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Waqas Dar

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Blog Entries posted by Waqas Dar

  1. Waqas Dar
    CHAMAN: A flag meeting between Afghan, Pakistan military authorities is currently under way at Bab-e-Dosti border of the two neighbouring countries.  
    The Pakistani delegation is led by FC Commander North Sector Brigadier Nadeem Sohail and Afghanistan’s delegation is headed by Colonel Sharif.
    The meeting is also being attended by Pakistan and Afghanistan’s geological survey teams.
    During the meeting, the geological experts decided that survey of Killi Luqman and Killi Jahangir will be conducted. They mutually agreed upon using Google and geological maps to conduct the survey.
    The meeting will continue for additional hour-and-a-half and participants are currently discussing border issues. The participants hope to come to a conclusion after the demarcation of area is completed.
    Read more: Chaman firing: Pak, Afghan authorities moot over control of border areas
    Earlier, Pakistani and Afghan authorities mooted over the control of areas — Killi Luqman and Killi Jahangir — affected during firing and shelling by Afghan forces on Friday, as yet another flag meeting between the officials of the two countries ended in a stalemate on Saturday.
    During the second meeting after the firing incident at the border, Afghan authorities were of the view that Killi Luqman and Killi Jahangir fell under their jurisdiction, sources said. But Pakistani authorities said the areas were situated within the Pakistani territory which could be verified from Google maps.
    At least 11 people were martyred and 46 injured early Friday when Afghan border forces opened fire on Frontier Corps Balochistan soldiers deployed for security of census team near the Chaman border.
    Read more: Chaman firing: Residents asked to immediately vacate border villages
    In response to the firing, people living in villages situated near the Chaman border started to move out to safer places after authorities advised it was no longer safe for them to stay.
    According to relevant officials, nearly 10,000 locals have left their houses so far. There are around 8-10 villages situated on the border belt; according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, 2,000 homes were affected by the shelling and firing. PDMA also distributed relief goods among the affected people
    The Bab-e-Dosti gate situated on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border at Chaman remained closed on the third day following the firing incident.
    Pakistan Army and FC personnel were deployed at the border to monitor the situation and also stop people from crossing the border. Even trucks carrying goods are not being allowed to cross the border.


  2. Waqas Dar
    LOWER DIR: Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Yousaf Raza Gillani said on Friday that the Pakistan Peoples Party was neither a part of the Supreme Court proceedings nor would be of the Joint Investigation Team tasked to carry out the apex court’s verdict in the Panama case.
    The PPP leader was addressing a rally in Lower Dir, where he said that his party believed in the supremacy of the parliament.
    “When the PM appears before a grade 19 officer, what will happen to the parliament’s supremacy,” he said.
    Gillani demanded that the blocked Computerised National Identity Cards should be reinstated.
    The PPP had decided to form a grand opposition alliance after the verdict. The PPP has also launched nationwide protests against load-shedding.
    The party has been on a spree to hold gatherings and protests against the federal government ahead of the next general elections in 2018.
     


  3. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: Former president Asif Ali Zardari’s close aides Ghulam Qadir Marri and Ishfaq Leghari, who had gone missing last month, have been recovered from Balochistan, police said on Sunday.
    According to SSP Tariq Dharejo, the aides were recovered during a raid by Anti-Violent Crime Cell in Mund area of Turbat. The raid was conducted in collaboration with intelligence agencies, he said. 
    Leghari and Marri were abducted when they were travelling from Karachi to Jamshoro in April, SSP Dharejo said.


  4. Waqas Dar
    Pope Francis on Saturday criticised the naming of the US military's biggest non-nuclear explosive as "the Mother of All Bombs", saying the word "mother" should not be used in reference to a deadly weapon.
    The US Air Force dropped such a bomb, officially designated as the GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) on suspected Daesh fighters in eastern Afghanistan last month. The nickname was widely used in briefings and reporting on the attack.
    "I was ashamed when I heard the name," Pope Francis told an audience of students on Saturday. "A mother gives life and this one gives death, and we call this device a mother. What is happening?"
    Read more: Three civilians, policeman killed in occupied Kashmir
     Pope Francis is set to meet the US President Donald Trump on May 24 in a potentially awkward encounter given their opposing positions on immigration, refugees and climate change.


