Author: newsdesk

  • Traders reject govt’s early market closure plan

    Traders reject govt’s early market closure plan

    The federal government’s proposal to close all markets and restaurants by 8:30 pm. as part of a new energy conservation plan has been opposed by traders across the nation, who claim that such measures cannot be used to save energy.

    The chief of Markazi Tanzeem-e-Tajran Pakistan (MTTP), Kashif Chaudhry, said that the government had developed the policy without consulting the business community and had failed to adhere to the energy conservation plan.

    “It is not possible to save energy by such measures,” Kashif Chaudhry said, warning of “strong resistance” if the government tried to forcefully close the market.

    He regretted the fact that the administration opted to enact its “unilateral” action despite loud protests and assurances from the authorities.

    In an effort to conserve energy, he urged that the government forbid its employees from using heaters and air conditioners in their workplaces. He said that since we buy the most expensive electricity, advantageous plans should be developed for us.

    Meanwhile, the president of the Karachi Electronics Dealers Association, Rizwan Irfan, disclosed that the Sindh government has met with owners of wedding venues and restaurants over the energy-saving strategy.

    During the meetings, he claimed, all parties involved agreed that markets and malls should be permitted to stay open until 9 or 10 pm., while eateries and wedding venues should be permitted to stay open until 11 or 12 pm.

    “However, despite the Sindh government’s assurance, they imposed a unilateral decision,” Irfan lamented, asking the government to bear their expenses.

    Additionally, Ilyas Memon, president of the Saddar Traders Association, claimed that the decision to close markets early amounted to the destruction of enterprises.

    “The police and the administration should not harass the businessmen,” he said, adding that the Sindh government should not file an FIR as per the decisions taken in the consultation meeting.

  • ‘The Legend of Maula Jatt’ enters the ‘200 crore club’, smashes previous records

    ‘The Legend of Maula Jatt’ enters the ‘200 crore club’, smashes previous records

    The Legend of Maula Jatt headlined by Fawad Khan, Hamza Ali Abbasi and Mahira Khan is by far the most expensive film to come out of Pakistan. It is unquestionably the biggest Pakistani release ever internationally.

    The film opened to packed houses on October 13th and earned record-breaking figures on day one despite the fact that it is not currently playing in every theater in the country.

    Bilal Lashari’s directorial has become the first film in Pakistan’s history to earn 100 crore domestically. This achievement was announced by the makers on social media handles.

    Breakdown

    It earned 4.4 crores locally and 4.9 crores internationally on its opening day, making it a total of 9.3 crores.

    Four-day Weekend Collections

    In its extended weekend, the film collected over 50 crores globally.

    According to a recent report in Deadline, this action-fantasy movie has broken box-office records within its opening weekend. So far, The Legend of Maula Jatt has collected over half a million dollars. Across 79 locations in the UK, the film has earned $355,000, making it trend at no. 9 on the charts. In the US and Canada, the film grossed $290,000 and $235,000 respectively. On the other hand, in Australia, it earned $160,000. In both Canada and Australia, the Pakistani movie is trending at No. 6 in the charts, while in the United Arab Emirates, it reached No. 1 after earning over $515,000.

    The Legend of Maula Jatt has opened in 25 markets worldwide, including Norway, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, and South East Asia, and overall it has grossed $2.3 million globally.

    First Week Collections

    The Humaima Malick and Gohar Rasheed starrer has garnered 80 crores, globally in its first week of release.

    These figures surpass the lifetime receipts of every Pakistani movie and have set new records. The Legend of Maula Jatt is poised to set additional records now that the second weekend has begun.

    Second Weekend

    Its second-weekend collections gave a new hope to the industry. The magnum-opus crossed the unprecedented 100 crore mark post its second-weekend collections. This made it the first-ever Pakistani feature film to achieve this target.

    200 Crore Club

    TLOMJ‘s winning streak continues as the magnum opus becomes Pakistan’s first offering to hit the PKR 200 crore mark, globally.

    Producer Ammara Hikmat shared the update on her Instagram handle.

    Earlier this month, the official Instagram account of TLOMJ shared that the Bilal Lashari directorial has beaten the Laal Singh Chaddha and South Indian blockbuster RRR’s box office collection in Britain.

    RRR (2022) - IMDb

    The post read, “Another day, another achievement! The Legend of Maula Jatt beats the highest-grossing Indian movie of 2022, RRR’s lifetime business in just 17 days in the UK.” A few days ago, it was reported that Pakistan’s most expensive movie has beaten the lifetime number of Aamir Khan starer Laal Singh Chaddha in the UK, in just 13 days.

