Today’s top Pakistan current affairs March 03, 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
- COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for Hajj 2021: Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has made Covid-19 vaccination mandatory for people intending to perform the annual Hajj pilgramage this year.
- 10 killed as commercial plane crashes in South Sudan. At least 10 people lost their lives including two pilots after a commercial plane crashed in South Sudan on late Tuesday.
- PIA Lahore to Islamabad operations resume after two years. The people of Lahore and Islamabad woke up to an update on Wednesday by Pakistan International Airlines that flight operations between the two cities have been resumed with first flight set to board March 8 will depart from Lahore.
- PPP’s Gilani wins Senate seat from Islamabad in a major upset. The former Prime Minister and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) stalwart Yousuf Raza Gilani has won Wednesday his senate seat from Islamabad where he was vying against Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf’s (PTI) Hafeez Shaikh for which the polling was conducted in the National Assembly
- Malir Halt-Numaish Red Line BRT corridor to start this month. The construction work on Karachi’s Red Line BRT corridor one – from Malir Halt to Numaish – is expected to start this month
- Several buildings damaged as strong earthquake hits Greece. A strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit central Greece on Wednesday, damaging several buildings and prompting crowds to rush into the streets, though no injuries or deaths were immediately reported.
- Gold Prices Continue To Fall in Pakistan. The price of 24 karat per tola gold decreased by Rs 1100 on Wednesday and was sold at Rs 106,100 against sale at Rs107,200, Karachi Sarafa Association reported.
- Pakistani rupee touches one-year high against dollar. Pakistani rupee extended gains against the United States (US) dollar at the start of Wednesday’s trading in the inter-bank market, touching a one-year high
- Quetta Gladiators Beat Multan Sultans By 22 Runs. Quetta Gladiators beat Multan Sultans by 22 runs on Wednesday in match number 14 of Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021 at the city’s National stadium.
- Karachi Kings Beat Peshawar Zalmi By Six Wickets. In an other thrilling match of PSL, Karachi Kings defeated Peshawar Zalmi by six wickets.
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- 24-hour count: Pakistan reported 1,388 new cases and 75 deaths in 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 32,945 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on March 3 at 7:16am).
- Flight restrictions for UK and South Africa: Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is extending restrictions on travel from the UK, South Africa and a few other countries until March 14. The CAA is worried about more contagious variants of the virus spreading in Pakistan.
- How does the Johnson & Johnson vaccine work? The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the single-shot Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine is reportedly easier to store, and less expensive compared to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. The J&J vaccine is more than 85% effective at preventing serious illnesses, and 66% effective for moderate cases. The US, UK, European Union, Canada and COVAX nations have ordered J&J doses. COVAX is a global initiative that aims to provide lower income countries with equal access to COVID-19 vaccines. Pakistan is also in the COVAX program, but it’s unclear if Pakistan is getting the J&J vaccine through COVAX.
2. All eyes on the 2021 Senate election
What’s going on? The Senate election is today, and the days leading up to the election have been eventful. The word “eventful” might be an understatement.
The details: The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) govt was pushing for an open ballot system, a voting method in which people vote openly. In response, the Supreme Court pointed to the country’s constitution, which reportedly states that a secret ballot is required for all elections. However, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s PTI govt is convinced that secret ballots encourage corrupt practices like vote trading – the act of giving money in exchange for votes.
Tell me more: Two incidents related to the upcoming Senate elections are all over the news.
- A scuffle: This happened in the provincial Sindh Assembly. Three PTI provincial assembly members said they weren’t voting for PTI’s Senate candidates, because they weren’t looped in while the party was selecting candidates for Senate tickets. In response, some PTI lawmakers reportedly lashed out at them (here’s a video). One PTI lawmaker, Karim Baksh Gabol, said he wasn’t voting for PTI candidates because they allegedly “bought” their tickets to run in the Senate election.
- A leaked video: Ali Haider Gilani, the son of former Prime Minister (PM) Yousuf Raza Gilani, was reportedly seen telling lawmakers how to “cancel” their votes. PTI jumped on the video and accused Gilani of buying votes for his dad, who is running as a joint candidate for the political opposition alliance (i.e. Pakistan Democratic Movement). Gilani said he wasn’t wheeling and dealing to buy votes. He claimed he was helping some PTI folks who preferred to vote for his dad. Gilani said their ballots might be pre-marked for PTI’s candidate, Finance Minister Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. If that’s the case, Gilani told them to mark their ballots for both Shaikh and his dad so the ballot won’t be considered. Gilani also accused PM Khan of dishing out PKR 500 million to buy votes.
The bottom line: This is a heated Senate election. The ruling govt and opposition parties are throwing bribery allegations at each other.
3. Christian man gets bail in blasphemy case
The Lahore High Court (LHC) granted bail to a Christian man who was convicted in 2018 at the age of 16. He is now 20 years old. He posted a picture of the Kaaba, one of Islam’s holiest sites, on Facebook. That’s when things went downhill. He was detained after a mob accused him of committing blasphemy by insulting Islam. He was initially sentenced to 10 years in prison. The LHC didn’t specify why it granted him bail after four years. Juliet Chowdhry, a trustee of the British Asian Christian Association, believes the conviction was false. She hopes he can get his life back now.
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