Author: newsdesk

  • Rana Sanaullah denies PTI’s Swati’s claim of being tortured in custody by military officials

    Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has dismissed claims made by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader and Senator, Azam Swati, that he had been subjected to custodial torture and stripping by two military officials.

    In a joint press conference today (Friday), Sanaullah along with Additional Director Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Ayaz Khan and Head of Cybercrime Waqaruddin Syed responded to Swati’s allegations.

    The minister said that the FIA did not hand Swati over to any other institutions and denied allegations of torture, alleging that Swati and PTI were instigating mischief. “It is important to put facts before the nation, as they lie brazenly,” the minister added.

    He also invited the additional director of FIA to present the “facts” behind the raid that was conducted to arrest Swati in October.

    Ayaz said that the First Information Report (FIR) which was registered against Swati was for “a cognisable offence” after obtaining “proper” search, seizure and arrest warrants.

    He clarified that Swati was not arrested in front of his grandchildren. He further said his team went to Swati’s house with the police and before entering the house they “properly introduced” themselves at the gate.

    Talking about PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s allegations regarding the torture and stripping of his party members including Swati and Shahbaz Gill, Sanaullah said that he doesn’t understand why Khan keeps repeating the same narrative.

    “Imran Khan has adopted an anti-national agenda and instigates propaganda. He wants to take the country toward chaos and anarchy. His propaganda will be countered at all levels,” the minister said.

    Earlier today, Swati alleged that “Major General Faisal” and “Sector Commander Fahim” were the “two culprits” behind his abuse and custodial torture. During the press conference, he also showed the alleged torture marks present on his hands.

    He also demanded that “the infamous ISI political wing be buried” as he was of the view that it is responsible for the “insult and notoriety” for the country.

    Earlier this month, Swati was arrested in a case registered against him over a controversial tweet thought to be against the armed forces. Since his arrest, Swati has alleged he was stripped and tortured while in custody.

  • FIA summons Shah Mahmood Qureshi to investigate Khan’s audio leaks about cipher

    FIA summons Shah Mahmood Qureshi to investigate Khan’s audio leaks about cipher

    The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has summoned former Foreign Minister (FM) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, on November 1, to inquire about the conversation held between him, party Chairman Imran Khan and others on the cipher sent from Washington DC.

    Imran Khan has blamed the cipher and its contents for the ouster of his government through a Vote of No Confidence ( VoNC).

    The notice addressed to Qureshi states that “An inquiry team has been constituted by FIA on the directions of the federal cabinet to inquire into the matter of conversation of former PM Imran Khan, his political associates and Khan’s former Secretary, available on internet regarding Cypher message received from Parep, Washington.”

    “You are directed to appear in person before the inquiry team to record your version/statement”, it added.

    On September 28, an audio clip leaked on the internet in which Khan allegedly directed his then-principal secretary Azam Khan to, “Play with it [cipher]”.

    A few days later another audio clip surfaced in which Khan, when he was the prime minister, was directing his close aides not to take America’s name while talking about the US cipher in public.

    Qureshi has been summoned to show up on November 1 (Tuesday) at 12pm.

    Former Foreign Secretary Sohail Mehmood was also summoned today (Friday) in this matter.

  • ‘DG ISI presser more political than Sheikh Rasheed; Khan responds to the establishment, says they’re defaming COAS

    ‘DG ISI presser more political than Sheikh Rasheed; Khan responds to the establishment, says they’re defaming COAS

    Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, said on Friday that the joint press conference by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum and Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) DG Lt Gen Babar Iftikhar held a day earlier was more “political than Sheikh Rasheed”.

    Addressing the head of the ISI who made an unprecedented appearance at the press conference on Thursday, Imran Khan said, “You say you are not political, but your presser was more political than that of Sheikh Rasheed.”

    “DG ISI, listen carefully, the things I know…I am staying silent for my institutions and the country. I don’t want to damage my country,” Khan said as the crowd cheered.

    “DG ISI, when we criticise [the institutions], it is constructive and for your betterment. I am saying this again, I can say a lot and can respond to you. But I don’t want the institutions to get weak,” he stressed.

    Addressing the DG’s statement that Imran Khan had met the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) in secret, the former prime minister said that he never made any unconstitutional demands during “backdoor contacts”.

