Saturday 7 October 2017

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Thousands rally across Russia on Putin's birthday

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MOSCOW (AFP) - Several thousand supporters of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny rallied across Russia on President Vladimir Putins birthday on Saturday, as police arrested more than 100 people.A thousand protesters turned up in rainy Moscow and 3,000 more people took to the streets in Putins hometown of Saint Petersburg later Saturday, with protests also taking place in dozens of other cities.The protests - called by Navalny after he was sent to jail for 20 days this week -- were markedly smaller than the rallies he mustered in March and June when tens of thousands took to the streets against corruption.But police in Moscow also showed restraint, allowing the crowd of mostly young protesters to march along Tverskaya Avenue, the capitals main thoroughfare, in an apparent effort to avoid clashes on Putins birthday.Some 124 people were detained in the nationwide protests, some of them violently, said OVD-Info, a group that monitors politically motivated arrests.That figure is much lower than the earlier rallies. Police arrested more than 1,000 people in Moscow alone during the March demonstration.This is unprecedented for Moscow, OVD-Info spokesman Artyom Platov told AFP.In Moscow, the crowd chanted Happy birthday and Russia without Putin and many held copies of the constitution and flags amid honks of support from passing cars.Hundreds of policemen, some in riot gear and with dogs, were out on the streets to prevent people from going to Red Square.Navalny, a charismatic anti-corruption campaigner who aims to run in a presidential election next March, was arrested late last month as he was planning to travel to a rally in a provincial city.A court on Monday sentenced him to 20 days in jail on charges of repeatedly violating a law on organising public meetings.Officials say he is not eligible to run for president because he is serving a suspended sentence for fraud.Corruption everywhereIgor Klimov, a 20-year-old protester in Saint Petersburg, said he was not happy with Putin.He has been in power for as long as I can remember myself and theres corruption everywhere, he told AFP.Svetlana Kiseleva, a 20-year-old student in Moscow, said she did not support Navalny but had joined the rally to demand political competition.Its important to have a choice, to have an opposition, she told AFP. I still think he would be better than Putin anyway.Orest Cherchesov, a 43-year-old manager, also said he was not a Navalny fan but wanted to see competitive elections.There are people who think differently in Russia, just like there were in Nazi Germany, he said. I believe he has the right to run in the elections.Putin, who has ruled since 1999, turned 65 -- the retirement age for Russian officials -- and many protesters urged him to step down.He said this week he has not yet decided whether to seek another six-year term. But he is widely expected to run in -- and win -- the March election.Gulag awaiting usNavalnys campaign team had released a series of video addresses of prominent figures calling on Russians to take to the streets.Gulag is awaiting us without political competition, entrepreneur Evgeny Chichvarkin, who lives in self-imposed exile in Britain, said in the video.Navalny, the Yale-educated lawyer with a street-smart image and a penchant for catchy slogans, compared life under Putins regime to a forced diet of turnip.If we do nothing, they will be feeding us this damn turnip for the rest of our lives. And our children too, he said in an address dictated from his cell this week.The Kremlin said Putin received on his birthday numerous congratulatory messages and telegrams including from 11 heads of state and later met with members of the Russian security council to discuss Syria.

