Author: newsdesk

  • Mad man, Gen Bajwa, Gen Faiz responsible for Pakistan’s current crisis: Nawaz Sharif

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif blamed former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa and former ISI Chief Lieutenant General (retd) Faiz Hameed for the current mess in the country.

    The former Prime Minister also blamed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, calling him a “mad man”.

    Nawaz Sharif said that a cruel joke had been played on Pakistan for the sake of personal gains.

    “In my Gujranwala jalsa, I stated who was responsible, and everything was out in the open. It is my responsibility to tell the nation about the wrongs committed against the people, and it is my responsibility to make things right,” he stated.

    Turning his guns on another former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif minced no words. “This mad man [Imran Khan, I am calling him a mad man today. I want everyone to compare my time with his, and people will see how happy everyone was during my time and how unstable everything became during his tenure,” said Nawaz.

    As Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa elections approach, PML-N is said to be ready to adopt an aggressive narrative against five individuals as it prepares for the polls.

    According to a news report, the five individuals against whom the PML-N will turn its guns with full ferocity are General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, former Chief Justices of Pakistan Saqib Nisar and Asif Saeed Khosa along with former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

  • Davos Playbook names Bilawal as the best-dressed person at world economic forum

    Davos Playbook names Bilawal as the best-dressed person at world economic forum

    Politico‘s Davos Playbook on Thursday named Pakistani Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari as the best-dressed person at the World Economic Forum (WEF).

    The playbook is published every year during the economic forum in Davos, Switzerland.

    Apart from the Pakistani minister, the playbook talked about the other politicians and personalities from all over the world who came to attend the international event. Moreover, it reported on all events that happened on Thursday.

    Bilawal, along with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, is currently in Davos. The four-day international event will end today (Friday).

    Here, have a look at Bilawal’s pictures during the event.

  • Pakistan will start importing crude oil from Russia in March

    Pakistan will start importing crude oil from Russia in March

    Pakistan and Russia have decided on the deadline for crude oil exports in late March after the conclusion of the annual inter-governmental commission between the two countries concluded.

    The Minister of State for Petroleum, Musadik Malik, said that Pakistan intends to import 35 per cent of its entire crude oil needs from Russia. He added that Russia does not have liquefied natural gas (LNG) for Pakistan currently.

    Russian Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov also stated that Pakistan will pay for its energy purchases from Russia in the currencies of friendly nations when they begin in late March.

    Last year, the government of Pakistan sent representatives to Russia, and as a result, the state minister for petroleum of Pakistan announced that Russia would supply crude oil at a reduced price.

    Russian oil and gas have not historically been widely imported by Pakistan.

    Islamabad and Moscow agreed during the negotiations that the oil and gas trading transaction will be set up such that both nations can profit economically after reaching an agreement on the technical details.

    The leaders also decided to expand energy infrastructure investment, improve energy trade, and strengthen energy cooperation under advantageous strategic and commercial circumstances.

    A “Comprehensive Plan for Energy Cooperation” that will serve as the framework for future work and be completed in 2023 has been agreed to by both parties.

    The federal and provincial governments of Pakistan welcomed the Russian side to consider prospective initiatives, including those involving public-private partnerships and asked the Russian businesses to investigate these options.

    “Both sides have resolved the pending issues related to the exchange of information on certificates of origin of goods with the use of an electronic verification system and shall endeavour to finalise the above-mentioned protocols by the end of May 2023,” the joint statement issued in this regard read.

    In order to improve their mutual collaboration and talk about issues pertaining to connectivity and logistics in Central and South Asia, the authorities decided to designate focus points for each side.

    It was also resolved at the talks held over the last three days that creative business practises, such as bartering, would be used. They also agreed to further investigate the possibility.

    “In the context of the desire of both parties to promote regional integration and Eurasian connectivity, the two sides agreed to share information towards developing and improving rail and road infrastructure,” the statement read.

    The documents signed during the session included an “Agreement regarding cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters,” a “Protocol on the Exchange of Documents and Data on the Customs Value of Goods Transported,”  and a “Working Agreement on the Airworthiness of Aeronautical Products.”

    The seventh IGC’s debates and choices served as the foundation for the eighth session, which moved the process ahead and looked at new possibilities for collaboration.

    Additionally, Pakistan and Russia decided to extend their cooperation in the areas of commerce and investment, energy, communication, transportation, higher education, industry, railroads, banking, finance, customs, agriculture, science, and technology.