    “I want free and fair elections. I want the people to decide who will lead the country — not Washington, America, or anyone else,” Khan added.

    Khan then addressed General Bajwa and said: “When Bilawal Bhutto gave a statement against the ISI sector commander in Karachi, you removed him. Remove them [Faisal and Faheem] too now.” PTI leader Azam Swati earlier today revealed in a presser the names of the military officers [Faisal and Faheem] allegedly responsible for his custodial torture.

    “These people are defaming you, Gen Bajwa,” Khan claimed.

  • Pakistani rupee continues to fall against USD for the third consecutive session

    Pakistani rupee continues to fall against USD for the third consecutive session

    For the third session in a row, the Pakistani rupee lost 97 paise in the interbank market on Friday as it fell against the dollar.

    The local currency depreciated by 0.44 per cent from yesterday’s finish of Rs221.5 to settle at Rs222.47 per dollar, according to the State Bank of Pakistan.

    Data gathered by Mettis Global show that the value of the PKR has decreased by Rs16.64 or 7.52 per cent since the beginning of this fiscal year.

    This week’s first day saw the sovereign default risk rise to its highest level since November 2009. On October 25, the country’s five-year credit default swap (CDS), which functions as a form of insurance against the risk of sovereign default, climbed by more than three per centage points, reaching 52.8pc, a 13-year high.

    Investors’ decreasing confidence in Pakistan’s capacity to repay its international loans is reflected in the growing CDS level.

  • Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover and what it means for you

    Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover and what it means for you

    The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tesla and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has finally closed the $44 billion deal to acquire Twitter.

    The “Chief Twit” allegedly fired Twitter’s senior executives, including its CEO Parag Agrawal and its head of legal policy Vijaya Gadde, on Thursday after closing the $44 billion deal.

    The takeover may bring significant changes to Twitter. The indicators have gotten stronger since the senior management was fired on the first day. Musk has previously made various allusions to the possibility of changing the online platform.

    This might not be good news if you use Twitter and value your online privacy. The platform has struggled with privacy and security issues for years, and it has been slow to put any potential fixes into action. As a result, it’s possible that everything you’ve ever done or said on Twitter, whether it was in public or private, including your direct messages, belongs to one of the wealthiest individuals in the world, a man notorious for being unpredictable, childish, and even vengeful.

    Additionally, it is now owned by a man who wanted to fire 75 per cent of the company’s employees, which might further jeopardise Twitter’s security.

    Noman Javed, an electrical engineer from Lahore, Pakistan, who has been using Twitter since 2010, said that given how immature and erratic Musk has always been, “anything is possible” on the social networking site. Musk has previously stated numerous times that he wants to support free expression and allow people to write anything; although this may sound positive, it can also be risky. As if everyone can tweet anything they want without worrying about being blocked or experiencing any negative effects.

    Javed anticipates that there may be increased disputes and debates on the platform, particularly between Indian and Pakistani users who regularly argue over a variety of topics, including sports and religion.

    According to TIME, when Musk commenced the takeover in April, he wrote CEO Agrawal, “I have a tonne of ideas.”

    Musk lists the preservation of “free expression” on Twitter as one of his key concerns. One of the primary advocates for removing Trump from the platform, Vijaya Gadde’s dismissal is regarded as the first step in that direction.

    After the attacks on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, Trump was taken from the podium. A few other right-wing speakers were banned from the stage for promoting false information and divisive ideas.

    In a survey Musk conducted in March, he found that 74 per cent of users wanted an “edit” feature. The edit button has already begun to undergo testing on Twitter, but it has not yet been made available everywhere.

    Musk has spoken out against the pervasive use of bots on Twitter. Musk said in September that 90% of the replies on his tweets are automated. Even Agrawal was targeted with the assertion that eight out of ten Twitter accounts are bogus.

    He might take action in the coming days based on bots and phoney accounts. However, a Scottish digital university called CodeClan claims that if Musk bans bots, he might lose as many as 13.5 million followers.

    According to Bloomberg, in April, Musk reportedly disclosed to the banks his plans to create features to increase business revenue, including novel ways to monetize tweets that contain significant information or go viral.

    He suggested ideas including charging a fee when a third-party website wants to reference or incorporate a tweet from a verified person or organisation.