    Laal Singh Chaddha Tamil & Telugu OTT Release Date, Where & When to Watch? - JanBharat Times

    According to British film publication Screen Daily, Maula Jatt, released by Moviegoers Entertainment, accumulated £44,149 (Rs11.5 million) on its fifth weekend. Its performance has dropped considerably lower than many competitors as its run continues at 54.6 percent, bringing the film to almost £1.3m (Rs340 million). That’s more than the £1.26m (Rs329 million) of this year’s Tamil epic Ponniyan Selvan: I.

    The Legend of Maula Jatt has become the highest-grossing Punjabi film globally according to its official Instagram account, the film made $7.8 million (Rs1.7 billion) at the worldwide box office within four weeks of its release.

    The movie’s first teaser was released in 2019, which managed to receive a thunderous response worldwide for its cinematic grandeur, exceptional star cast, and mega-scale production.

    VIDEO] Mahira Khan to come back to television this year - Pakistan Live

  • Shaadi season hai bhai: Desi Twitter reacts with hilarious tweets as wedding season booms

    Shaadi season hai bhai: Desi Twitter reacts with hilarious tweets as wedding season booms

    Ah, Decemberistan. The month of cold winters, hot cups of coffee, and shuddering in your paper-thin lengha as you attend another qawalli night of the one million wedding events taking over Pakistan.

    There is no December without the hilarious shenanagins of wedding season and the amount of ridiculous activities that take place along with it. Twitter was moved to fits of laughter when a video trended last night of a huge, rug made with notes of Rs 100 and 50 denomination. The rug was spread all over the shadi hall.

    https://twitter.com/saihan_io/status/1609845399367344128?s=20&t=yIuFVHKhm9fl8D-M6ZvR9A

    Soon, people brought in other instances of hilarious things they have noticed at shaadi events

    Some people added their own hilarious observations of how weddings today, especially arranged dances, were conducted

  • Azam Swati finally released from jail for talking against army

    Azam Swati finally released from jail for talking against army

    Senator Azam Swati of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has finally been released from sub-jail after remaining behind bars for more than a month.

    The senator had been in the custody of law enforcing agencies since November 27 last year, after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) booked him in Islamabad over a “campaign of intimidating tweets against state institutions”, including the former chief of army staff General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa.

    On Monday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted bail to Swati after he filed a petition seeking post-arrest bail.

    In December, PTI chief Imran Khan had said that Swati had been “taken away by Quetta police” from Islamabad despite health concerns.

    According to media reports, the arrest was made over different cases registered against the senator across Balochistan. However, Balochistan High Court (BHC) later ordered that no more cases should be registered against him.

    Later, Swati was brought to the capital via a special plane from Sukkur.

    Swati had criticised persons within the establishment in tweets posted from his account.

  • Pakistani movie ‘The Losing Side’ gets ‘Best Human Rights Film’ award at the Cannes Film Festival

    Pakistani movie ‘The Losing Side’ gets ‘Best Human Rights Film’ award at the Cannes Film Festival

    Pakistani film The Losing Side has received the ‘Best Human Rights Film’ award at the Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Javed Sharif, the film explores the issue of forced conversions in Sindh by interviewing four victims of forced conversion marriages.

    In an interview with Dawn, Sharif said that he was inspired to make this film after wanting to see how minorities are preserving their heritage and culture. He elaborated that religious minorities like Hindu and Christians in Sindh face the issue of religious conversion, which can also be by choice but in most cases they are forced when young girls are kidnapped and married to Muslim men.

    The purpose of these awards, as Sharif told Dawn, was to provide more space for sensitive issues in mainstream media

    “I believe this award is more meaningful as it will give space to a sensitive issue in the mainstream media.’

    He also hoped that in filming these issues, their can be presented a ‘narrative of resistance.’

    In an Instagram post, Sharif announced to his followers that The Losing Side had been given the ‘Best Human Rights Film’ award and thanked all of his team members who had worked hard to ensure that the project would become a success.

    You can watch the full trailer here:

  • Women must wear mandatory headscarves in cars: Iranian police issues warning

    Women must wear mandatory headscarves in cars: Iranian police issues warning

    Iranian police have resumed warnings that women must wear mandatory headscarves, including in cars.