  5. Waqas Dar
    PARIS: French voters went to the polls Sunday to pick a new president, choosing between centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a watershed election for the country and Europe.
    Polling day follows an unprecedented campaign marked by scandal, repeated surprises and a last-minute hacking attack targeting Macron, a 39-year-old who has never held elected office.
    The run-off vote pits the pro-Europe, pro-business Macron against anti-immigration and anti-EU Le Pen, two radically different visions that underline a split in Western democracies.
    Le Pen, 48, has portrayed the ballot as a contest between the "globalists" represented by her rival -- those in favour of open trade, immigration and shared sovereignty -- versus the "nationalists" who defend strong borders and national identities
    She is hoping to spring a shock result that would resonate as widely as Britain´s Brexit decision to withdraw from the European Union or the unexpected victory of US President Donald Trump.
    "The world is watching," said 32-year-old Marie Piot as she voted in a working-class part of northwest Paris.
    "After Brexit and Trump, it´s as if we are the last bastion of the Enlightenment," said Piot, who works in marketing.
    Le Pen cast her ballot in her northern stronghold of Henin-Beaumont, where bare-breasted Femen activists climbed scaffolding on a church and unfurled a banner reading: "Power for Marine, despair for Marianne" -- a popular symbol for France.
    Macron voted in the northern seaside resort of Le Touquet where he has a holiday home.
    Outgoing Socialist President Francois Hollande, who decided in December against seeking re-election, went to the polls in his former electoral fief of Tulle, in central France.
    Hollande, who plucked Macron from virtual obscurity to name him economy minister in 2014, said voting "is always an important, significant act, heavy with heavy consequences."
    The last opinion polls showed Macron -- winner of the first round vote last month -- with a widening lead of around 62 percent to 38 percent for Le Pen before the hacking revelations surfaced on Friday evening. A campaigning blackout entered into force shortly after.
    Hundreds of thousands of emails and documents stolen from the Macron campaign were dumped online and then spread by anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, in what the candidate called an attempt at "democratic destabilisation."
    France´s election authority said publishing the documents could be a criminal offence, a warning heeded by traditional media organisations but flouted by Macron´s opponents and far-right activists online.
    High stakes
    Whoever wins Sunday´s vote it is set to cause profound change for France, the world´s sixth-biggest economy, a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a global military power.
    It is the first time neither of the country´s traditional parties has a candidate in the final round of the presidential election under the modern French republic, founded in 1958.
    Macron would be France´s youngest-ever president and was a virtual unknown before his two-year stint as economy minister, the launchpad for his sensational presidential bid.
    He left the Socialist government in August and formed En Marche! (On the Move), a political movement he says is neither of the left nor the right and which has attracted 250,000 members.
    The ex-investment banker campaigned on pledges to cut state spending, ease labour laws, boost education in deprived areas and extend new protections to the self-employed.
    He is also fervently pro-European and wants to re-energise the soon-to-be 27-member European Union, following Britain´s referendum vote last June to leave.
    "France is not a closed country. We are in Europe and in the world," Macron said during an acrimonious final debate between the two candidates on Wednesday.
    First-round winners
    National Front leader Le Pen sees herself as part of the same backlash against globalisation that has emerged as a powerful theme in the United States and in recent ballots in Britain, Austria and the Netherlands.
    She has pledged to organise a referendum on withdrawing France from the EU and wants to scrap the euro, which she has dubbed a "currency of bankers."
    Le Pen has also vowed to reduce net immigration to 10,000 people a year, crack down on outsourcing by multinationals, lower the retirement age and introduce hardline measures to tackle Islamist extremists.
    Many voters still see her party as anti-Semitic and racist despite her six-year drive to improve its image.
    Macron topped the first round of the presidential election on April 23 with 24.01 percent, followed by Le Pen on 21.30 percent, in a crowded field of 11 candidates.
    The results revealed Macron was favoured among wealthier, better educated citizens in cities, while Le Pen drew support in the countryside as well as poverty-hit areas in the south and rustbelt northeast.
    Voting began at 0600 GMT in 66,546 polling stations. Most will close at 1700 GMT, but those in big cities will stay open an hour longer.
    A first estimate of the results will be published around 1800 GMT.
    French voters in North America and some overseas territories began voting on Saturday.


