Author: newsdesk

  • Bollywood actress Seema Pahwa is also a fan of Pakistani dramas

    Bollywood actress Seema Pahwa is also a fan of Pakistani dramas

    Indian actress and director Seema Bhargava Pahwa has added her voice to the growing praise for Pakistani dramas.

    Pahwa appeared as a guest on the ‘Hindi Rushi Podcast’ along with her husband, Manoj Pahwa. The host, Neha Singh, asked Seema about her views on Pakistani dramas, asserting that the Pakistani drama industry is doing much better than films, the proof being the Indian platform Zee TV’s collaboration with Pakistani artists.

    Seema Pahwa replied, “Web series or serials, whatever you want to call them, I feel that their stories are exceptional. Besides that, the language they use is something my ears long to hear, the Urdu language, which has become so rare these days.”

    “The way they use the language there [in Pakistan] and the level of detail in relationships is incredible. We can’t even imagine such detailing in our films or our serials. The small, intricate details. They create these characters with such beauty, layer upon layer, and I wish we could perform something like that. My heart aches for the kind of writing that would allow us to produce such beautiful work if we had it here,” she elaborated.

    The host asked about her favourite Pakistani drama, which she named ‘Sang-e-Mar Mar’.

    “The most beautiful aspect of it was the negative character, the daughter-in-law. I have never seen a song for a negative character before. I’ve always seen songs for heroines or positive characters, not for negative characters. They showed that even a negative character has pain”, she said.

    “If you think about it, nobody wants to be negative. It’s often circumstances that make them that way or some grudge. But the character is still a person. When her child dies, and she imagines the child with a piece of cloth and sleeps with it, the song they gave her makes you cry. Even though she has done terrible things, when her mother’s love makes her cry, you start crying too. That’s the beauty of writing and making: you can add emotion even to a negative character. You can’t get more detailed than this; it’s amazing,” she added.

  • PTA to block SIMs for holders of expired CNICs

    PTA to block SIMs for holders of expired CNICs

    The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) will begin suspending mobile SIMs of users with expired Computerised National Identity Cards (CNIC).

    PTA has also started the second phase of its operation to stop the illegal use of SIM cards across the country.

    A statement issued by the PTA on Monday read, “Those whose ID cards expired before 2017 and have not been renewed will have their SIMs suspended. ” The statement also urged users to renew their ID cards to avoid blocking their SIMs.

    Results from the first phase

    Notably, the PTA blocked fake SIMs and cancelled the CNICs during the first phase of the operation.

    “Since August 16, more than 69,000 illegal SIMs have been blocked,” the statement read, adding that the illegal SIMs are being blocked based on data obtained from the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).

    Goals for the third phase

    PTA will terminate SIMs registered in the name of deceased persons during the third phase.

    Awareness messages were sent to users before the blocking of mobile SIMs, asking them to update relevant data.

    PTA, however, maintains that fake SIMs are being used in various illegal activities, including terrorism, financial fraud and other scams.

    Blocking illegal URLs

    The authorities have blocked more than 363,000 URLs in the category of illegal content in the last three and a half years.

    From January 2021 to June 2024, defamatory or impersonating content had the lowest blocking rate. Social media platforms blocked 307,610 of these URLs. The overall blocking rate was 84.72%.

    Blocking URLs involved in contempt of court

    The PTA is taking action on 2,480 URLs related to contempt of court, and social media platforms blocked 1,496. The blocking rate is 60.32 per cent.

    The rate of blocking content against security and defence is slightly higher.

    Blocking un-Islamic content

    The rate of blocking un-Islamic content is also high, with action taken against 46,103 URLs and 37,479 blocked.

    34,673 URLs were examined, and 28,922 were blocked for sectarianism and hate speech content.

    Blocking proxy-related content

    The unethical category has documented the highest blocking rate, with 158,054 URLs examined and 152,646 blocked. Its content blocking rate is 96.46 per cent, with all 51 URLs related to proxy content blocked.

