Here’s what is happening across the border: An all-girl team builds a Formula car and a PML-N candidate says voting for women is ‘haram’.
Chief Justice of Pakistan concerned about overpopulation
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar Tuesday expressed concern about overpopulation while hearing a suo motu case pertaining to increasing population, reported Dawn.
“The rate at which the population is growing in the country is [no less than] a bomb,” said Nisar.
A three-member bench of the apex court also deliberated on whether birth control is allowed in Islam. Justice Umar Ata Bandial said there are verses in the Quran regarding gap between children.
CJP Nisar noted that the 2,100 welfare centres in Punjab showed “zero performance” and family planning plans were only on paper. The health secretary further informed the court that the government has no monitoring system to keep records of growth in country’s population.
The court asked a committee, led by Fawad Hasan Fawad, former principal secretary to the prime minister, to submit a report within 15 days.
With a population of 207.8 million, Pakistan is the fifth most populous country in the world.
US diplomat, Pak Army chief agree to work towards peace in Afghanistan
After a meeting between US deputy assistant secretary at the State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs ambassador Alice Wells and Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Bajwa Tuesday, both the countries agreed to remain committed towards the common goal of maintaining peace in Afghanistan, reported Dawn.
During her three-day visit to Pakistan, Wells met various political leaders, army officials, businessmen, and ambassadors from other embassies in Islamabad. While speaking to her interlocutors, Wells reiterated the urgent need for Pakistan to take substantial action against terrorists who reside within the borders of the country.
In a statement referring to the Taliban terrorists living in Pakistan, the US embassy said, “Ambassador Wells discussed Pakistan’s stated commitment to eliminating all terrorist groups present within its borders.”
Motion poster of Gul Makai, Malala’s biopic, released
The first look of Gul Makai, biopic based on the life of young Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai was revealed Tuesday, reported Pakistan Today.
The motion poster of 'Gul Makai' is here to titillate your film craving soul for sure.@akhandirector @divyadutta25 @atul_kulkarni @reem4you @Malala #GulMakai #GulMakaiPosterOut #gulmakaibiopic #malala #GulMakaiMotionPoster #amjadkhan pic.twitter.com/mMajQMzP9x
— Gul Makai (@gulmakaifilm) July 3, 2018
While sharing the motion poster of the biopic, Indian television actress Reem Shaikh, who portrays Malala, tweeted that the film has entered the post-production stage.
Post production- background score in full swing for #Gulmakai #MalalaYousafzaiBiopic @divyadutta25 #shivamani #purcussion #amarmohile background score pic.twitter.com/pYHBYWYWbU
— Reem (@reem4you) May 21, 2018
The title of the biopic, Gul Makai, was taken from the pseudonym that Malala used while writing blogs for BBC Urdu when the Taliban reigned supreme in the Swat Valley.
Directed by Indian filmmaker Amjad Khan, the cast of the film includes Divya Dutta, Reem Shaikh, Mukesh Rishi, Abhimanyu Singh and Ajaz Khan.
All-girl team from Pakistan build Formula car
Breaking the gender stereotype, 13 Pakistani female students have designed and built a racing car and will be representing their country at the International Formula Student competition in England this month, reported Arab News Pakistan.
The all-girl team from National University of Science and Technology (NUST) completed the 90 horsepower engine car project in just five months, after their plan was approved by the Formula Student competition committee. The team faced many difficulties while completing the project including convincing their parents to let them stay late at the university and dealing with auto spare parts dealers as they were not used to female customers.
The car can go from 0-100 kmph in just 4.5 seconds.
Voting for women is haram, says PML-N candidate
In a controversial claim, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Muzaffargarh candidate Haroon Sultan said it is “haram” to vote for women candidates, reported The News.
Sultan claimed that his religion prohibits him to cast any votes for female candidates. He said he was simply following the commands of Allah and his messenger Prophet Muhammad. He made the claims at a corner meeting in his constituency.
Sultan is contesting against Zehra Basit Sultan Bukhari of the Tehreek-e-Insaf in his constituency. Bukhari is not just a female candidate but also happens to be his sister-in-law.
PTI Balochistan president ineligible to contest elections
The Balochistan high court Tuesday ruled that Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind, provincial president of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), will not be eligible to contest in the upcoming general elections, reported The Dawn.
Rind’s nomination papers were rejected by an appellate tribunal and returning officer (RO) for submitting a fake degree and facing several murder and kidnapping cases. Rind moved the BHC after his disqualification.
During the hearing, the two-member bench of the high court upheld the RO and tribunal’s decisions leaving Rind disqualified.
A spokesperson for Rind said that he will challenge the BHC verdict in the Supreme Court, reported The Express Tribune.
Candidates in Multan look towards Ansari biradari for backing
From bribing voters to relying on the biradari system (similar to caste system) and using their influence to win elections, politicians in Pakistan can cross limits for power, said a Samaa report.
In Multan’s PP-195 constituency, the Ansaari biradari, which has 70,000 votes, have always voted as a single unit. The Ansari-backed candidates have been winning elections since 1993.
Aamir Saeed Ansari from PML-N in 2008 and Javed Akhtar from PTI in 2013 won the elections in Multan due to the biradari’s backing.
However, disappointed by fake promises made by leaders in the past, some members of the biradiri have decided to stand as independent candidates this upcoming general election.
Third edition of Pakistan Super League’s media exposure worth over $230 mn
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) revealed the combined media exposure value of the third edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL) exceeded value of $230 million, reported GeoTV.
The brand value of the last edition was also said to be 38 per cent higher than the second edition, according to a Nielsen Sports evaluation.
The PCB statement said, “Social media was the platform that showed the greatest growth, increasing the value for PSL and its sponsors by almost four times. This was mainly due to more uploaded content and higher fan engagement on Facebook and Twitter on the official PSL platforms.”
Contributors: Hansa Kapoor, Alind Chauhan, Prateek Gupta, Anagha Deshpande and Soniya Agrawal.