  6. Waqas Dar
    CHAMAN: Commander Southern Command Lieutenant General Amir Riaz, on Sunday, said that the Pakistan army had to destroy four to five Afghan posts after Afghan forces attempted to enter Pakistan.
    "Anyone who tries to make Pakistan's territory disputed will face similar consequences," Lt. General Riaz said while speaking to media outlets in Chaman.
    The commander said that attempts to enter Pakistan were a "foolish mistake," which was not beneficial for both countries.
    Read more: 
    "The border will remain closed till Afghanistan changes its behaviour," Lt Gen Riaz said.
    The general visited those injured in the attack at the Chaman Civil Hospital.
    50 personnel of Afghan forces killed, over 100 injured: FC IG
    Over 50 personnel of the Afghan forces were killed, while more than 100 were injured when Pakistani forces retaliated to their firing and shelling, Balochistan Frontier Corps Inspector General Major General Nadeem Ahmed said on Sunday. 
    "We are not pleased to announce this but the Afghan commanders are responsible for this," he said while briefing the media on the Chaman border firing issue. "We had informed them about our census activity."
    He added they carried out census in the areas that are situated within the Pakistani border.
    While talking about the Afghan forces' attack, the IG said census was carried out in Killi Luqman and Killi Jahangir for four days until April 29 when they started to hinder the process. "But we restrained so that peace is not disrupted."
    The next day a meeting between border forces was held where the Afghan authorities told their Pakistani counterparts to resume the census process after three to four days.
    "We informed them, but our positive attitude was misused," he said. "The Afghan forces entered villages on Pakistan's side and used locals as human shields so that they could make a position for attacks."  
    However, on May 4 the Frontier Corps personnel started the operation and by May 5, got hold of their areas back.  "We could have done this earlier, but we knew civilians reside in the villages on the border."
    When the Afghan forces found out they were losing their position, they started firing, killing over 10, including one pregnant woman and injuring more than 40, the IG added.
    The FC official said he was thankful to the tribal people of Chaman as they were ready to help and also donated blood. He told the media another flag meeting would be held in the evening, to discuss the border situation.  
     


  7. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah on Sunday vowed to get rid of terrorists and criminals spreading fear in Karachi, Geo News reported.
    The CM was speaking with regard to the mobile-snatching incident that took place earlier today near the city’s Hassan Square area, wherein a man – revealed to be Abdul Rehman – was shot dead when he refused to hand over his phone to the thieves.
    Shah took immediate notice of the death and condemned the act. Expressing anger at how Rehman got killed, he said, “I cannot tolerate innocent, peaceful citizens becoming victims of such incidents.”
    Related: Street crime continues; mobile-snatchers kill man for resisting handing over phone
    Consequently, the CM demanded a report from IG Sindh on the aforementioned killing.
    Promising to create peaceful living conditions for Karachiites, Shah went on to say, “These terrorists cannot escape our reach.”
    Unidentified suspects had opened fire at a coaster near Hassan Square that killed Rehman – the owner – and fled the scene. According to the driver, the vehicle was parked for a picnic-booking when two motorcyclists stopped nearby and demanded the passengers to hand over their cell phones.
    An investigation, which includes all individuals present in the coaster as well as the driver, is underway, police stated.


  8. Waqas Dar
    SRINAGAR: Thousands of people, on Sunday, participated in the funeral of the Kashmiri youth, Fayaz Ahmed Ashwar who was shot dead by Indian troops on Srinagar-Jammu highway in Islamabad district on Saturday.
    The funeral of the martyred youth was offered amidst anti-India and pro-freedom slogans in Qaimoh area of Kulgam district, the Kashmir Media Service reported.
    A group of mujahideen appeared in the crowd and fired a volley of bullets in the air to offer a gun salute to the martyred youth.
    Five including three civilians and one policeman were killed in an attack on a police party at Mirbazar in Islamabad district, yesterday. Fayaz Ahmed Ashwar was also martyred in the police firing.
    Read more: Indian forces launch massive operation in Occupied Kashmir
    Indian forces cordoned off more than 20 villages in Shopian district of Occupied Kashmir, Indian media reported on Thursday, in the wake of a surge in rebel attacks on the occupying forces in recent weeks.
    According to NDTV, more than 3,000 personnel of the Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force and Jammu and Kashmir police were involved in the search operation launched early Thursday morning.
    "Over 30 companies of Indian forces have besieged villages in Shopian since 3 am looking for armed fighters," IoK local Faysal tweeted. 
    Read more: 'This Azaadi movement by Kashmiris will not go away'
    A few days ago, similar raids were carried out at various places in Kulgam, as well as adjoining Shopian following a tip-off about the presence of two people suspected of involvement in the killing of seven people including five Indian policemen, according to a report by the Press Trust of India.


  9. Waqas Dar
    NEW DELHI: Defending champions India will take part in the Champions Trophy next month, the country´s cricket board said Sunday, ending weeks of speculation over the team´s participation in the premier tournament.
    The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the decision after a special general meeting held in New Delhi amidst a row over sharing revenues with the game´s world governing body.
    "The BCCI SGM unanimously decided that the Indian cricket team will participate in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy," it said in a statement.
    The squad for the 50-over tournament would be named on Monday, it added.
    The eight-nation Champions Trophy will be played in England and Wales from June 1.
    The BCCI had skipped the deadline for announcing the team and threatened a pull-out from the Champions Trophy over the dispute with the International Cricket Council (ICC).
    The dispute stemmed from ICC´s decision last month to amend rules so that less money and power was held by cricket´s "Big Three" -- England, India and Australia.
    The powerful BCCI stands to lose $277 million revenue over the next eight years under the sweeping changes approved by ICC members.
    The BCCI said it was keeping its legal options open, indicating the row was far from over.
    "The Board unanimously authorised the acting honorary secretary of the BCCI to continue negotiations with the ICC in the best interest of the BCCI while keeping its legal options open," it said in the statement.


