Category: National

‘World’s most picturesque’ cricket stadium in Gwadar holds first star-studded match

Gwadar Cricket Stadium, being dubbed as the “world’s most beautiful cricket stadium” by the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (HRD), held an exhibition match on Friday. The match was held between Gwadar Dolphins, captained by PM’s aide Zulfiqar Bukhari, and Showbiz Sharks, which is being led by Pakistan Cricket Board’s Chief Executive Wasim Khan.

Pakistan successfully conducts training launch of Babur cruise missile

Pakistan has conducted a successful training launch of the Babur IA cruise missile, said a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). The cruise missile has a range of 450 kilometres and can be launched from either a submarine or a land-based quad-launcher. The military’s media wing added that the missile is “capable of engaging targets at land and sea with high precision”.

Army to use infrared cameras to search for Ali Sadpara, two others missing mountaineers

Search efforts for mountaineers Muhammad Ali Sadpara, and two others are expected to resume after slight improvement in Skardu’s weather. A special forward looking infrared (FLIR) mission by a C-130 aircraft along with four high-altitude porters (HAPs) from Sadpara village will be used in the operation. Bad weather in the area thwarted attempts for an on-ground and aerial search of the mountaineers.

Pakistan to start registering people aged 65 and above for COVID-19 vaccine next week

Pakistani planning minister Asad Umar has said that Pakistan would start registering people aged 65 and above so they could be vaccinated in the second phase of the coronavirus vaccine drive. In the second phase, 17 million of the “most vulnerable” people, including 9.5 million above 65 years of age, would be given shots. The vaccination of those who register in this category will start in March.

Prisoners with mental disorders to no longer be given death penalty: SC

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has said that if a prisoner on death row is unable to comprehend the rationale behind their punishment due to a mental illness, then carrying out the death sentence does not “meet the ends of justice”. The apex court announced the verdict after reserving its judgement on a point whether mentally ill death-row prisoners can be executed.

Indian extremists accuse Rihanna of taking money from Pakistan for supporting farmer’s protests

Rihanna, the famed singer has been called a fool and accused of taking money from Pakistan for speaking in support of farmer’s protests going on in India. After Rihanna tweeted about the issue, her replies were filled with messages from mostly unverified Twitter accounts from India that said that she tweeted that because she has taken money from Pakistan. Guns

Rising leopard population on Margalla Hills linked to a healthy ecosystem

The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) on Tuesday linked the increase in population of leopards dwelling in Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP) to “plenty of game”. Apart from leopards, there is a significant wild boar and monkey population along with barking deer. This also why no case of attacks on livestock has been reported there.

Pakistan’s vaccine drive aims to cover 300,000 health workers within next three weeks

The Pakistani government is planning to vaccinate more than 300,000 frontline health care workers within the next three weeks, the prime minister’s special adviser on health has said. A Pakistan military aircraft brought back the country’s first consignment of COVID-19 vaccines produced by China’s Sinopharm on Monday. The official rollout of the vaccine campaign will start this week on Wednesday, February 3.

MQM founder Altaf Hussain contracts COVID, issues message from ICU

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain, who has been away from the public eye for the past few years, has contracted COVID-19 and is currently in an intensive care unit (ICU) at a hospital in the UK. In an audio message released to the public, Altaf revealed that he started seeing symptoms 20 days ago and is currently being treated for the virus. 

PIA to confiscate passports of crew to control slipping away of staff in foreign countries

In a fresh directive, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has revealed that its cabin crew’s passports will be confiscated on arrival abroad. The passports would be returned at the time of check-in on departing flights. The decision was taken in order to control recent incidents of staff “slipping away” in foreign countries. There have been two recent incidents of cabin crew going missing in Canada.