  • I have not ended any relationship, says Jawed Sheikh after two failed marriages

    Veteran actor Jawed Sheikh revealed that he has not ended any relationship.

    Recently, he appeared as a guest on a private TV program ‘Zabardast With Wasi Shah’ expressing his views on various issues.

    He said, “I have never ended his relationships by myself, nor has I initiated any relationship. I never opened up about my two failed marriages, when and whose fault it was.”

    The actor has reputation for flirtatious behavior at the height of his career in film industry.

  • Police collect 1.2 billion rupees in traffic fines from Karachiites

    Police collect 1.2 billion rupees in traffic fines from Karachiites

    Karachi traffic police have extracted Rs1.2 billion from citizens as fines over different traffic violations during the past one year, official data reveals.

    3.5 million worth of tickets issued per day

    Over the past year, from July 1, 2023, to the end of July 2024, over two million Karachiites were issued tickets, and the total fine stood at Rs1,294,886,450—which is around Rs3.5 million per day.

    Fines of 100 million are yet to be paid

    Of the total Rs1.2bn fine amount, citizens have paid Rs1.19bn, while 114,142 traffic rule violators have yet to pay over Rs100m in fines.

    This year alone, from January to July, traffic police issued 992,576 challans, which amount to Rs699,813,650 (over Rs699m).

    While incumbent Sindh Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon have time and again made it clear that the traffic police were not a revenue-generating agency, the huge number of fines and challan amount shows that this might not be the case as traffic police is entitled to 30 per cent of the challan’s total amount and the remaining 70 percent goes to the provincial government. This means the traffic cops could get a Rs360m share from the Rs1.2bn amount.

    On the contrary, DIG-Traffic Ahmed Nawaz Cheema said that the traffic police had not been paid their “due amount” for the past four to five years.

    “Of the 30 percent amount, 15 percent is for [cash] rewards for traffic police officers, while the remaining amount is for the procurement of equipment,” he said.

    He said that it was a clear policy of the IGP-Sindh and Karachi police chief Javed Odho that the traffic police should mainly issue challans for moving traffic violations like wrong-way, one-way driving, violation of traffic lights, vehicles without number plates, etc.

    He claimed that, after the IGP’s direction, the traffic challan rate had dropped to one-third of what it was before his fresh stint.

    District-wise details

    District East tops the chart with a fine amounting to Rs240,260,100 (over Rs240m) against 357,374 tickets, followed by District West with a fine worth Rs224,790,700 (over Rs224m) against 309,170 tickets and District Malir Rs207,635,350 (over Rs207m) against 317,310 tickets.

  • Objectionable material found on Orya Maqbool’s phone, claims Umar Cheema

    Objectionable material found on Orya Maqbool’s phone, claims Umar Cheema

    In a short clip that has gone viral on X (formerly Twitter), journalist Umar Cheema alleged that police have found objectionable material on Orya Maqbool Jan’s mobile phone while in custody.

    YouTuber Orya Maqbool Jan, known for his right-wing religious views, was arrested on August 22 by the FIA’s cybercrime wing in Lahore for alleged hateful social media posts regarding the Mubarak Sani case.

    “Charges brought up against him include sharing of vulgar and nude media in some drinking party where Orya Maqbool Jan is present.”

    He also alleged that the authorities have found evidence that indicates Orya’s team was involved in creating trends against Army Chief Gen Asim Munir.

    Umar opined that the coming days will tell how the case unfolds.

  • Rana Sanaullah wants Mohsin Naqvi to choose between Interior Ministry, PCB

    Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) and Advisor to Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah says that Mohsin Naqvi should choose between the Interior Ministry or Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

    In a special interview with ARY News, he said, “The positions of the Ministry of Interior and Chairman PCB are full-time jobs; it is up to him to decide which position he wants to hold.”

    Expressing his helplessness, he said, “The bad condition of sports in Pakistan is because an influential person is sitting on every sports body against merit, and he is also not on merit. Whoever does not get a place, he comes to a good sports body with his strength. They are so strong that I can not take any stand.”