  10. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited Karachi Corps headquarter on Sunday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) stated.
    He was briefed on the security situation in Karachi, the progress of Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, and support to the ongoing census process in Sindh, according to an ISPR press release. 
    The COAS appreciated the efforts of the Pakistan army and Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) for their contributions towards the successful execution of their ongoing assignments.
    Read more: Army will continue to facilitate Balochistan’s development: COAS
    He said that peace in Karachi is vital for stability in Pakistan. The COAS also appreciated the efforts of intelligence agencies and security forces in winning back dissident and sub-nationalist elements into the national mainstream through positive engagement.
    General Bajwa reiterated that the Pakistan army’s efforts will continue till the restoration of complete normalcy in Karachi and Sindh.
    Read more: PM Nawaz meets COAS, Dawn Leaks among other issues discussed: sources
    The COAS was received by Commander Karachi Corps Lieutenant General Shahid Baig Mirza. DG Rangers Sindh was also present.
    Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, on Saturday, said that the Pakistan army will continue to facilitate development efforts in Balochistan.
    During a visit to Awaran, the COAS was briefed about the security situation and community assistance initiatives by the army and Frontier Constabulary in southern Balochistan.
     


  11. Waqas Dar
    Dressed in white and chanting "Liberty!", tens of thousands of women opposed to Venezuela's socialist President Nicolas Maduro marched on Saturday, proffering roses to security forces who blocked their way.
    The women's marches, which took place in most major cities around the South American oil producer, were the latest in five weeks of sustained protests against Maduro whom opponents decry as a dictator who has ruined the economy.
    In Caracas, marchers sang the national anthem and shouted: "We want elections!" They were halted at various points by lines of policewomen and National Guard troops with armoured cars.

    The opposition, which has majority support in Venezuela after years of being in the shadow of the ruling Socialist Party, is demanding that delayed state elections be held and the 2018 presidential vote be brought forward.
    Read more: Macron, Le Pen face off as France elects president
    They also want the government to free scores of jailed activists, allow humanitarian aid from abroad to offset a brutal economic crisis, and respect the independence of the legislature where the opposition won a majority in 2015.
    Highlighting vandalism and violence by young masked protesters, Maduro says opponents are seeking a coup with U.S. support and harbor "terrorists" and "murderers" in their ranks.
    In response to the crisis, the 54-year-old successor to Hugo Chavez is setting up a super body known as a "constituent assembly" with powers to rewrite the constitution, shake up public powers, and potentially replace the legislature.
    "This march is against opposition terrorism, they are destroying everything," said cook Fredesvilda Paulino, 54, at a pro-government rally also in Caracas on Saturday where red-shirted women waved pro-Maduro flags and banners.

    The women's marches were organised as part of an opposition attempt to vary tactics and keep momentum against Maduro.
    Women have often been feeling the brunt of Venezuela's economic crisis due to widespread food and medicine shortages, huge lines at shops, soaring prices, and increasing hunger in the nation of 30 million people.
    Thirty-seven deaths
    Since the anti-Maduro protests began in early April, at least 37 people have died, with victims including supporters of both sides, bystanders and members of the security forces.
    Opposition leaders say the constituent assembly is a biased mechanism designed to keep an unpopular leader in power.
    They say the government is to blame for violence by young protesters as authorities are refusing a free vote to resolve the crisis and are needlessly blocking and repressing marches.

    "Just let us vote, and this will all end," said teacher Anlerisky Rosales, 22, in the opposition women's march in Caracas. "There is too much suffering in Venezuela. If we have to, we will give our lives in the street until Maduro goes."
    At one point, a female government official emerged from the security lines to receive a petition and talk with the demonstration leaders.
    With Maduro's approval ratings at around 24 percent - less than half the level at the time of his narrow election victory in 2013 - and Venezuela suffering a fourth year of harrowing recession, the opposition's challenge is to keep up street pressure and draw in support from poor former "Chavista" sectors.
    Read more: Homes evacuated, military deployed after flooding in Canada
    Officials are hoping they become exhausted and disillusioned while highlighting the violence of young opposition hotheads to try to discredit the whole opposition.

    Many Venezuelans are closely watching the armed forces, who have the potential to tip the balance if they disobey government instructions or give Maduro a nudge behind the scenes.
    Top armed forces officials have been pledging loyalty in public, though opposition leader Henrique Capriles said on Friday that 85 military officials had been arrested for dissent.