Mexican mayor killed, federal agent shot dead in separate attack

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CIUDAD JUREZ (AFP) - A federal intelligence agent and his mother were killed when assailants opened fire on their car in northern Mexico, an attack that came hours after a mayor in western Michoacan state was gunned down outside his home, officials said.While the killers in the Friday shootings escaped, both regions are wracked by gun battles between drug gangs and Mexican police, and by turf wars between criminal cartels.The federal agent -- identified as Julio Cesar Baez Guillen, 35 -- was traveling with his 65-year-old mother and his 31-year-old girlfriend when gunmen pulled alongside their car and opened fire, the Chihuahua state prosecutors office said late Friday.Baez and his mother died, while the agents girlfriend, also an intelligence agent, was wounded but survived.Baez had been assigned to the Puente Grande maximum security federal penitentiary in Jalisco state, infamous for being the prison from which drug kingpin Joaquin El Chapo Guzman escaped in 2001. Guzman is currently jailed and awaiting trial in the United States on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.Chihuahua, which borders on Texas and is a major transit point for drugs into the United States, forms the notorious Golden Triangle along with Durango and Sinaloa states. In the region, marijuana and the poppy flowers used to make heroin are grown and drug cartel violence is common.Separately, Stalin Sanchez Gonzalez, the mayor of Paracho in the southern state of Michoacan, was murdered Friday morning as he stepped outside his home.Paracho is best known for its handcrafted guitars, but the region in the past years has been hit hard by drug cartel violence.Michoacan Governor Silvano Aureoles announced the mayors death as he expressed his condolences on Twitter.Nearly 50 mayors across the country have been slain since 2003, according to Mexicos National Association of Mayors.

Ex-CJ Tassaduq Jillani to serve as ad-hoc judge in Jadhav's case

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Sources have reported on Saturday that the government is contemplating appointment of former chief justice Tassaduq Jilani as an ad-hoc judge in Kulbhushan Jadhav case in International Court of Justice.Reportedly, the government is desirous of appointing the former chief justice as the ad-hoc judge in the case.It should be noted here that Pakistan is to file a reply in the case on October 12, a month after India filed the reply as per the orders of the international court to the neighbours.India had taken Jadhav’s case to the international court earlier this year challenging the death sentence awarded to the convicted spy by a military court.However, the execution was stayed by the International Court of Justice until further order.

Local wounded as oil tanker catches fire in Bahawalpur

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BAHAWALPUR (Dunya News) – A local was wounded as an oil tanker caught fire engulfing a petrol pump on Saturday in Kadowala area.According to the details, the tanker caught fire whilst refiling the petrol station. Driver of the petroleum carriage drove the vehicle out of the station premises to save lives.Resuce teams arrived on the site after learning about the news.

Maryam to arrive in Islamabad for accountability case hearing: sources

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LONDON (Dunya News) – Sources have reported on Saturday that Maryam Nawaz is to depart for Pakistan today to appear for a hearing in an accountability case.Reportedly, daughter of the ousted premier would land in Islamabad in the morning on Sunday and would appear for the hearing on Monday.It was also told that ex-premier Nawaz Sharif consulted his legal team in his Mayfair residence over the corruption references against the family.According to the sources, it was advised by the legal experts that Maryam appears for the hearing on Monday.The former first family of Pakistan is staying in Mayfair apartments as Kulsoom Nawaz was shifted to London for treatment of lymph nodes cancer.She was joined by Maryam after she led successful electioneering in the constituency.Nawaz Sharif appeared for two hearings of the accountability cases against him before he flew to London earlier this month.Watch video report:

Knife attack case reported in Gujranwala after Karachi in panic

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GUJRANWALA (Dunya News) – A woman was injured in a knife attack in Gujranwala on Saturday after over 10 women have suffered identical attacks in Karachi in the last two weeks.Reportedly, a woman was stabbed and wounded in Ibarhim Colony and was shifted to the civil hospital.According to the victim, two masked men approached her as she stood in the street and stabbed her.On the other hand, Counter-terrorism Department has been called in to handle with the situation in Karachi after more than ten women have been stabbed in the past days.In a wake of ongoing knife attacks on women in Karachi, investigation team has decided to take assistance of psychiatrist regarding the detention of the criminal.The security personnel have failed to nab the real suspect despite tall claims for which they have now decided to look deeply into the matter to find out whether the suspect is playing some sort of game in which he is being given tasks.