  • Alec Baldwin charged with involuntary manslaughter in ‘Rust’ film shooting

    Alec Baldwin charged with involuntary manslaughter in ‘Rust’ film shooting

    Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed are being charged with involuntary manslaughter for the accidental death of cinematographer Halyan Hutchins on the set of the film ‘Rust’.
    According to prosecuters, if found guilty, Baldwin and Reed would face up to 18 months in prison and a $5000 fine.
    New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies has said that the decision to charge Baldwin was made after doing a thorough review of the evidence and laws. Stating that no one is above the law, she said, “After a thorough review of the evidence and the laws of the state of New Mexico, I have determined that there is sufficient evidence to file criminal charges against Alec Baldwin and other members of the ‘Rust’ film crew. On my watch, no one is above the law, and everyone deserves justice.”
    Baldwin’s lawyers have responded by pointing out the charge was ” terrible miscarriage of justice” as the actor had relied on professionals on set to assure him he can pull the trigger
    “Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun — or anywhere on the movie set,” he said.
    “He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win,” the actor’s lawyers said.
    Baldwin was handed the gun by Assistant-Director Dave Halls, who told him that it was cold- which means a weapon is safe to use. Baldwin then pointed the gun at Hutchins and pulled the trigger, hitting the cinematographer in the chest. She died of her wounds in the hospital. The incident sent shock waves around Hollywood and called for better safety protocols on film sets.
    In his first sit down interview with ABC, the ‘Beetlejuice’ actor released details of how the accident happened when Hutchins was guiding Baldwin on how to hold the gun for a certain angle in a film scene:
    “So then I said to her ‘Now in this scene, I’m going to cock the gun.’ I said, ‘Do you want to see that?’ And she said, ‘Yes.’ So I take the gun, and I start to cock the gun. I’m not going to pull the trigger,” Baldwin told Geroge Stephanopoulos. “I said, ‘Do you see the shot? ‘Well just cheat it down and tilt it down a little bit like that.’ And I cock the gun and I go ‘Can you see that? Can you see that? Can you see that?’ And she says — and I let go of the hammer of the gun and the gun goes off.”

  • Veteran singer Huma Khawaja reveals why she never got married

    Veteran singer Huma Khawaja began her career with the all-female band Symphony. She was the band’s lead singer. The vocalist became well-known because of her musical rendition of a song by the late singer Nazia Hassan.

    Fans adored her rendition of the popular song Dil Ki Lagi. After singing countless number-one hits, Huma Khwaja ended her singing career. A few years back she shifted to Dubai, where she worked for a global airline.

    In an interview with Naumaan Ijaz for G Sarkar, Huma confessed why she hasn’t gotten married, “It’s not like that I didn’t ever think of marriage, I thought about getting married but when you are outside Pakistan and you have a very jet-setting lifestyle, also you are living a fast life where you are only coming to home to eat, to sleep or to do laundry, you don’t much think about a companion.”

    She concluded by saying, “Sometimes, you halfheartedly think about getting married, and you also regret not getting married at the right age. Also, in all this scenario, you become a horribly independent person.”

  • 78 people die in Afghanistan after temperature drops to -34 degrees

    According to a Taliban official, at least 78 individuals have died in Afghanistan’s frigid temperatures during the past nine days.

    According to Shafiullah Rahimi, a spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Disaster Management, over 77,000 animals have also perished in recent days after temperatures fell to record lows.

    The frigid weather has turned into the country’s coldest winter in 15 years, with temperatures dipping as low as -34 degrees Celsius (-29.2 degrees Fahrenheit), Reuters has reported.

    “The weather will get colder in the next few days, therefore it is necessary to consider humanitarian aid for affected people,” said Abdullah Ahmadi, the head of the operations centre for emergency conditions at the Ministry of Disaster Management has said.

    Health professionals noted a substantial rise in the number of small children with severe pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses even in the early days of winter. Rising poverty that prevents people from adequately heating their homes is partly to blame for the illnesses.