  12. Waqas Dar
    If you laugh by yourself, you’ll be considered crazy.
     

     
    We probably don’t even have to tell you that!
     

     
    But today is different for the first Sunday of May every year is celebrated as the World Laughter Day!
     

     
    World Laughter Day was first established in 1998 by Dr Madan Kataria, who hails from India and originated the Laughter Yoga therapy.
     

    Dr. Madan Kataria
     
    The goal of this day is simple: giggle and make others chortle. The fascinating part is that laughter can be induced on purpose too.
     

     
    While sometimes we laugh naturally...
     

     
    Other times, you can make yourself laugh!
    This stems from scientific research, since humans are programmed to associate happiness with the sound of laughter – ha ha ha. “[…] A team of British neuroscientists determined that even remote Northern Namibian tribes, which have had virtually no contact with the outside world, use this sound to laugh, meaning it may be a human universal. The ‘ha, ha, ha,’ it appears, is in our DNA,” Huffington Post reported back in 2013.
     

     
    In fact, American Laughing Championship is a thing!
     

     
    And so is Irish Laughter Championships.
     

     
    Interestingly, studies on laughter are rooted in the William James’ Facial Feedback Hypothesis, which entails that a person’s expressions can and usually affect their mood.
     

     
    Laughter leaders hope to spread positivity through feelings of joy and peace. They intend to build a global brotherhood that benefits from chuckles in terms of wellness and healing.
     

     
    All over the world today, people will be gathering in parks and public spaces to… you guessed it… laugh!
     

     
    Sounds weird, right?
     

     
    Oh well, so be it. We are laughing already!
     

     


  13. Waqas Dar
    Three suspects allegedly involved in murders and robbery were arrested in a police operation in Jahanian tehsil of Khanewal district in Punjab on Sunday.
    In a separate operation in Bhakkar, law enforcement agencies raided 80 houses and arrested 28 suspects. Illegal weapons were confiscated during the raids, and a case was filed against the suspects.
    Two fraudsters were arrested in a search operation by Mankera police.
    Read more: Four civilians injured in unprovoked Indian firing at LoC
    Hundreds of forged Benazir Income Support cards, Khidmat cards, ATM cards, CNICs, weapons licenses, and non-registered SIM cards were confiscated.

    Confiscated Benazir Income Support cards
    19 others were arrested by the police and weapons and drugs were seized from their possession.


  14. Waqas Dar
    KATHMANDU: An 85-year-old ex-Gurkha who was attempting to reclaim his title as the world´s oldest person to summit Mount Everest died at base camp on Saturday.
    Min Bahadur Sherchan was on a bid to reclaim a title that he lost to Japanese mountaineer Yuichiro Miura in 2013.
    "He passed away at the base camp today at 5:14pm," Gyanendra Shrestha, an official with the tourism ministry who is at the 5,380 metres (17,600 feet) camp, told AFP.
    The former soldier became the world´s oldest climber to summit Everest in 2008 when he was 76, but he lost the record five years later when Miura summited the 8,848-metre peak at the age of 80.
    Speaking to AFP this year before returning to Everest, the slightly hard of hearing grandfather said he just wanted to prove to himself that he could still make it to the top of the world.
    "My aim is not to break anybody´s record, this is not a personal competition between individuals. I wish to break my own record," Sherchan told AFP from Kathmandu in February.
    Sherchan´s death is the second fatality of the spring climbing season on Everest, which runs from late April to the end of May.
    Experienced Swiss climber Ueli Steck died last month when he fell from a steep ridge during an acclimatisation climb.
    Nearly 750 people will be attempting to reach the summit of the world´s highest peak during the narrow window of good weather that usually falls in mid-May.
    Hundreds of climbers have been on Everest for weeks to acclimatise before making a bid for the top.
    This year is particularly crowded as it is the last chance for climbers who were forced off the mountain by the devastating 2015 earthquake to use their extended permits. This has rasied concerns about dangerous traffic jams on the mountain.
    Mountaineering is a major revenue earner for impoverished Nepal, home to eight of the world´s 14 peaks over 8,000 metres.


  15. Waqas Dar
    LAHORE: The police arrested a groom from his Henna ceremony in Lahore on late Sunday.
    Seven individuals including the groom were arrested from Lahore’s Makkah Colony in Gulberg after locals alleged that the event was underway in the residential area.
    The police reportedly damaged the property and tortured women and misbehaved when the family tried to stop the officials from arresting the groom and six others.
    Read more: Man killed as robber opens fire on coaster in Karachi
    “Some policemen were in civil clothes while others were in uniforms,” the groom’s family said. “We called the police helpline (15) but no one was ready to listen to us.”
    In late March this year, a groom confessed to killing his bride in Lahore’s Samanabad area.
    Read more: Groom turns out to be killer of newlywed bride in Lahore
    Tanveer killed Hira while she was asleep at 2 AM, by suffocating her with a pillow for 20 minutes, according to his confessional statement. 
    The groom married his paternal cousin against his will, the police disclosed.
     