King Salman travels to Moscow with almost 400 tons of luggage

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(Dunya News) - It is generally believed the lighter you travel, the better it is.But for the monarchs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, that apparently is not the case.According to reports by the British media, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, on his three-day trip to Moscow, has taken with him hundreds of kilograms of food items, two luxury Mercedes cars, his favourite carpet, and even his private escalators made of gold.Not just this but the king is accompanied by 1500 members of staff, out of which 150 are royal chefs.While the total weight of King Salman’s luggage is estimated to be almost 400 tons, the 81-year-old Saudi monarch has reserved two hotels in Russia, which reports claim will cost him around 3 million dollars.For more on this, watch Dunya News report here.

Don't know these keyboard shortcuts? You're not at your work prime

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(Web Desk) – Get your work efficiency to another level with these shortcuts that you may or may not know:Alt and TabPut the two together and smoothly switch between the multiple apps and softwares you have opened on your system simultaneously.Ctrl and Shift and EscUse this shortcut to launch your task manager which would help you boost your system’s speed at slower times.You’d have to kill the program that has taken most of your RAM in order for it to work.Shift and DelAre you in need of something that would save you time to empty your Recycle Bin and delete all your files permanently skipping Recycle Bin step?Well… look no more. Shift and Delete any selected file yto permanently delete it.Windows key and LPress the two together to lock your system in case you have to run a quick erand and you do not want to open all the file again once you come back.Lock your system and log in after coming back to everything unchanged; exactly how you left it.Ctrl and F4Use these keys together to end all the windows open of the same software at once.

Nawaz Sharif forms committee to probe finality of Prophethood clause issue

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and ousted premier Nawaz Sharif has formed a committee on Saturday to probe alteration in prophethood declaration clause in Electoral Reforms Bill 2017.Reportedly, the freshly elected president of the federally ruling party formed a three-member committee that is tasked to probe the issue. Leader of the House in Senate Raja Zafarul Haq is to lead the committee comprising of interior ministr Ahsan Iqbal and federal minister Mushahidullah Khan.The team is to file a report to the party chief in 24 hours.The reforms bill draft bore a changed clause of the prophethood declaration when it was tabled in the National Assembly earlier this month to which the opposition objected and Speaker Ayaz Sadiq declared it a ‘clerical mistake’.Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif had claimed earlier in an address to party’s workers’ convention that his recommendation to the leadership was to expel the cabinet minister who was responsible for the change.Opposition parties including Jamaat-e-Islami condemned the alleged change in the clause and demanded stern action against those responsible.Vice chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Friday that he would be waiting for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz to taken action against those responsible.

At least 14 dead in Quetta as van rams students bus

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QUETTA (AFP) - A speeding passenger van collided head on with a bus carrying university students and staff Saturday, killing 14 people and wounding 27 others in southwestern Pakistan, officials said.The accident took place in the Mastung district of oil and gas rich Balochistan province.Some of the passengers in the university bus, which was on a picnic trip, sustained injuries but none of them died. All those who died in the crash were aboard the passenger van, said senior local official Salahuddin Noorzai.Pakistan has one of the worlds worst records for fatal traffic accidents, blamed on poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.Farid Somalani, a senior doctor in one of province capital Quettas local hospitals where bodies and injured were taken, confirmed the death toll.

Hamas arrests suspected jihadist leader in Gaza

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GAZA CITY (AFP) - Hamas police detained a suspected jihadist leader in Gaza on Saturday, a security source said, the latest in a series of arrests of those accused of Islamic State group ideology.This morning, security forces arrested Nour Issa, 27, who is a leader of the deviant thought movement and is from Bureij Camp in central Gaza, along with others, the source said, using a phrase Hamas officials routinely use to refer to jihadists, including IS.The internal security service confirmed on its Facebook page that it had made a number of arrests.One of the leaders of the deviant thought has been arrested along with others, it said, without giving a name.The Islamist Hamas movement has run Gaza for a decade but it has been challenged by small hardline factions, some of them inspired by IS, who advocate a stricter, Salafist interpretation of the faith.Some have carried out sporadic rocket attacks into Israel in defiance of an informal truce agreed by Hamas.In August, a suicide bomber allegedly linked to IS killed a Hamas guard in southern Gaza along the border with Egypt, in a rare attack against the Islamists.Hamas has arrested a number of Salafist and IS-linked figures.

