Today’s top Pakistan current affairs March 11, 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
- Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar To Retire Next Week. The incumbent Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan will retire after the completion of three years of tenure next week.
- Shab-e-Miraj Being Observed Tonight With Great Religious Zeal. Shab-e-Miraj, the Night of Ascent, to be observed across the country tonight with great religious zeal.
- Pakistan Is Not Importing Covid-19 Vaccine From India: FO. Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri has rejected the reports that Pakistan is importing COVID-19 vaccine from India.
- Gilgit-Baltistan becomes Pakistan’s first ‘corona-free zone’. The Gilgit-Baltistan government has declared the region Pakistan’s first “corona-free zone” after no active coronavirus cases were reported.
- Private schools, colleges reject NCOC’s decision to close Punjab schools. The All Pakistan Private Schools and Colleges Association has rejected the National Command and Operation Centre’s decision to close schools in Punjab, Islamabad, and Peshawar.
- PTA blocks TikTok in Pakistan following PHC ruling. In compliance with the Peshawar High Court (PHC) orders, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)on Thursday issued directives to all service providers to immediately block access to the TikTok app in the country
- Gold Prices Increased by Rs2900 Per Tola. The price of 24 karat per tola gold increased by Rs 2900 on Thursday and was sold at Rs106,700 against sale at Rs103,800 Karachi Sarafa Association reported.
- Karachi to host remaining PSL 2021 matches in June. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to host the remaining matches of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021 in Karachi in June later this year.
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- 24-hour count: Pakistan reported 2,258 new cases and 53 deaths in 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 42,164 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on March 11 at 7:47am).
- Schools in some cities will close for two weeks: Education Minister, Shafqat Mahmood, said educational institutions in various cities need to close for two weeks due to an increase in COVID-19 cases. This decision applies to seven cities in Punjab, Islamabad, and Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Educational institutions in these cities are scheduled to close on March 15. Mahmood said provincial govts will keep reviewing the situation.
- Don’t book those indoor wedding halls yet: The govt initially said it would allow indoor weddings and indoor dining by March 15. Cinemas and shrines were also supposed to reopen on March 15. That’s not happening anymore due to a reported surge in COVID-19 cases. Also, amusement parks across the country have to close at 6pm. There will be a time limit of 10pm on all commercial activities, except for essential services like pharmacies. In Islamabad, 50% of the staff in offices have to work from home. Outdoor weddings with a 300-person guest limit can continue, and so can outdoor dining, for now.
2. When a balloon is taken into custody
Police in India seized a plane-shaped balloon with the name Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) printed on it. It’s a PIA-shaped balloon, complete with PIA’s color scheme and logo. The balloon somehow landed in India-administered Kashmir. Indian news agency, Asia News International, tweeted that the balloon has been “taken into custody.” Another Indian publication, The Economic Times, said this is “a developing story.” Some Twitter users in Pakistan think a balloon being “taken into custody” is pretty hilarious. Pakistani comedian Ali Gul Pir tweeted, #FreeBalloon.
3. Controversy around the recent Aurat March
The annual Aurat March (i.e. women’s march) took place on International Women’s Day. Yesterday, Aurat March Lahore posted a statement in response to “slander” against the march. Aurat March Lahore participants reportedly held up a blanket with testimonials of women who are survivors of sexual and physical violence. One of the testimonials was from a woman who claimed her 50-year-old Qari Sahib (i.e. Quran teacher) sexually abused her when she was nine-years-old. It sounds like this specific testimonial is getting a lot of pushback and criticism. Aurat March Lahore reaffirmed its commitment to raise awareness about child abuse and support survivors. Aurat March Lahore didn’t specify what kind of criticism it was receiving. However, the statement accused critics of “undermining the abuse and rape of children.”
4. A busy day for Pakistan’s Election Commission
What’s going on? The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) probably chugged a lot of coffee (or tea) yesterday. They made a string of decisions, which we’ve summed up for you.
Senate victory notifications: The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party asked the ECP to not send a “victory notification” to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and former Prime Minister (PM), Yousaf Raza Gillani. The notification would officially confirm Gillani’s win in the recent Senate election. Gillani was the opposition alliance’s joint candidate for the Senate seat from Islamabad. He defeated the govt-backed PTI candidate, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. The PTI petitioners argued that Gillani won the Senate seat due to corrupt practices. They brought up a leaked video clip and audio clip to prove their point.
- The video clip: The video allegedly shows Gillani’s son, Ali Haider Gillani, telling PTI lawmakers how to make their votes invalid by marking more than one candidate’s name on the ballot. The PTI petitioners also accused Gillani’s son of bribing lawmakers to vote for his dad. In response to the video, Gillani’s son said he was just meeting some friends from PTI and trying to generate support for his father. He denied offering them money to vote for his dad.
- The audio clip: In the audio clip, multiple people can allegedly be heard discussing “offers” to PTI lawmakers in exchange for votes. These offers include money, and assurances of development work in the constituencies of PTI lawmakers. Gillani’s son is suspected to be on this call, along with PPP leader and provincial Sindh Minister, Nasir Hussain Shah. After the recording leaked and became controversial, Shah said ‘that’s not my voice in the audio clip.’
- The ECP’s decision: The ECP said it would conduct a hearing and look into the suspicious video showing Gillani’s son, but still issued a notification to confirm Gillani’s Senate victory. The ECP also wants to hear from the PTI lawmakers who were reportedly in the video.
NA-75 constituency re-poll delayed: Remember the by-election for the Sialkot Daska National Assembly seat (i.e. the NA-75 constituency), which took place in February? The previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate who filled the seat passed away. A by-election was held to fill that empty seat. The ECP said the election was “null and void” for various reasons.
- Disturbances: Nine candidates from different parties were competing for the NA-75 seat, including PML-N’s Nousheen Iftikhar Shah and PTI’s Ali Asjad Malhi. PML-N workers and PTI workers reportedly clashed with each other during the by-election.
- Disappearances: Staff members at 23 polling stations reportedly disappeared while the votes were being counted. The missing polling staff showed up a few hours later. However, the ECP was concerned about the possibility of “falsified results” from 20 polling stations.
- Now what? At first, the ECP ordered a re-poll in the NA-75 constituency on March 18. Now the ECP has pushed the re-poll to April 10, because it wants to make sure the process is more “transparent” and “fool proof.”
The bottom line: The Supreme Court stated that the ECP has a constitutional duty to ensure fair and honest elections. However, PM Imran Khan, who is also head of the PTI party, doesn’t think the ECP is doing a great job of ensuring fair and transparent elections.
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