoked the permission granted to PIA to operate a number of special direct flights to the US. PIA spokesperson Abdullah Khan confirmed that the airline had been notified of the withdrawal via email.
Turkish actress Esra Bilgic has decided to turn off her comments for one of her snaps in a bikini, after having enough of moral policing by Pakistani trolls. Since the popularity of her show “Dirilis: Ertugrul”, Esra has repeatedly been trolled for her Western choice of clothes. Many viewers were not able to separate the star’s on-screen persona from her personal life.
For the 18th consecutive day, testing in Pakistan has registered a reduction after hitting a record-high on June 19, according to the data of the ministry of national health services regulation and coordination. The ministry, which provides daily statistics, noted that on July 7 Pakistan carried out 21,951 tests across the country, which is only 30% of its total testing
A sessions court in Lahore has granted bail to the woman who was booked for slapping and misbehaving with a traffic warden after he stopped her for parking her car in a no-parking area. Gulberg police had registered an FIR against 29-year-old Raesa Masood on the traffic warden’s complaint. The court directed Raesa to deposit a surety bond of Rs50,000 to secure bail.
Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood has announced that all education institutions, including universities, will reopen from September 15 if health situation improves. The minister said that government will review its decision in first week of September to monitor the coronavirus situation by taking a look at the health indicators. All institutes, including private ones will have to follow government SOPs.
Indonesia’s largest private airline, Lion Air is planning to launch flight operations in Pakistan, Indonesian ambassador to Pakistan Iwan S. Amri has revealed. The Indonesian ambassador said Lion Air’s management is currently negotiating with Pakistan’s Aviation Ministry. If the negotiations are successful, Lion Air will start flight operations from three Pakistani cities initially in the coming months, said Amri.
The Pakistani passport has been rated at 192nd spot in the Individual Passport Power Ranking (IPPR) 2020 by the Passport Index, the world’s leading real-time passport ranking tool. Pakistani passport’s ranking has jumped up 6 places from the 198th position for 2019. Pakistani passport has a MS of 33 as its bearers enjoy the facility of visa-free access to 7 and visa on arrival in 26 countries.
Trading volumes for the Shiba Inu meme-based cryptocurrency spiked nearly 2,000% in the last two days as videos on TikTok encouraged users to invest. The whimsical asset’s price climbed 35% to $0.035 over the same period. Some of the videos on TikTok, garnered more than 100,000 “likes,” while all videos with the “dogecoin” hashtag amassed several million.
The Scientific Committee of the National Astronomical Observation Commission has decided to set up the country’s first ever space museum in Islamabad. Federal minister for Science and Technology, Fawad Hussain Chaudhary announced that space museum will be established within eight months. “From looking at the moon to beyond the stars, you will be able to explore the universe in future”, he said.