Relentless Karunaratne strengthens Sri Lanka in second Test

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DUBAI (AFP) - Opener Dimuth Karunaratne continued his demolition of Pakistani bowlers to take Sri Lanka to 355-4 at tea on the second day of the second and final Test in Dubai on Saturday.Karunaratne was unbeaten on a solid 170 for his seventh Test hundred, alongside Niroshan Dickwella on 47 not out, as Sri Lanka added 101 runs after resuming at overnight total of 254-3.That gives Sri Lanka a strong position to force a series win after winning the first Test by 21 runs in Abu Dhabi.Karunaratne, who resumed at 133, batted with full authority and added 146 for the fourth wicket with skipper Dinesh Chandimal who was the only batsman out in the day for 62.Karunaratne, who has so far hit 18 boundaries and a six during his 491-minute knock, added another 73 runs for the unbroken fifth wicket stand with Dickwella.Sri Lankan batting has put Pakistan under submission as their bowlers toiled hard on an unyielding Dubai stadium pitch.To add to Pakistans woes pace spearhead Mohammad Amir walked off the field after a recurring shin injury sustained late on Friday. He managed to bowl just three overs in the day.Leg-spinner Yasir Shah is the pick of the bowlers with 3-120.

No greater honour than serving country: outgoing navy chief

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – Outgoing chief of the navy staff Admiral Zakaullah has said on his farewell address on Saturday that there is no greater honour than to have been associated with such a noble profession.While addressing the ceremony organised at PNS Zafar, he thanked Almighty Allah to have bestowed upon him the sacred onus of commanding Pakistan Navy for the defence of mother land.The Admiral acknowledged that there was no greater privilege and honour for him than to have been associated with such a noble profession and an array of dauntless, devoted and capable officers and men.The outgoing Naval Chief congratulated Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi for assuming the command of Pakistan Navy and expressed his heartiest felicitationsThe Admiral added that when he took over the Command of Pakistan Navy three years ago, it was his ardent desire to command a multi-dimensional Naval Force, which maintains the highest level of operational preparedness, fully capable of defending the sea frontiers and safeguarding maritime interests in consonance with national security aspirations.He said that today, he stood affirmed that owing to strenuous hard-work of officers and men, Pakistan Navy has transformed into one of the most professional forces in the world.Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah impressed upon the fact that the contemporary complex and challenging security environment in the region entails that we must have coherent and lucid perception of the security calculus.Pakistan Armed Forces are an impregnable defence against all those elements which resort to nefarious designs against our country. While highlighting the socio-economic importance of CPEC and Gwadar port for the country, the outgoing Naval Chief underscored that viability and assured dividends of CPEC related projects will augment mutual cooperation with other regional countries besides ushering economic stability in the region.Muhammad Zakaullah also said that while relinquishing the command of Pakistan Navy, he felt pride for having dedicated his life and services for an excellent force. He thanked Govt of Pakistan for entrusting confidence and rendering support and cooperation in discharging his duties. The Admiral also expressed gratitude for Principal Staff Officers, NHQ staff, Field Commands and Navy civilians for extending steadfast support and arduous devotion.Earlier, on their arrival at the venue, the outgoing and newly appointed Naval Chiefs were presented with Guard of Honour. Later, Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah formally handed over the command of Pakistan Navy by presenting the traditional scroll to Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi.Later, Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi laid floral wreath at Shuhada monument at Naval Headquarters and offered Fateha. Upon arrival at Naval Headquarters, a smartly turned out contingent clad in ceremonial dress presented him the Guard of Honour.Newly sworn in, Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi was commissioned in Operations Branch of Pakistan Navy in June 1981. The officer undertook initial training at Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth, UK. On commissioning, he won the coveted Sword of Honour from Pakistan Naval Academy. During his distinguished career, the Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi attained vast experience of both command and staff appointments.His command appointments include Command of Surface ships, Commandant Pakistan Naval Academy, Commander 25th Destroyer Squadron, DG Pakistan Maritime Security Agency, Commander Coast, Commander Logistics, Commander Pakistan Fleet and Command of Multi-National Combined Task Force 150 at HQ NAVCENT Bahrain.His key staff appointments include Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Plans), Chief Inspector (Navy), Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (Operations) and Chief of Staff at Naval Headquarters.Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi is a graduate of National Defence University Islamabad and Royal Australian Navy Staff College. In recognition of his meritorious services, the Admiral has been awarded Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military).The change of command ceremony was attended by a large number of civil & military dignitaries, former Naval Chiefs, media representatives, CPOs/Sailors and Navy civilians.*Navy PR produced content

