Today’s top Pakistan current affairs January 05, 2021 with download link available in pdf. These are the latest breaking news about Pakistan which will be helpful for aspirants in test preparation of current affairs, Pakistan affairs, General knowledge for NTS, PPSC, CSS, FPSC, KPPSC, SPSC, BPSC, AJKPSC, OTS, PTS, and other Govt Jobs, exams & MDCAT, ECAT Entry test preparation.
One Liner
- Pakistan welcomes Saudi, Qatar decision to reopen borders. Pakistan welcomed on Tuesday the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Qatar’s decision to reopen the land, air and sea borders between the two countries.
- Machh incident: Hazara protesters refuse to end Quetta sit-in despite Centre’s assurance. The Hazara community members continued their protest against the Machh incident for a second consecutive day despite the federal government’s assurance to the affected families of action against culprits
- Regional head of PPSC arrested in paper leak scandal. In a major development in the probe of a paper leak scandal relating to the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC), the anti-corruption authorities have arrested another official of the commission, bring total arrests in the matter to five
- Free WiFi service not shut down: Punjab govt. The Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) on Tuesday rejected reports that the provincial government has shut down free WiFi service in the province.
- Turkey Foreign Minister Likely To Visit Pakistan Next Week. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is likely to visit Pakistan next week.
- HEC Invites Applications For Research Awards 2021. Higher Education Commission has invited Pakistani researchers and scholars to submit applications for HEC Research Awards 2021.
- Domestic gold price continues upward trend. Gold prices continued their upward trend as the per tola price of the precious metal on Tuesday witnessed an increase of Rs250 to Rs115,850 in the domestic market
- US dollar appreciates by Rs0.35 against Pakistani rupee. The United States (US) dollar appreciated by Rs0.35 against the Pakistani rupee at the interbank currency market on Tuesday.
- Williamson’s double ton flattens Pakistan in second Test. Kane Williamson’s outstanding double century has put New Zealand on the brink of a series sweep against Pakistan.
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- 24-hour count: Pakistan reported 1,947 new cases and 59 deaths in the past 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 35,073 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on January 5 at 7:46am).
- Educational institutions reopening: Schools in Pakistan will re-open in phases starting from January 18. Classes nine through 12 will open during the first phase. The govt decided to close educational institutions in November 2020 following a surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. Schools were closed before as well, from March till September 2020.
2. Abducted lawyer describes his ordeal
What’s going on? Advocate Hammad Saeed Dar was reportedly taken from his home on Saturday. However, it turns out he’s back because he appeared in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) yesterday. He was allegedly abducted, but then his captors released him.
The details: IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard what Dar had to say, and reaffirmed that Dar was kept in illegal detention for 48 hours. According to Dar, someone rang his doorbell at around 1:00am on Saturday. Around 12-15 people standing outside told his father they wanted to meet Dar. Two people were allowed inside, but 10 others allegedly forced their way in and grabbed Dar.
Tell me more: Dar said he was blindfolded and driven away in a car, then detained in a room. He doesn’t know who took him, and why.
Looking ahead: Dar’s father initially filed a petition in the IHC for his recovery. Now, Justice Minallah is demanding a thorough investigation. The next hearing is on January 15.
The bottom line: Justice Minallah said abductions are taking place too often, and the culprits don’t get caught. He criticized the law and order situation, calling it “abysmal.”
3. Pakistan’s falcon trade
Falcon trade is the act of trapping and trafficking falcons. A single falcon can reportedly cost up to tens of thousands of dollars on the black market. Even though falcon poaching is banned in Pakistan, demand for falcons is rising. Up to 700 falcons were illegally smuggled out of the country last year via criminal networks. They’re normally sent to Gulf countries, where falconry is a popular tradition (P.S. falconry is when a trained bird of prey is used to hunt wild animals). Every winter, extravagant hunting parties from the Gulf visit Pakistan, where they’re given permits to hunt houbara bustards with help from their falcons (P.S. conservationists have classified houbara bustard birds as vulnerable). The illegal trade of falcons is growing.
4. Provincial court opposes two-finger test
On Monday, Justice Ayesha A. Malik of the Lahore High Court (LHC) said the two-finger test (i.e. hymen test or virginity test) offends the dignity of women survivors. According to Justice Malik, the test goes against the Constitution, since there are two articles that refer to security and dignity. Justice Malik also called the test discriminatory, since it’s carried out on the basis of gender. She told federal and provincial govts to make sure the tests aren’t carried out during medical-legal examinations in sexual abuse cases. A 30-page judgement said the test doesn’t have any medical basis or forensic value.
- Backstory: A few months ago, provincial health authorities in Punjab told the LHC that the medical evaluation of sexual assault survivors should no longer require the two-finger test. Two petitions against the test called it “intrusive,” “demeaning,” “inhuman,” and “violative.” The two-finger test is meant to determine whether a woman or girl has had vaginal intercourse. However, anti-test petitioners claim the test has little scientific merit. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) “the appearance of a hymen is not a reliable indication of intercourse…no known examination can prove a history of vaginal intercourse.”
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