     


  16. Waqas Dar
    Legendary sitarist Ustad Raees Khan passed away on Saturday. He was 77.
    The classical music maestro breathed his last in Karachi. According to reports, he had been ill for some time.
    Ustad Raees was born in 1939 in Indore, India in a family of musicians. He belonged to the Mewati Gharana of Indian classical music. His maternal grandfather Inayat Ali Khan was also considered one of the finest sitar players in the subcontinent.
    With classical music in his blood, he started playing sitar from a very young age. He was also an accomplished vocalist and would often sing a composition to accompany the raga he was playing.
    Apart from solo performances, Ustad Raees brought some of the finest pieces of classical music on stage through collaborations with legendary shehnai player Ustad Bismillah Khan.
    One of his most memorable contemporary performances is Hans Dhuni in Coke Studio season 7.

    Ustad Raees leaves behind his wife, the renowned singer Bilqees Khanum, and four sons. His son Farhan Raees is also a revered musician and excels in his ancestors’ tradition of sitar playing.
    Ustad Raees had also been awarded Pride of Performance award by the government in 2005.


  17. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: A man was killed when unknown men fired on a coaster in Hassan Square, Karachi on Sunday.
    According to the coaster’s driver, the van was in the vicinity for a picnic booking when two motorcyclists demanded the passengers to hand over their mobile phones.
    The robbers opened fire on resistance, killing the van's owner, Abdur Rehman.  

    An investigation into the murder is underway. All individuals present in the van including the driver were made part of the probe, the police stated.
    Read more: Rangers arrest kidnapper, hostage freed in Karachi
    In separate incidents in Karachi late Saturday, two men including a suspected robber were killed, the police said.
    A 25-year-old rickshaw driver, Hizbullah, stabbed his brother, Zafar Mehsud, 30, to death in Manghopir's Wangi Goth. The incident was sparked by a domestic dispute.
    The suspect fled after the incident, police officials said.
    Read more: Prisoner attempts jailbreak; inquiry reports holds prison contractor responsible
    In Orangi Town, citizens got hold of a robber, Sajid, while he was allegedly looting the people. The suspect, who was subjected to brutal torture by locals, succumbed to his wounds on the way to the hospital.
    Sajid’s accomplice managed to escape the wrath of the citizens, the police reported.
     


  18. Waqas Dar
    Engineers from across Mexico streamed into a cramped hotel lobby in the industrial city of Monterrey for a chance of a job with the U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), which is looking south of the border for talent in short supply at home.
    The fair was held at a delicate time for American firms hiring abroad as President Donald Trump reviews immigration rules for bringing high-skilled foreign workers to the United States, part of a "buy American, hire American" policy.
    Tesla, which prides itself on its "Made in America" credentials, had scheduled interviews with an unknown number of Mexican candidates on Friday and was slated to screen other prospective employees over the weekend at the closed-door event.
    The Silicon Valley automaker is recruiting in the United States' neighbor for work on robotics and other automated equipment at its Fremont, California factory, where it aims to build 500,000 cars a year by 2018, a six-fold increase from 2016. The factory will build Tesla's upcoming Model 3.
    Mexico boasts a substantial pool of experienced manufacturing engineers, with 19 automotive plants owned by global automakers including General Motors Co (GM.N), Ford Motor Co (F.N), Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCHA.MI) and Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE).
    A steady tide of hopefuls showed up at the event unannounced and without an appointment, some having traveled hundreds of kilometers, mistakenly thinking it was an open recruiting fair. Several dozen were turned away.
    Tesla gave them a brief explanation about the mix-up, said those being interviewed were often already weeks into their application processes, and directed them to email their resumes, according to more than a dozen mechanical, mechatronic, electrical and chemical engineers that Reuters spoke with outside the event.
    Representatives from Tesla headquarters in California and recruiters in Monterrey declined to comment on the event or the company's hiring plans in Mexico. Reporters were escorted off the premises by security.
    The call from a top U.S. company to Mexican engineers contrasts with the White House's cooler stance toward both Mexico and high-skilled immigrants.
    In his first days in office, Trump pressured U.S. companies to stop moving manufacturing and jobs to lower cost Mexico. He also wants to overhaul a visa system that he says replaces Americans with workers from other countries, but shortages of engineers make it hard for technology companies to hire only Americans.
    Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk is himself an immigrant from South Africa who sits on Trump's business advisory council.
    Tesla has been actively hiring in the past few months for assembly-line jobs at its Fremont plant but has found that manufacturing engineers are in even shorter supply than software engineers in Silicon Valley.
    Despite being turned away at the Monterrey event, most of the engineers, some with 20 years of experience under their belts, other fresh out of college, remained optimistic about their prospects. By evening the lobby of the Grand Fiesta Americana hotel in the northern city was abuzz with prospective candidates cradling beige folders holding their resumes.
    Word spread quickly after a recruiting poster was published on LinkedIn by Tesla's senior technical recruiter, David Johnson, listing 15 types of engineers the company would be seeking at the event in Monterrey. The post was picked up by foreign and Mexican media and also redistributed by local government on social media.
    One mechanical engineer, who boasted of several years of research and development work at a foreign automaker in Mexico, made the 1,000-kilometer journey from near Mexico City, one of many who traveled from afar in the hopes of securing an interview.
    "Tesla is an innovative company, it's offering the future of mobility," said the engineer, who like almost all those consulted by Reuters asked not to be named so as to not jeopardize their chances with the prospective employer.
    For the emerging talent, the lure of Tesla was undisputed.
    "It's a project that has a big future, these are the cars of the new era," said Nadia Marrufo, a 22-year-old chemical engineer specializing in industrial processes.