'Mass rape' survivors in Indian-occupied Kashmir fight for justice

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(Web Desk) – It was about 26 years ago when Indian soldiers allegedly raped more than 30 women in the Kashmiri villages of Kunan and Poshpora. According to a report by the BBC, the survivors of the attack are still fighting for justice.It was the night of 23 February 1991, the people of a tiny village named Kunan, located at Indian administered Kashmirs Kupwara district, were about to retire after a cold winter day.Zooni and Zarina (not their real names) were also ready to go to bed when they heard impatient knocks, on the door.At the time, India had been hosting a large scale military operation in order to control a popular armed rebellion against Indian rule in Kashmir. So-called cordon and search operations, locally called crackdowns, were becoming routine and still persist to this day.In the 90s, this would entail the Indian security forces isolating an area, getting all the men out, and then searching their houses. The men would be marched in front of an informer - and suspected militants or those supposed to be sympathisers would be picked up and taken away.One of the women (right) speaking to BBC reporter on what happened when the soldiers were sent. Photo: BBCWhen Zooni and Zareena saw soldiers on their doorstep that night, they thought it was the beginning of another of these so-called crackdowns. The men were picked up and forced to leave the house, while the soldiers stepped in, as was the established practice.Recalling that day, makes their eyes fill with tears even now.“We were getting ready for bed when the soldiers came. They took the men away. Some started drinking alcohol. I was holding my two-year-old daughter in my arms when they tried to grab me.”“I resisted, and in the scuffle she fell out of my arms, and out of the window. She was crippled for life.”Three soldiers grabbed me, tore my pheran, my shirt - I dont even know what all happened after that. There were five of them. I still remember their faces.”Zareena was also in the same house. She was newly married and it had only been 11 days since she became a bride.“I had returned from my parents house that very day,” Zareena said.Some soldiers asked my mother-in-law about all the new clothes hanging in the room, so she told them, here, she is our new daughter-in-law, our new bride. What happened after that, I cannot begin to describe it.”Natasha Rathar and other activists wrote a book about the case. Photo: BBC“We havent just been wronged, what we have faced is an infinite injustice. Even today when we see soldiers we start shaking with fear,” she added.The people of Kunan and neighbouring Poshpora accuse the Indian army of carrying out a planned mass rape of the women in these two far-flung villages. They also claim that while the women were gang-raped, the men were subjected to horrific torture, and that they have been fighting for justice these last 26 years.Naeem Akhtar, a minister in the state government of Srinagar talked to BBC about these allegations and said that in conflicts like Kashmir truth often gets obscured by the layer of dust that settles on it.And now, a group of young Kashmiri women is determined to wipe away this dust and stand for their rights.In 2013 they filed a petition to reopen the case in the state High Court.A young scholar named Natasha Rathar is one of the women who have put their names on that petition.Natasha, along with four other young Kashmiri women, has also authored an award-winning book on this case, titled Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora?Natasha said that their motivation for reopening the case was quite simple.“This was such a big case of mass rape, in which those affected had actually come forward and had demonstrated so much courage.”And there was a huge body of evidence too. So we felt that this case needed to be reopened.And the case was reopened due to Kashmiri women’ struggles, after a lengthy and difficult process the Jammu and Kashmir High Court directed the state government to pay compensation to those affected.The state government initially agreed, but then changed its mind, and challenged the High Courts decision in the Supreme Court of India, where the case is still being heard.The allegations were denied by the Indian army, continuously.The area was put under lockdown that night by Indian forces. Photo: BBCWhen they were requested for an interview, they just sent a statement.An army spokesperson told BBC that these allegations had been independently investigated three times, and that the case had been closed due to conflicting statements.In Kashmir most officials seem to speak in what sound like cautious parables. But not all.Nayeema Ahmad Mahjoor, who heads the state commission for womens rights, told BBC very clearly that she believes that this crime was committed against the people of Kunan and Poshpora, and that this should be proved in court.Nayeema Ahmad Mahjoor says the crime should be proved in court. Photo: BBCShe however stressed that the state government cannot interfere in the legal process.What really happened in Kunan and Poshpora that fateful winter night is something we might never find out.But a new generation is coming of age here now. The village and its houses are changing, and yet there are some painful memories that continue to haunt the residents.

