Today’s top Pakistan current affairs December 08,2020 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
- Two killed, 14 injured in bus-truck collision in Jhelum. Two people were killed and 14 injured after a bus collided with a truck on GT Road in Jhelum on Tuesday morning.
- Businessman Siraj Qasim Teli passes away in Dubai. Former president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Siraj Kassam Teli passed away in Dubai on Tuesday.
- Coronavirus Claimed More 89 Lives In The Country. The deadly coronavirus has turned worrisome as it claimed more 89 lives in the country in the last 24 hours.
- Everest ‘grows’ as China, Nepal agree new height. The highest point on Earth got a bit higher Tuesday as China and Nepal finally agreed on a precise elevation for Mount Everest after decades of debate.
- Global Air Quality Index Ranks Karachi’s Air Most Polluted. The port city ranked the worst on a global Air Quality Index on Tuesday morning, placing atop the world’s most polluted cities.
- Five Bodies Recovered From Different Parts Of Balochistan. As many as five bodies have recovered from different parts of the province while all were shot dead.
- Gold prices edge up in domestic market. The per tola gold price witnessed an increase of Rs1,300 to Rs111,300 in the domestic market on Tuesday
- Pakistani rupee weakens against US dollar. The Pakistani rupee ended weaker against the United States (US) dollar in the interbank market on Tuesday.
- Australia beat India in third T20I to avoid clean sweep. Australia registered a 12-run win over India in the dead rubber third T20I in Sydney on Tuesday.
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- 24-hour count: Pakistan reported 2,885 new cases and 89 deaths in the past 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 33,610 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on December 8 at 7:35am).
- Medics suspended after oxygen shortage: A hospital director is among seven officials suspended at a Peshawar hospital. This happened a day after at least seven COVID-19 patients died due to an oxygen shortage. According to Khyber Teaching Hospital spokesman, Farhad Khan, the patients died when a vendor in Rawalpindi, who supplies the hospital with oxygen cylinders, didn’t arrive on time. However, preliminary reports claim the oxygen shortage went “unnoticed, unsupervised and unchecked.” There was apparently no back up oxygen supply either. Authorities will conduct another inquiry over the next few days.
- Govt is looking into a vaccine: Health authorities in Pakistan are negotiating with China, Russia and some other countries to obtain COVID-19 vaccines. Russia started distributing its Sputnik V COVID-19 shot nationwide. Provincial govts in China are ordering experimental, locally made COVID-19 vaccines. However, health officials haven’t confirmed how well they work, or how they’ll reach the country’s 1.4 billion people. Around 1 million+ health care workers and high risk people in China have already received experimental vaccines for emergency use.
2. The ‘Love Jihad’ Law in India
What’s going on? Over the past two weeks, police in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) arrested 10 Muslim men under an anti-conversion law. According to four senior police officials, the 10 Muslim men were arrested after parents accused them of abducting their daughters. These men were allegedly coercing the women to change their religion after getting married.
The details: The law keeps a check on forced or fraudulent religious conversions. A couple belonging to different religions has to touch base with the district administration two months before their marriage, and only get married when the administration says ‘go-ahead.’ Under the law, authorities are especially suspicious of “love Jihad,” or Muslim men tricking Hindu women into love or marriage for the purpose of converting their religion.
Tell me more: For example, on December 2, police arrested 21-year-old Owais Ahmed, who was accused of pressuring a Hindu girl to convert and marry him. The girl’s parents filed a complaint against Ahmed. However, Ahmed’s father, Mohammad Rafiq, denied these accusations. In response to past allegations of Ahmed kidnapping the girl, Rafiq said she went back home after leaving willingly.
Looking ahead: Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) heads the UP state govt. UP introduced the law on November 24. At least four other Indian states, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka and Assam, are planning to roll out similar anti-conversion laws.
The bottom line: Pakistan’s govt hasn’t directly commented on the anti-conversion law (yet), but local mainstream media is covering the recent arrests of 10 Muslim men. Kavita Krishnan, leader of the All India Progressive Women’s Association, slammed the law for attacking Muslims, and the autonomy of women. The law has faced criticism for targeting consensual interfaith relationships as well. Other critics have called the law “Islamophobic,” even though it doesn’t specifically name any religion.
3. Christian woman killed in Rawalpindi
There is a jumble of conflicting information about this case right now. Reporting by Persecution.org and The Christian Post is poles apart from The Express Tribune.
- Persecution.org and The Christian post: A 24-year-old Christian woman named Sonia was reportedly shot and killed after she refused to marry a Muslim man and convert to Islam. Sonia was from Rawalpindi, Pakistan. A Muslim man named Muhammad Shehzad reportedly shot her. According to Sonia’s family, Shehzad had been harassing Sonia for the past six months, and even tried forcing her into a physical relationship. However, Sonia refused because of their different faiths. Eventually, Shehzad said Sonia should marry him and convert to Islam. Shehzad’s mom went to Sonia’s house to convey Shehzad’s marriage proposal, but Sonia’s family said no.
- The Express Tribune: This mainstream Pakistani news outlet is focusing more on the rejected marriage proposal, and less on the religious conversion allegations. Sonia was reportedly traveling with a guy named Faizan on a highway in Rawalpindi when Shehzad shot her. Shehzad’s mother discussed her son’s proposal with Sonia’s parents, but they said no because Sonia was set to marry Faizan. The Express Tribune also reported that police arrested Faizan, though the reason for his arrest is unclear.
- Now what? The outlets we mentioned are at least on the same page about one thing: Police are searching for the prime suspect, Shehzad.
MARKET RECAP
The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 42,115.31 after dropping 91.69 points (-0.22%) as of December 7, 2020.
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