Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) remains the only public sector university that has been offering free education to prisoners since the 1990s. AIOU provides free admission forms to the prisoners who want to enroll in the program. During their jail time, prisoners are exempted from registration, admission, tuition, examination, and degree fee. AIOU has been offering education to prisoners from Matric to Bachelors levels since 2016.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have signed an agreement for Hajj 2020, which will allow as many as 200,000 Pakistanis to perform the religious duty next year. The new agreement has seen an increase in Pakistan’s quota from the previous 184,210 to 200,000. The Saudi government has agreed to increase facilities for Pakistani pilgrims, including the expansion of Road to Makkah project to other Pakistani cities, provision of quality food, transport, and residential facilities under this agreement.
Vast range of makeup products including beauty blenders, mascaras and lip glosses are contaminated with potentially life threatening superbugs, according to several researchers. Such contaminated products are usually used beyond their expiry dates, producing bacteria which can cause illnesses ranging from skin infections to blood poisonin, according to the study published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology.
Th federal government is planning to reform the Central Superior Services (CSS) examination process. The government has decided to slash the upper age limit for CSS examination by 2 years decreasing it from 30 to 28 years. Moreover,the special quota for candidates hailing from underdeveloped parts of the country in will be eliminated judging all candidates equally by using percentile system.
The United States Embassy in Islamabad has introduced home delivery facility for Pakistani visa applicants. According to the tweet by the embassy, intending applicants can avail this facility by selecting the ‘premium delivery’ service option while submitting an online application and receive their passport and visa at home. The charges for this service will be Rs. 700. In recent months, the ties between Pakistan and the US have significantly improved, which is now reflecting in other fields as well.
With weekend and vacations coming up, below are this week’s nine most popular original shows on Netflix and other streaming services, based on “demand expressions,” a globally standardized TV demand measurement unit:
Director Public Affairs and Communications of Coca-Cola Pakistan, Fahad Qadir, has become the first Pakistani to be featured in “40 under 40” list of Asia Pacific’s next generation of leadership. The list was issued by Campaign Asia- Pacific, UK’s largest independently owned publishing group. Campaign Asia-Pacific received about 1500 nominations from which Qaidir was chosen as one of the ‘brightest and high-achieving’ marketing professionals.
A man from London got the shock of his life, when Amazon sent him a £4.39 (PKR 890 approx) toilet plunger instead of a £299 (PKR 60,800 approx) Apple Watch which he bought in a Black Friday deal. According to reports, John Browne bought the Apple Watch Series 4 and got £100 discount on retail price. Browne’s pre-Christmas treat to himself became quite an embarrassment, he said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was caught gossiping about US President Donald Trump during a Nato leaders Buckingham Palace reception in London. Trudeau’s conversation with other world leaders was caught on camera and microphone, and the footage went immediately viral. In response to Trudeau’s comments, Trump branded the leader of America’s northern neighbour ‘a nice guy’ but ‘two-faced’.
President Arif Alvi on Wednesday gave the approval for the appointment of Justice Gulzar Ahmed as the new chief justice of Pakistan (CJP). Justice Gulzar will assume charge as the 27th chief justice of Pakistan on December 21 after Justice Asif Saeed Khosa retires. Gulzar, who hails from Karachi has been serving as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan since November 16, 2011.