    A UCLA adjunct professor named Robert McCann claims that Musk’s public criticism of Twitter and its leadership has caused a “significant erosion of trust” on the website.

    Employee morale can suffer, and it might “spook” potential customers. Additionally, due to the restructuring at the very top, more employees may voluntarily quit the company after the purchase.

    In an open letter to advertisers published on Thursday, billionaire Elon Musk said he wouldn’t allow Twitter to devolve into a “free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences.” His apparent goal was to allay users’ and advertisers’ concerns the day before his $44 billion acquisition.

  • ‘Agar isne wo gunah na kia hota to aaj yeh London Nahi Jaunga me hoti’: Khalil-ur-Rehman once again targets Mahira Khan

    ‘Agar isne wo gunah na kia hota to aaj yeh London Nahi Jaunga me hoti’: Khalil-ur-Rehman once again targets Mahira Khan

    Superstar Mahira Khan played the female lead in Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar’s Sadqay Tumhare and also received critical acclaim for her performance in the period saga.

    The Kaaf Kangana maker cursed himself earlier this year for casting the Hamsafar’s leading lady as ‘Shano’ in his drama serial Sadqay Tumhare. The writer had previously said that he made a mistake while casting Adnan Malik as the male lead as well.

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is WhatsApp-Image-2022-04-28-at-9.03.14-AM.jpeg

    Explaining his ‘hatred’ for the superstar actress, Khalil Ur Rehman re-shared an old tweet of Mahira where she slammed the writer for verbally abusing human rights activist Marvi Sirmed on national television in March 2020.

    Khalil tweeted, “Ye hai iss aurat ka wo tweet jo iss ne Marvi Sarmad k sath honay walay incident k aglay din kia tha (This is a tweet by Mahira which she posted after the Marvi Sirmed incident)”

    Earlier he confessed on a chat show that he regrets getting on-board the Raees diva in a project based on his own life.

    Adding that he’ll always be upset about it, “Zindagi bhar yeh gham rahega.”

    Latest Comments

    Now in his latest interview, Khalil again commented about his feud with Mahira.

    Qamar said, “I will forgive Khan eventually for working on a project based on my life. I have nothing but respect for her, yet she committed a mistake during the infamous Marvi Sarmad incident. Hence she lost  out on Mere Paas Tum Ho and London Nahi Jaunga as a punishment, otherwise, she was my first choice for either venture. If not Mere Paas Tum Ho, I would have casted Khan in London Nahi Jaunga (instead of Mehwish Hayat.”

    London Nahi Jaunga Review Includes Mixed Feelings
    Humayun Saeed gave his opinion on the Ending of Mere Paas Tum Ho

    Another Controversy

    Last year the Celebrity Premier League series got halt due to the Meray Paas Tum Ho writer’s abusive conduct on the cricket field.

    According to reliable sources, Khalil, who was the captain of the Peshawar team got into a tussle with the opponent team members of ‘Rawalpindi Stars’ over a player. He argued that the player’s name wasn’t previously mentioned in the list and lost his cool on the matter.

    As a captain, the Pyaray Afzal writer was not allowed to come on the ground but he came and created a havoc, leaving the management and players in shock.

    He was reminded that live footage of the league is being presented on mass media and was taken off the ground.

    Celebrities like Faysal Qureshi and Aijaz Aslam were also present at the stadium.

    “I was shocked to hear the foul language used by Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar. Families and children were there too. The man has no manners, no shame. Totally disgraceful,” anchorperson Shahzad Iqbal told The Current.

    Entrepreneur and politician Zulfi Bukhari came on board as a replacement for the future series.

  • PM Shehbaz promises to mend relations with the US

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has promised that the federal government is trying to mend relations with the United States (US).

    Addressing the passing out parade of the Specialised Training Programme (STP) in Islamabad, the Premier said that in the last few years, Pakistan’s relations with friendly countries had suffered. However, he promised that he was making all-out efforts to mend ties.

    He said that he is going to China soon as the northern neighbor, “always stood with Pakistan”.

    The Prime Minister, who just concluded a three-day trip to Saudi Arabia, said that that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud would soon be visiting Pakistan, adding that he has expressed willingness to support development projects in the country.