    The Pakistan cricket team is struggling against a team like Bangladesh on their home ground. Many think that this is all because of Mohsin Naqvi, who doesn’t have the ability to run the cricket board.

    In the T20 World Cup 2024, Pakistan faced an early exit from the group stage.

  • How many people are married in Pakistan? Gallup report reveals

    How many people are married in Pakistan? Gallup report reveals

    Gallup Pakistan, an opinion poll agency, has released a new survey on marital status in the country.

    The survey was conducted via telephone from June 28 to July 10, and 755 men and women from all four provinces participated.

    Four out of every five Pakistanis, i.e. 80 per cent, are married, while 20 per cent are unmarried.

    The rate of married Pakistanis is higher among women and the rural population, with the rate of married women being 12 per cent higher than that of men.

    75 per cent of urban and 83 per cent of rural women were identified as married.

    Notably, in the survey, 56 per cent of Pakistanis aged 30 and 96 per cent of Pakistanis above 50 said they were married.

    As for the duration of marriages, 30 per cent have been married for five to 10 years, 17 per cent fall between two to five years, 17 per cent were married for 10 to 15 years, and 13 per cent have been together for more than 25 years of marriage.

  • Pakistan sets 185-run target for Bangladesh in second Test

    Pakistan sets 185-run target for Bangladesh in second Test

    On the fourth day of the second Test match, Pakistan’s batting line failed miserably in the second innings, and the entire team was bowled out at 172 runs. Pakistan set a target of 185 runs, including a 12-run lead in the first innings.

    Pakistan started the fourth day of the second Test in Rawalpindi with a lead of 21 runs, having lost two wickets.

    Abdullah Shafiq scored three runs, Khurram Shahzad and Muhammad Ali both scored zero, Saim Ayub made 20 runs, Shan Masood added 28, and Babar Azam made 11 runs. Saud Shakeel scored 2, Muhammad Rizwan 43, Abrar Ahmed 2, and Salman Ali Agha finished with 47 runs.

    On the third day of play, Pakistani bowlers were overshadowed, sending six players to the pavilion for a total of 26 runs but wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Das’s 138 and Mehdi Hasan’s 78 led the team to a total score of 262 runs.

    These two batsmen put on a partnership of 165 runs for the seventh wicket. Khurram Shahzad took six wickets for Pakistan, while Mir Hamza and Salman Ali Agha took two each.

  • Kangana Ranaut’s controversial Bollywood film ‘Emergency’ postponed

    Kangana Ranaut’s controversial Bollywood film ‘Emergency’ postponed

    Bollywood actress and politician Kangana Ranaut’s controversial film ‘Emergency’ has been delayed after the Indian Censor Board refused to give it a green signal.

    According to media reports, the film’s negative portrayal of the Sikh community, has led to the postponement of the film’s release.

    The trailer of the film created a sensation all over Punjab as soon as it was released. The Censor Board has directed that the controversial scenes of the film be deleted, considering the sentiments of the Sikh community.

    The decision of the board has come after a legal notice by the Sikh political party Shiromani Akali Dal, asking for the film’s release to be stopped due to fear of communal riots and spread misinformation.

    The movie was expected to hit theatres on September 6.

  • ‘Shadi key bad bhi boyfriend se salam dua hai’; Mariyam Nafees on relationship boundaries

    ‘Shadi key bad bhi boyfriend se salam dua hai’; Mariyam Nafees on relationship boundaries

    Famous actress Maryam Nafees has revealed that she is still in touch with her ex-boyfriend, and her husband is aware of this.

    She was recently invited to a podcast where the host asked Maryam, “If a girl follows you, what advice would you give these girls for a good marital relationship?”

    She responded, “Girls should tell their husbands everything, but it should not be about meeting ex-boyfriends. Every relationship has certain boundaries that both should follow. I also tell my husband everything.”

    She gave her example to explain this and said, “I am still in touch with my ex-boyfriend, even though we are no longer related, but I am very close to my ex-boyfriend’s family. His sister is still my best friend, and my husband knows this too; he has no objection to it either.”

    Maryam married Aman Ahmed in 2021.