Today’s top Pakistan current affairs March 16, 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
- 0.5 mln COVID-19 vaccines to arrive in Pakistan. Pakistan has purchased the coronavirus vaccines for the first time and the first batch of 0.5 million Sinopharm vaccines will arrive in the country from China today
- Pakistan, India to hold water talks on March 23 in New Delhi. The water talks between officials of Pakistan and India will be held on March 23 and 24 in New Delhi
- Federal cabinet approves Rs7.8bn Ramazan package. The federal cabinet on Tuesday has approved the Ramazan package worth Rs7.8 billion
- Pakistan to Introduce E-Voting System for Overseas Pakistanis in Next Elections. The Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, Syed Amin-Ul-Haque, announced that an e-voting system would be introduced in Pakistan for the next general elections in 2023 to facilitate the overseas Pakistanis.
- KP Announces Decision on Closure of Schools. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education, Shahram Tarakai announced on Tuesday that the government has decided to close the schools in nine districts due to the surge in coronavirus cases.
- People above 60 years to get jabs without pin code, Yasmin Rashid says. The health minister for Punjab Dr Yasmin Rashid said Tuesday the elderly people in the province are to get government-sponsored Covid-19 jabs without establishing their registration codes in the vaccination centers from now onwards
- Gold prices go up in domestic, international markets. Gold prices went up to Rs91,901 per 10 grams on Tuesday in the domestic market, showing a rise of Rs81
- Rupee hits over one-year high against US dollar. The Pakistani rupee touched over a one-year high against the United States (US) dollar in the inter-bank currency market on Tuesday.
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- 24-hour count: Pakistan reported 2,511 new cases and 58 deaths in 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 35,303 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on March 16 at 7:40am).
2. Assassination attempt on a cleric in Punjab
What’s going on? Cleric Muhammad Ali Mirza reportedly survived an assassination attempt. The attack took place at a religious academy in Punjab’s Jhelum district. A suspect who allegedly attacked Mirza with a sharp weapon is in custody. The suspected assailant is a 21-year-old resident of Lahore.
The details: Mirza is also a mechanical engineer. He regularly uploads his lectures and speeches on social media. His YouTube channel has 4.6 million followers. Mirza said he delivers a weekly dars (i.e. Islamic lesson) at a research academy. According to a First Information Report (FIR) that Mirza filed, he finished delivering his lecture on Sunday afternoon when a man charged towards him with “the intention of murder.” Mirza said the attacker was aiming for his neck, but he moved to the side quickly and got hit in the shoulder instead.
What was the motive? The suspect reportedly accused Mirza of “deceiving people.” According to lawyer and activist Jibran Nasir, the attacker thought Mirza was from the minority Ahmadi community. Pakistan’s parliament declared Ahmadis non-Muslim in 1974. Since then, Islamic extremists have reportedly targeted them in Pakistan. However, Nasir said Mirza does not follow the Ahmadi faith.
The context: Jhelum police arrested Mirza last year for allegedly making derogatory comments about some religious scholars. Mirza claimed his lecture was taken out of context. A local court accepted his bail plea, and he was released a day later.
The bottom line: This isn’t the first time someone tried to kill Mirza. He reportedly survived another attack a few years ago. According to Nasir, Mirza tries to “debunk myths and false narratives perpetuated in the name of Islam through research.” It sounds like some people have a problem with Mirza’s teachings about Islam.
3. Misleading news about Meesha Shafi going to jail
Indian news sites like Zee News, News18, and Times of India reported that Pakistani singer, Meesha Shafi, is “facing up to three years in jail.” In April 2018, Shafi accused Pakistani pop star, Ali Zafar, of sexual misconduct. Zafar denied Shafi’s allegations. Zee News cited British news platform, Mail Online (i.e. Mail Online is the website of the Daily Mail) as its source. Mail Online stated that Shafi “faces three years in jail for ‘criminal defamation’ over damage to his [Zafar’s] reputation.” Times of India cited an unspecified report and claimed that “a Pakistani Court has awarded 3 years of jail term to Meesha.” However, the language in these reports is unclear. By saying Shafi “faces” three years in jail, it sounds like she has already been given a prison sentence.
- What’s the real story? Shafi’s lawyer, Asad Jamal, responded to the misleading reports on Twitter and said they were “fake news.” According to Jamal, Shafi has not been sentenced to three years in prison. Jamal clarified that “no such verdict has been passed by any court in Pakistan.” Shafi retweeted Jamal and wrote “another day, another campaign spreading false information.”
- Backstory: In November 2018, Zafar filed a complaint with the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIAs) cybercrime wing, alleging that several social media accounts were posting “threats and defamatory material” against him. In December 2020, Dawn News reported that the FIA’s cybercrime division declared Shafi and eight others “guilty” of launching a smear campaign against Zafar on social media. However, journalist Hamna Zubair, lawyer, Nighat Dad, and activist, Leena Ghani, pointed out that the FIA is an investigation agency, not a court of law. In other words, the FIA’s verdict can’t be considered a judicial ruling.