  • Nimra Bucha stars in upcoming comedy film ‘Polite Society’

    Nimra Bucha stars in upcoming comedy film ‘Polite Society’

    After Churails and Ms. Marvel, Nimra Bucha is not done proving she is one powerhouse of an actor. The stage and television veteran will essay the role of an evil mother-in-law in the upcoming comedy film ‘Polite Society’.
    Directed and written by Nida Manzoor, the creator of ‘We Are Lady Parts’, the film revolves around teenager Ria Khan (Priya Kansara) a dreamer who wants to become a stunt woman. When her sister Lena (Ritu Arya) decides to get engaged to a man whom Ria finds suspicious, she decides to expose the evil mother in law (Nimra Bucha) with the help of her friends.

    The trailer was released online on Thursday, generating fanfare on twitter, with users ready to buy advance tickets.

    https://twitter.com/badb1tchoward/status/1615781410362507279?s=20&t=hvw0f38NHxX_Th8RjmEIBg
    https://twitter.com/jxxpitxr/status/1616059422832214019?s=20&t=hvw0f38NHxX_Th8RjmEIBg

  • 466 people are dying each day in Pakistan due to tobacco consumption

    466 people die daily in Pakistan due to tobacco use related diseases, Dr Ziauddin Islam, a former technical leader of the Health Ministry’s Tobacco Control Cell, has disclosed during a discussion hosted by SPARC, Ikram Junaidi has reported for Dawn.

    He also said that the number of smokers in Pakistan has reached 31 million people. Dr. Ziauddin also revealed that every day, 1,200 Pakistani kids between the ages of six and fifteen begin smoking.

    The Tobacco Health Levy Bill, which has been on hold since 2019, needs to be approved right away in order to stop the loss of life and healthcare resources, he added.
    “Evidence suggests that higher cigarette taxes deter smoking initiation, reduce cigarette consumption, and even lead smokers to quit. Last year, Pakistan raised tobacco taxes for the first time since 2019 however we are still far off from the 30pc increase suggested by the World Health Organisation (WHO),” said Country head of Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK) Malik Imran Ahmed.

  • ‘We are unable to serve new customers’: Pak Suzuki announces booking suspension for all motorcycles

    ‘We are unable to serve new customers’: Pak Suzuki announces booking suspension for all motorcycles

    Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC) stated on Thursday that it had halted taking reservations for motorbikes until further notice due to issues with manufacturing and procurement following the consecutive closures of its automobile assembling factories caused by an ongoing inventory crisis.

    “Under the present economic circumstances, import-based supply chain constraints and uncertain production possibilities, we are unable to serve new customers,” the company said in a letter to dealers.

    The suspension of reservations would start today.

    “We will, therefore, stop bookings of our motorcycle products from January 20, 2023, for the time being. However, bookings will resume as the situation becomes favourable to serve fresh customers.”

    With the rupee falling and inflation at decades-high levels, Pakistan’s economy has collapsed along with a simmering political crisis, but disastrous floods and a worldwide energy crisis have added to the strain.

    Almost all industries, including the automotive sector, have been slowed down by a lack of imported components and materials, and an alarmingly large number of businesses have been forced to cease operations.

    As Pakistan struggles with a dire foreign exchange crisis, thousands of containers filled with basic food supplies, raw materials, and medical equipment have been held up at the Karachi port.

    According to Express Tribune, banks are refusing to issue fresh letters of credit for importers due to a shortage of needed dollars, which is hurting an economy already under pressure from high inflation and weak growth.

  • Motorway Police to issue daily journey planner for travellers’ convenience

    Motorway Police to issue daily journey planner for travellers’ convenience

    The National Highway and Motorway Police (NHMP) has announced a new initiative to facilitate travellers by issuing daily journey planners that would help drivers navigate the highway more efficiently.

    The spokesperson of NHMP said that the project of journey planners has been initiated at the direction of Inspector General NHMP, Khalid Mahmood.

    He stated that in addition to any planned construction or maintenance that may affect travel times, the planners would also take into account information such as traffic updates, road closures, weather updates, and accident reports.

    By informing drivers of any potential risks or delays, the Motorway Police hope that this new service will assist in shortening travel times and increasing safety on the highways, the official said, adding that the planners would be accessible online through the website and social media channels. The trip planner has received a great deal of appreciation, and the NHMP is dedicated to giving its consumers helpful information. It also continues to receive excellent feedback.

    Travelers reported that the trip planners have shortened their travel distances and increased road safety. Adnan Jameel, a motorist on the M-1 motorway, told APP that the planner had made it easier for him to organise his trip and prevent any unwelcome shocks along the route.