Here’s what’s happening across the border: Sikh rights activist alleged murderer arrested; Musharraf barred from contesting polls
Shahid Afridi under wildlife department scanner for viral lion pictures
The Sindh Wildlife Department (SWD) ordered a probe over the viral lion pictures shared by former cricketer Shahid Afridi inside his home, reported Dawn. The order comes after social media scoffed at Afridi for keeping exotic pets in his home and allowing his daughter nearby without any protection.
Great to spend time with loved ones. Best feeling in the world to have my daughter copy my wicket taking celebrations. And yes don’t forget to take care of animals, they too deserve our love and care 🙂 pic.twitter.com/CKPhZd0BGD
— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) June 9, 2018
Taj Mohammad Shaikh, SWD conservator, said if found guilty, appropriate action will be taken against Afridi and those involved.
Dawn reported that the animals were brought to the cricketer’s house by a fan, Hassan Hussain, to entertain his children. Hussain said the two-year-old lion was fully tamed and was chained at all times for safety. Hussain possesses a private mini zoo license which stands to be revoked if SWD finds him guilty of mishandling the animals. Afridi may also face fines.
After failing to appear in Supreme Court, Musharraf barred from contesting polls
Pakistan’s Supreme Court quashed former dictator Pervez Musharraf’s hopes of contesting the 25 July general elections. The court withdrew its directive allowing him to file nomination papers after Musharraf did not appear for a hearing Thursday, reported The Express Tribune.
Last week the apex court permitted Musharraf to file his papers on the condition that he personally appears before the court on 13 June. Musharraf then submitted his nomination papers for Chitral’s NA-1 seat through his lawyer but failed to appear in the court.
The Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, who is hearing the case, then asked him to appear in person by 2 PM Thursday. Musharraf’s lawyer said that the former military ruler was ready to return to Pakistan but needs more time and personal security.
During Wednesday’s hearing, the chief justice said, “The Supreme Court is not bound to Musharraf’s terms. We’ve already said that if Musharraf returns, he will be provided with security.”
The Green team performs well in the Amateur Golf World Cup
Pakistan made an outstanding comeback Thursday in the second round of International Final of Amateur Golf World Cup (AGWC) at Mauritius, reported Geo TV.
A phenomenal performance by Atif Faird and Kamran Abbas made team green jump to the second position after day two of the game. The winners will be announced after the final round scheduled for Friday.
Wing Commander (Retd) I.N. Khokhar, chairman, AGWC Pakistan, hopes for another good round on the final day of the tournament.
Charanjit Singh’s alleged murderer arrested
Pakistan’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Thursday arrested an accused suspected to be the murderer of Sikh rights activist Charanjit Singh, The Express Tribune reported. Identified as Sheheryar Sultan, the accused allegedly shot Singh in his grocery store in Peshawar after he failed to pay bribe.
The operation was conducted in the Ghalla Mandi area of Peshawar, informed CTD. “The suspect is part of a criminal group involved in extortion,” said an investigating officer.
The 42-year-old activist’s last rites were performed at Nizampur on 30 May after his body was draped in Pakistan flag, Geo TV had reported last month.
Pakistan to celebrate Eid on Saturday after no Shawwal moon sighting
Pakistani media has been informing its citizens about the Shawwal moon sighting to predict Eid, via online live updates. According to the latest update Eid will be celebrated on 16 June as the crescent of the Shawwal moon hasn’t been sighted so far, said the Central Ruet-e-Hilal committee — the official body which announces the sighting of the new moon, reported The News International.
However, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to celebrate Eid today.
Militants in Bara get skill training
Militants who surrendered in the Bara town of Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) since 2015 have been de-radicalised and imparted skill training in various trades in the town, reported Dawn.
According to Inspector General Frontier Corps Maj Gen Waseem Ashraf 1,089 militants have completed their training already, and 81 suspected militants, who either surrendered to the security forces or were arrested during military operations recently, are currently undergoing similar training and rehabilitation.
The training has been taking place at the Bara De-radicalisation Center, which was established in 2015 to impart education and skill development training to militants who either voluntarily surrendered or got arrested.
Pakistan films screened at SCO film festival
Five movies from Pakistan will be screened at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Film Festival in Qingdao that kicked off Wednesday in China, reported Dawn. The list included Jawani Phir Nahi Ani, Punjab Nahi Jaungi, Parchi, Bin Roye and Chalay Thay Saath.
The five-day film festival is showing around 55 movies from eight SCO countries (China, Pakistan, India, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyztan).
With the aim of promoting cooperation and exchanges between the member states, the film festival is considered to be one of its kind. This the first time a film festival event is happening at Qingdao after it was named City of Film by the UNESCO.
The head of State Film Administration of China, termed the festival as an important cultural event. Interestingly, among the selected films, Chalay Thay Saath is a cross-border love story between a Chinese man and Pakistani girl.
Names of 383 election candidates surface as bank defaulters
The Election Commission of Pakistan, during the scrutiny of the nomination papers of election candidates, discovered 383 candidates as bank defaulters of millions of rupees, Dawn reported.
Pakistan Peoples Party’s Hina Rabbani Khar and Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo were some of the names that surfaced during the scrutiny process conducted by State Bank of Pakistan. The bank identified around 100 candidates as defaulters.
Iftikhar Ahmed Khan, who owes Rs 642 million, was also among the prominent names that came up.
The ECP announced that scrutiny of more than 20,000 applicants was carried out.
Contributors: Priyamvada Grover, Sharanya Munsi, Alind Chauhan, Manisha Mondal, Rupanwita Bhattacharjee, Prateek Gupta and Hansa Kapoor.