    “The removal of hijab has been observed in your vehicle: It is necessary to respect the norms of the society and make sure this action is not repeated,” read a message reportedly sent by police and posted on social media, AFP reported.

    Iran’s morality police — known as Gasht-e Ershad, or “Guidance Patrol” — have a mandate to enter public areas to check on the implementation of the country’s strict dress code.

    Widespread demonstrations have gripped Iran since the September 16 death of 22-year old Mahsa Amini in 2022 after she was arrested in Tehran. She was taken into custody for not wearing the hijab properly, thus, breaching Iran’s strict dress code for women.

  • ‘Imran Khan was not shot four times, few fragments hit him’, reveals Kamran Shahid

    Senior anchor Kamran Shahid has claimed that former Prime Minister Imran Khan was not shot four times on November 3, 2022, at Wazirabad.

    Reading out the Punjab Forensic Report about the firing incident in which the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief was shot at, Kamran Shahid said that a “few” fragments of bullets hit him.

    “Few fragments of a bullet and a metallic particle hit Imran Khan,” said Shahid.

    Taking about the shooters and bullets, Shahid said that the report states that the accused Naveed shot 12 bullets from his 30 bore pistol and two bullets were shot on the container from SMG riffle.

    Imran Khan was attacked by a gunman as his long march passed through Wazirabad, resulting in four shots in the leg. The PTI and the chairman himself have said that Khan was shot three times.

  • Samsung Galaxy S23 series to launch with 256 GB minimum storage option

    Samsung Galaxy S23 series to launch with 256 GB minimum storage option

    The tipster Ahmed Qwaider says that Samsung has listened to its customers and is bringing a significant upgrade. The 128GB base storage for the Galaxy S23 series may no longer be offered by the South Korean company.

    The Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra base models all seem to include 256GB of internal storage. There will also be 512GB and 1TB storage options for the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

    The South Korean tech giant used to give free upgrades to 256GB models of its phones to anyone who pre-ordered or purchased them during a sale, but these deals were only available in the US and a very small number of other countries. Therefore, this year will be happier for everyone in the world. The Galaxy S23 Ultra will have 12GB RAM, whereas the Galaxy S23 and S23+ appear to have 8GB RAM.

    The tipster further believes that the Galaxy S23 Ultra will have a display that is significantly flatter than that of its predecessor. This modification ought to enhance the S Pen’s ability to write and draw on the screen. One UI 5.1, which is based on Android 13, will come preinstalled on all Galaxy S23 units.

    There may be more choices for customising the lock screen with this more recent software version.

  • Markets to close at 08:30pm across the country: Khawaja Asif

    The federal government on Tuesday announced its energy saving plan, applicable across the country. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that markets in all the province’sr and federal areas will be shut down at 8pm. Furthermore, wedding halls will close at 10pm across the country.

    Asif said that if these timings are implemented then the country will save Rs 62 billion.

    Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb and Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman, and Federal Minister for Housing and Works Abdul Wasay were also present at the media briefing.

    The minister further elaborated that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has instructed all federal government entities to reduce their energy usage by 30% and to stop using unneeded lighting and other appliances.

    He said that a strategy to save energy provided by the power division had been approved for implementation by the federal cabinet.

  • Sharifs mein garrbarr? Maryam Nawaz appointed as PML-N senior vice president ahead of Nawaz’s expected return

    Prime Minister (PM) and President of the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) Shehbaz Sharif has appointed Maryam Nawaz Sharif as the “Senior Vice President” of the party.

    On Tuesday, a notification regarding the appointment was shared by the Information Minister and PML-N leader Marriyum Aurangzeb. In a tweet, she also said that Maryam Nawaz has been authorised to re-organise the party at all functional tiers/levels as the “Chief Organiser”.

    Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also came forward to congratulate Maryam, saying that PM Shehbaz took the decision in consultation with party supremo Nawaz Sharif.

    Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, has been serving as the vice president of the party since 2019.

    In another development, Nawaz Sharif directed his party to start a mass mobilisation campaign for upcoming general elections, reports The News.

    Sharif had issued important instructions to the political team of his party in Lahore and asked them to start preparing for general elections and confront the PTI and its allies.

    Last month, former Speaker of the National Assembly (NA) Ayaz Sadiq claimed that Nawaz would return to Pakistan in January 2023.

    In November 2022, the PML-N-led collation government issued a diplomatic passport to Nawaz Sharif, who has been living in London since 2019 following an illness in jail after then prime minister Imran Khan had permitted him to go abroad for medical treatment.