    “Earlier this year, a team from the Saudi Development Fund visited Pakistan. During a meeting with me, they complained about delays in projects in Pakistan caused by the previous government,” he recalled.

    Shehbaz Sharif said that during his meeting with Prince Salman he had apologised for these delays. “He [Prince Salman] said that the people of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are closely bound together in a relationship. We are like one family and I am ready to do everything. These were his words,” the Prime Minister recounted to the audience.

    Hence, he added, when the crown prince visits Pakistan, “I want all of you to welcome him warmly because he comes from a brotherly country.”

  • Daren Sammy ‘stunned’ at Pakistan’s defeat against Zimbabwe

    Daren Sammy ‘stunned’ at Pakistan’s defeat against Zimbabwe

    Daren sammy has expressed his shock over Pakistan’s defeat against Zimbabwe in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
    “Waking up this morning still stunned at the manner in which @zimcricketv defended these runs against @therealpcb that was pure will power by Zimbabwe, they played like a star team last night. (not a team of stars) and deserved to win, ” he wrote in a tweet.

    In the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, Zimbabwe’s bowlers put on an outstanding performance that enabled their team to defeat Pakistan, setting a relatively easy target of 131. The experienced side however fell short, ending at 129/8, falling one run short of the victory.

  • YouTube will let doctors apply to be labeled as ‘certified’ to avoid misinformation

    YouTube will let doctors apply to be labeled as ‘certified’ to avoid misinformation

    In an attempt to decrease inaccurate information on the platform, YouTube said Thursday that doctors and other health care providers can apply to have their channels certified. The change will allow viewers to more easily access videos containing “high-quality health information,” YouTube said.

    “This is a big step towards helping people more easily find and connect with content that comes from the extraordinary community of healthcare professionals on YouTube,” it added.

    In addition to physicians and nurses, those in the mental health field and those who offer healthcare information may also apply for the YouTube verification that makes their videos visible to users. “This new step will allow us to expand to include high-quality information from a wider group of healthcare channels,” the company said.

    The National Academy of Medicine estimates that 90 per cent of Americans use social media to look up health-related information.

    Last year, YouTube came under fire for displaying videos that decried the Covid-19 vaccine or went against the World Health Organization’s or the CDC’s recommendations for good health.

    In September 2021, it enacted a prohibition on vaccine-related misinformation in response.

    Additionally, a limited programme was introduced that permitted movies produced by public health departments, hospitals, and governments, among other organisations, to carry labels indicating their authority to consumers.

    This programme is currently being expanded.

    Healthcare providers need to follow best practises for disseminating science-based health information and have an active YouTube channel in order to access the programme, according to the business.

    The San Bruno, California-based company YouTube claims two billion active monthly users.

  • California nuns sell weed, struggle with profit post pandemic

    California nuns sell weed, struggle with profit post pandemic

    In the middle of California’s Central Valley, in a modest milky-blue home on one acre of farmland, lives a small group of nuns who sell weed. The Nuns of the Valley are a community of self-described sisters who spread spirituality and market medicinal cannabidiol products rather than being a religious institution.

    The Sisters make all their products by the cycles of the moon and in a spiritual environment. They are known more popularly as ‘The weed nuns’.

    “We are the activist Sisters of The Valley, and we are on a mission to heal the world through plant-based medicine. Like our Beguine ancestors, we are scholars who work together, pray together, and are dressed to identify our enclave,” reads their website.

    “Nestled in the impoverished but agriculturally rich Central Valley, our order makes honorable jobs to support our community through organic health products. All products are hand-made by women; saged to the moon cycles, set on the new moon, and bottled under the full moon. Our medicine-making is guided by ancient tradition, with care and respect for the Earth’s plants.”

    Before the pandemic they were grossing $1.2m a year (£1m), but now they are making half of it.

    Selling through dispensaries might help them rebuild, but that would mean even more regulations, and higher taxes.

    The so-called “green rush” of cannabis production is concentrated in California. In 1996, it became the first state to legalise marijuana for medical purposes, and it has been since 2016.

    The legality of marijuana cultivation, however, varies from county to county and city to city due to the state’s law’s numerous regulatory gaps.
    Consequently, even though it is legal to use cannabis in the state, approximately two thirds of California’s towns have outlawed the establishment of marijuana companies, and the remaining ones make it very difficult to get permits.