Today’s top Pakistan current affairs February 01, 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
- PAF plane carrying first batch of COVID-19 vaccine reaches Islamabad. A special Pakistan Air Force (PAF) plane with the first batch of COVID-19 vaccine doses has reached Islamabad today (Monday)
- Hike in prices of petroleum products challenged in LHC. A writ petition challenging the recent hike in prices of petroleum products was filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday
- Punjab CM to launch corona vaccination from Wednesday: Rashid. Chief Minister of Punjab will launch coronavirus vaccination drive in the province from Wednesday, ARY News reported.
- Countrywide anti-COVID-19 vaccination drive to begin from February 3. The federal government has decided to launch countrywide anti-COVID-19 vaccination drive from February 3
- Ogra notifies over Rs10/kg increase in LPG price. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) notified Monday a Rs10.37 per kilogramme increase in price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for the month of February.
- Three terrorists killed near Pak-Afghan border: ISPR . Three terrorists were killed during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) near the Pak-Afghan border in Lower Dir on Monday
- PM Approves Solarization Of Tubewells To Facilitate Farmers In Balochistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved solarization of tubewells located in Balochistan province to facilitate the farmers and growers.
- All remaining educational institutions re-opened from today. All remaining educational institutions have been re-opened from today across the country after closure due to COVID-19.
- Gold prices rise in domestic market. The per tola gold price on Monday witnessed an increase of Rs350 to Rs113,300 in the domestic market
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- 24-hour count: Pakistan reported 1,615 new cases and 26 deaths in the past 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 34,785 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on February 1 at 8:07am).
- A tsunami of COVID-19 patients: Pakistan has officially recorded around half a million cases of COVID-19, and more than 11,600 linked deaths. However, health officials reportedly told CNN that testing is “not sufficient,” and that it’s not showing the true picture of how bad the virus is in the country. Health workers in big cities are scheduled to start getting vaccinated next week with China’s Sinopharm vaccine (P.S. 500,000 doses were expected to arrive over the weekend).
- Pakistan secures AstraZeneca vaccine doses: Pakistan reportedly secured 17 million doses of the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine under the global COVAX scheme that delivers vaccines to developing countries. The AstraZeneca vaccine was developed in partnership with Oxford University. A combined average of dosing regimes during late-stage trials found that the vaccine was 70% effective in protecting against the virus. Around 6 million doses will arrive in the first quarter of this year. The remaining vaccine doses will arrive by mid-year. The World Health Organization is coordinating the COVAX scheme to provide vaccine distribution support to lower-income countries.
2. Mob attacks Christian woman at hospital
What’s going on? According to Union of Catholic Asian News, a mob attacked a Christian woman at a hospital in Pakistan on January 28. However, at this moment, other local mainstream news outlets aren’t reporting this incident.
The details: Tabitha Nazir Gill, a 30-years-old nurse, has worked at Sobhraj Maternity Hospital in Karachi for nine years. People reportedly slapped her and tied her up with ropes due to blasphemy allegations. A midwifery student named Saba accused Gill of insulting the Prophets of Islam. A Muslim nurse named Nasreen was reportedly among the people who beat Gill. Other visiting women at the hospital who were wearing burqas also attacked her.
Tell me more: An investigating officer reportedly cleared Gill of blasphemy charges, saying there was just a misunderstanding between colleagues. The officer let her leave the police station.
The bottom line: It’s unclear if Gill is totally out of the woods yet, since a mere, unproven allegation of blasphemy has the tendency to trigger mob violence and extrajudicial killings.
3. Aviation officials arrested over pilot license scandal
Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested five Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) officials and a pilot. They were allegedly involved in a scandal involving fraudulent pilot licenses. The CAA officials allegedly helped pilots get sham credentials to secure licenses. After the May 2020 PIA plane crash in Karachi, Pakistan’s Aviation Minister, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, told Parliament that more than 262 of Pakistan’s 860 active commercial pilots have fake licenses and are not qualified to fly. A senior FIA official claimed they uncovered a money trail, which shows that each pilot paid a minimum of $312.50 for each paper they were supposed to appear in.
- Backstory: On May 22, 2020, a PIA Airbus A320 (i.e. PK-8303) crashed in Karachi, killing 97 people on board. Two passengers survived. A teenage girl on the ground, who was injured when the plane fell, died later on. Pilots reported the loss of both engines. According to initial reports, the plane scraped its engines on the runway while trying to land the first time. The plane crashed over Model Colony while coming in for a second landing attempt. Initial findings suggest the pilots and air traffic control didn’t follow protocol.