  19. Waqas Dar
    A shallow westerly wave persisted in the upper areas of the country, the Pakistan Meteorological Department reported on Sunday.   
    Hot and dry weather is expected in most plain areas of the country; while very hot weather is likely in upper Sindh and south Punjab in the next twenty-four hours.
    Read more: 7 easy hacks to beat the heat
    Light rain and thunderstorms are expected at a few places in Makran, Zhob, Rawalpindi, Multan, Bahawalpur, Malakand, Hazara, Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu divisions, FATA, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Kashmir.
    Past weather
    The weather remained hot and dry in most parts of the country. However, Bannu and Parachinar were affected by rain and thunderstorm.
    Rainfall in last 24 Hours (mm)
    KP Parachinar 04, Bannu 02.
    Yesterday's maximum temperatures
    Dadu, Larkana, Sukkur 48°C, Sibbi, Jacobabad 47°C, Chhor, Padidan, Rohri, Rahim yar khan, Shaheed Benazirabad 46°C.
     
     
     
    Data courtesy: Pakistan Meteorological Department 


  20. Waqas Dar
    OTTAWA: The Canadian army has begun to deploy in eastern Canada, where flooding from heavy rain forced new evacuations on Saturday ahead of peak floods expected on Monday or Tuesday.
    Water levels continued to rise on Saturday from Toronto and Lake Ontario up to 500 kilometers (300 miles) downstream of the St. Lawrence River, especially in Quebec province, where some 400 troops have been dispatched.
    The worst is yet to come, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard warned on Saturday.
    "The water will continue rising over the next two or three days," he said after visiting the town of Rigaud, east of Montreal, which has been flooded for more than a week.
    The government ordered the troop deployment on Friday.
    "Our troops are responding quickly and professionally, and are already beginning to deliver critical support to Canadians affected by the flooding," Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan said on Saturday.
    Torrential rains have added to runoff from melting snow that has caused rivers to overflow their banks, posing a critical situation from Ottawa to Montreal.
    The emergency services warned that rising waters would reach regions east of Montreal, where precipitation by Sunday night could reach between 90 and 125 millimeters (3.5 to 5 inches).
    Near the Atlantic, the New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization warned residents to remain on alert until Monday, saying water levels are near or above flood stage in many regions and expected to rise.
    In Quebec, the province hardest hit by the flooding, more than 1,500 homes have been flooded in 121 towns and cities and nearly 1,000 people evacuated, the emergency services said.
    "I understand people are reluctant to leave their homes," Couillard said, "but if you´re asked, do it for your own safety."


  21. Waqas Dar
    DHAKA: A Bangladeshi man has died after a clash over illegal betting on an Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament match, police said Saturday.
    Santosh Kumar, 33, died in a hospital on Friday night, two days after the incident in the northern Lalmonirhat district.
    "He bet taka 50 (62 cents) with some of friends over an IPL match on May 2. He won the bet but others refused to pay him the money, triggering an altercation," local police inspector Mostafa Kamal told AFP.
    "During the quarrel, someone kicked him on the scrotum, leaving him injured. He died in Rangpur Medical College Hospital," he said.
    Police are investigating the death, but no arrests have been made so far.
    Betting is illegal in Bangladesh but remains widespread in rural areas, especially during domestic and international cricket matches.
    Last year Bangladesh telecoms regulators blocked 12 betting sites following a request from the police.
    IPL is a popular event in the South Asian nation, broadcast live by a local television station.
    Two local cricketers -- all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and left arm fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman -- have taken part in the cash-rich event this season.
    But both have already returned home and joined their national side in England after playing just one match each for their respective franchises of Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad.


