Today’s top Pakistan current affairs April 07, 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
- Mosques Will Remain Open During Ramzan: Tahir Ashrafi. Special Representative of the Prime Minister on Religious Harmony Maulana Tahir Ashrafi has urged the public to strictly follow SOPs during the month of Ramzan.
- CM Punjab Decides To Establish More Coronavirus Vaccination Centers. Chief Minister of Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar has decided to establish more coronavirus vaccination centers in the province to provide free of cost vaccinations to people.
- NEPRA Notifies Increase In Power Tariff By 64 Paisas. National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has notified 64 paisa per unit increase in power tariff under the fuel adjustment mechanism for the month of February 2021.
- PIA commences direct flights from Lahore to northern areas. The national carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has commenced direct flights from Lahore to northern areas as the first flight carrying 153 passengers flew to Skardu
- NCOC decides closing COVID-19 vaccination centres once a week. The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has decided closure of the COVID-19 vaccination centres across the country once a week
- OGRA hikes April LNG prices by at least Rs24 per mmbtu. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has Wednesday announced a revision in the imported LNG prices for the month of April hiking $0.17 for the Sui Northern system and $0.16 for the Southern
- Rupee continues to strengthen against US dollar. The Pakistani rupee strengthened by 15 paisas (0.10%) against the United States (US) dollar in the interbank currency market on Wednesday.
- Gold rates unchanged in domestic market. Gold rates remained unchanged in the domestic market on Wednesday.
- Pakistan Win 3rd ODI To Seal Series Against SA. Pakistan beat South Africa by 28 runs in the final match to win the Pak-SA ODI series 2-1. Captain Babar Azam was awarded the man of the match award for his century knock that enabled Pakistan to set a 321-run target for the hosts.
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- 24-hour count: Pakistan reported 3,953 new cases and 103 deaths in 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 46,665 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on April 6 at 7:53am).
- Update on schools reopening and exams: Minister for Education, Shafqat Mahmood, made some announcements regarding schools and exams in districts with COVID-19 cases. There will be no in-person classes for grades 1 to 8 until April 28. Classes for grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 can resume on April 19 with safety guidelines. Exams for grades 9 to 12 are still happening. Around 4 million students are scheduled to appear in local board exams. Around 85,000 students are scheduled to take their O and A level exams. The Cambridge International program issues O and A levels. Local education boards throughout Pakistan issue board exams (i.e. national assessments/certificates). Cambridge International’s O and A levels will start on May 10. Local board exams are expected to kick-off after May 24.
2. PM Khan links vulgarity to rising rape cases
What’s going on? Even though Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan had a virtual townhall with the country a couple of days ago, people are doubling down on some comments he made about rape and vulgarity in society. Public outrage on social media is still continuing two days after his remarks.
The details: While answering a question about rising incidents of rape and sexual violence, PM Khan linked rape and sexual violence to “fahashi” (i.e. vulgarity). He also implied rape is happening more because of what victims wear. “In any society where vulgarity is prevalent, there are consequences…our religion stresses on covering up your body and maintaining modesty to avoid any such temptation. Not everyone has the willpower to avoid it,” he said.
Tell me more: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) slammed his remarks. Critics are accusing PM Khan of “simplifying rape,” and “victim blaming.” According to critics, he is placing the blame of rape on women and how they dress, instead of calling out violent male behavior.
The context: This isn’t the first time PM Khan has drawn connections between sexual violence and vulgarity. Last year, during an interview with journalist Moeed Pirzada on 92 News, PM Khan claimed that vulgarity is causing an increase in sexual crimes: “when you increase vulgarity in society, two things happen – sex crimes increase, and the family system breaks down.”
The bottom line: The HRCP straight up said this is “unacceptable behavior” for a public leader. People who do not agree with PM Khan’s stance on sexual violence and rape think he’s missing the point because,
- Rape is the rapists fault.
- Rape is not a result of lust or vulgarity, it’s motivated by the urge to control and dominate women.
- Lust is an emotion. Rape is criminal.
- Women ‘covering up’ and helping men ‘control their urges’ will not prevent rape. Instead, Pakistan needs proper law enforcement and accountability to deter rapists.
*If you’d like some more background, check out our Special Report, which identifies some of the root causes of rape culture in Pakistan.
3. Suspected cracks in the opposition alliance
Last September, a group of 11 opposition parties came together to form an anti-govt alliance called the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). PDM demanded PM Khan’s resignation and a new election. The opposition alliance claimed that a rigged election brought PM Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party into power. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) are the three largest political parties in the PDM. However, some recent events suggest the opposition alliance might be wavering.
- Internal disagreements: The Awami National Party (ANP) is leaving the opposition alliance. ANP didn’t like receiving a show-cause notice for helping PPP get its member, Yousaf Raza Gilani, elected as opposition leader in the Senate. PML-N member and the PDM’s Secretary General, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, issued the show-cause notice. PML-N nominated its own member for opposition leader, but PPP wasn’t on board. During a press conference, ANP Central VP, Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, said there were disagreements in the alliance. He also claimed some “elements” in the alliance have “personal agendas.”
- A new alliance: The PDM decided to form a new alliance, minus PPP and ANP. This new alliance is expected to have five opposition parties, including PML-N and JUI-F. They’re mad at PPP for pushing to get its candidate elected for opposition leader in the Senate when other parties weren’t on the same page. Plus, PPP apparently got support from independent senators that are known to be affiliated with PTI’s ruling coalition.
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