Don't we count? Transgender Pakistanis feel sidelined by census

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(Reuters) - When Pakistani census officials came to the home of Aisha, a 27-year-old transgender woman in Lahore, she was marked down on their documents as a man.I live with my parents and when the officials came to my home I was not there, she said. My parents marked me as a male as they have not accepted my gender.Transgender people like Aisha were disturbingly undercounted in Pakistans recent census, campaigners say, leaving them on the margins of mainstream society.While they were counted for the first time in the census, published in August, the survey identified only 10,418 transgender people out of a population of nearly 208 million.This, say rights campaigners, seriously underestimates the true size of the transgender community in Pakistan.In the province of Punjab alone, we are anywhere between 400,000 to 500,000, said 24-year Mona Ali, who heads the Khawaja Sira Society, a Lahore-based group working for the rights of transgender people.We have been providing health facilities to over 30,000 transgenders in Lahore city alone, she added.Bindya Rana, another community activist, who heads Jiya, a transgender rights group in the port city of Karachi, put the total number of transgender people at 300,000 across Pakistan.The census - the first in 19 years - identified transgender people according to their national identity cards, said Ali. But many transgender people identify as male or female rather than third gender on their cards to avoid discrimination.Consequences:The undercounting of transgender people will have serious consequences, said Kami Sid, a transgender woman who works as a model and actor - but whose identity card marks her as male.Now the government can claim you are just a handful and so these many resources are enough for you she said, adding: They can wash their hands of us without feeling guilty.The concept of a third gender dates back centuries in South Asia and the khawaja siras community, identifying as neither male or female, are accepted but marginalised - with transgender and intersex people often forced into begging and sex work.Anis Haroon, member of the National Commission on Human Rights, said transgender people had been disturbingly undercounted and little would change until official records more accurately reflect the size of the community.If their numbers are not fully reflected it will affect policies to bring them at par with other citizens. They will be deprived of their share in education and jobs, Haroon said.In 2010, the Supreme Court ordered the full recognition of the transgender community, including the provision of free medical and educational facilities, microcredit schemes and job quotas for transgender people in every government department.Pakistans first law recognising transgender people as equal citizens with penalties for discrimination and violence against them is pending approval in parliament.It also gives inheritance rights to transgender people - something which has held them back from declaring their gender status on official documents.If I declare myself as a trans woman, I will lose my inheritance as Islamic law gives me no such privilege, said Kami Sid, the transgender model.However Rana from the Jiya NGO said when census officials came to her home she was determined to declare she was transgender.Although there was no separate column on the form, they did write my gender as per my wishes on the form, she said, but most transgender people, many of them with little education, did not realise that this was possible.Farid Midhet, a demographer at the Johns Hopkins University-affiliated health non-profit, Jhpiego, said one way of getting the numbers right would be to include questions about transgender people in the next Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey, which will begin early next year.Maybe the PDHS is not as spread out as the national census, but ... (the surveyors) can ask these questions in a more sensitive manner to get honest responses, he said.
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