  22. Waqas Dar
    Ridley Scott, the English director of three of the sci-fi horror "Alien" films, says he is heading into a wider universe with the latest in the series: "Alien: Covenant."
    The franchise has produced nearly 40 years of sequels and prequels, numerous books, toys and video games. The 2012 prequel "Prometheus" marked Scott's return to the story, 33 years after the original.
    "Alien: Covenant", the sixth installment, is set 10 years after Prometheus with a colony ship headed to a remote planet with a sinister inhabitant.
    "I think we open up into a much larger universe than we ever did before," Scott told Reuters on Saturday.
    "The others did all-action 'Shoot-em-up, shoot-em-up, kill, kill, kill', but I thought they should have answered various questions from the first one," he added.
    "That would enable us to open up that universe in a much more interesting way other than just monsters chasing people in corridors.
    "This one has really gotten into creation," he added.
    The film stars Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup and Danny McBride
    The cast believes this is the scariest Alien yet.
    "I was exhausted at the end. It's absolutely grotesque," said Crudup.
    "Alien: Covenant" is due to be released next Friday in Britain and the following week in the United States
     
     


  23. Waqas Dar
    PARIS: French voters will pick a new president on Sunday, choosing between young centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a watershed election for the country and Europe.
    Polling day follows an unprecedented campaign marked by scandal, repeated surprises and a last-minute hacking attack on Macron, a 39-year-old who has never held elected office.
    The run-off vote pits the pro-Europe, pro-business Macron against anti-immigration and anti-EU Le Pen, two radically different visions that underline a split in western democracies.
    Le Pen, 48, has portrayed the ballot as a contest between the "globalists" represented by her rival -- those in favour of open trade, immigration and shared sovereignty -- versus the "nationalists" who defend strong borders and national identities.
    Voting will begin on the mainland at 0600 GMT in 66,546 polling stations. Most will close at 1700 GMT, except those in big cities which will stay open an hour longer.
    A first estimate of the results will be published around 1800 GMT.
    "The political choice the French people are going to make is clear," Le Pen said in her opening remarks during an often vicious debate between the pair on Wednesday night.
    The last polling showed Macron -- winner of last month´s election first round -- with a widening lead of around 62 percent to 38 percent before the hacking revelations on Friday evening. A campaigning blackout entered into force shortly after.
    Hundreds of thousands of emails and documents stolen from the Macron campaign were dumped online and then spread by anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, leading the candidate to call it an attempt at "democratic destabilisation."
    France´s election authority said publishing the documents could be a criminal offence, a warning heeded by traditional media organisations but flouted by Macron´s opponents and far-right activists online.
    "We knew that there were these risks during the presidential campaign because it happened elsewhere. Nothing will go without a response," French President Francois Hollande told AFP on Saturday.
    US intelligence agencies believe state-backed Russian operatives were behind a massive hacking attack on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton´s campaign ahead of America´s presidential election last November.
    There has been no claim of responsibility for the French hack, but the government and Macron´s team previously accused the Kremlin of trying to meddle in the election -- accusations denied in Moscow.
    Whoever wins Sunday´s vote it is set to cause profound change for France, the world´s sixth-biggest economy, a permanent member of the UN security council and a global military power.
    It is the first time neither of the country´s traditional parties has a candidate in the final round of the presidential election under the modern French republic, founded in 1958.


  24. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: Two men including a suspected robber were killed in separate incidents in Karachi late Saturday, police said.
    25-year-old Hizbullah, a rickshaw driver, stabbed his brother, Zafar Mehsud, 30, to death in Manghopir's Wangi Goth, police said. The incident was sparked by a domestic dispute.
    The suspect fled after incident, officials said.
    In Orangi Town, citizens got hold a robber while he was allegedly looting the people. Enraged locals subjected the suspect to such brutal torture that he succumbed to his wounds on way to hospital, according to police.
    The deceased was identified as Sajid. His accomplice, however, managed to escape the wrath of the citizens.
    In Landhi, police rounded three men and seized sizeable quantity of 'Gutka' from them.


  25. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: Mayor Karachi Waseem Akhtar has offered Pakistan's star all-rounder Shahid Afridi land for establishing a cricket academy.
    Afridi had complained of non-provision of land by the Sindh government for the academy. Instead, the Karachi mayor has extended his support to the star cricketer.
    Speaking to Geo News, Waseem Akhtar said he was willing to provide land to Shahid Afridi for the academy.
    He offered Afridi to establish the cricket academy in Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) ground.
    Akhtar vowed to provide all possible assistance to the star all-rounder in this regard.


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