Author: newsdesk

  • Adnan Sami, Kangana Ranaut receive Indian fourth highest civilian honour

    Adnan Sami, Kangana Ranaut receive Indian fourth highest civilian honour

    Singer and composer Adnan Sami Khan, who has left Pakistan and permanently shifted to India, received India’s fourth-highest civilian honour, Padma Shri Award, today, November 8 for his contribution to the field of performing arts.

    The award was presented to him by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

    The official Twitter handle of the President of India tweeted a photo of Adnan Sami receiving the Padma Shri Award, and wrote, “President Kovind presents Padma Shri to Shri Adnan Sami Khan for Art. He is a world renowned and celebrated music composer, concert pianist, singer and actor.”

    Indian actress Kangana Ranaut was also given the award at the ceremony.

    The Queen actor, dressed in a gold saree, was pictured being presented the Padma Shri by President Kovind. Kangana, last seen in the Jayalalithaa biopic Thalaivi, also recently received the National Award for Best Actress for her performances in the films Manikarnika and Panga.

    The list includes seven Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma Bhushan and 102 Padma Shri Awards, of which 29 awardees are women and one awardee is a transgender person. The Padma Awards have been presented in various fields, such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service and so on.

  • 59% traders consider Pakistan is not ‘moving in right direction’: Gallup Survey

    The ratio of traders who consider that Pakistan is not moving in the right direction has jumped from 37 per cent from the last quarterly report to 59 per cent states Gallup Pakistan’s fourth quarterly report of Business Confidence Index (BCI).

    The survey was conducted from October 13-28 and nearly 580 respondents, belonging to the country’s traders’ community participated in it.

    The report states that responders have expressed great anxiety over the future of business in the country as the ratio of those predicting improvement in future business has dropped from 70 per cent to 61 per cent in the survey, reports Geo News.

    Surprisingly, the given statistics in the report show that in Gallup Pakistan’s second quarterly report, 49 per cent of traders were happy with business activity but now 54 per cent of them expressed their satisfaction.

    While answering the question, “which issues do the respondents want the government to address instantly”, 48 per cent declared inflation as the biggest problem for business, 16 per cent sought relief for the business class, 14 per cent for the stability of the Pakistani currency, 13 per cent for consistency in government policies, 6 per cent for controlling corruption, 6 per cent for the elimination of Covid-19 and ending lockdowns, 3 per cent for ending political instability, 3 per cent for improving export policies and two percent for non-availability of PayPal.

    Among them, seven percent of respondents said they had no issue which could be resolved by the government.

  • ‘I was just 23, he divorced me in anger’: Hina Dilpazeer opens up on divorce, son and finding love again

    ‘I was just 23, he divorced me in anger’: Hina Dilpazeer opens up on divorce, son and finding love again

    Actor Hina Dilpazeer is known for her incredible range as a performer in her projects like Quddusi Sahab Ki Bewah and Jahez.

    The veteran actor appeared on Iffat Omar’s digital show Say It All With Iffat Omar on which the Parey Hut Love star got candid on her personal life. She discussed matters such as her divorce, raising up a son single-handedly, coping up with stress and finding love again.

    Hina mentioned that she did love marriage and was smitten by her husband’s good looks, However after a few years of marriage things changed and their differences increased.

    Hina stated that her husband divorced her in anger while their son was only 3 years old. After her separation life was hard for the Bulbulay star due to societal stigmas attached her life became very difficult citing an example of how people don’t let a divorcee sit near to a bride especially in 90s.

    Later she connected to her own self as she couldn’t share her pain with friends or family members. The talented star started working at a radio station and later switched to television.

    She didn’t feel the need to find love again as she was occupied with work and raising up her son.

    Hina raised her son on her own after separation and now he is happily married.

    hina dilpazeer son wedding
    Hina Dilpazeer with her Newly Married Son and Daughter in Law

    Earlier veteran Indian actor Anil Kapoor mentioned that he is a fan of Pakistani actress and comedinniene Hina.

    Kapoor had said in a statement that Pakistan does not lack talent, if provided platforms then no performances, art or talent can compete with the Pakistani artists, singers, musicians, actors and actresses. Appreciating the Pakistani hub talent he said that the Pakistani drama actress and the sitcom diva Hina has highly impressed him. He called her an ‘Art Diva’.

    The 64-year-old actor who launched his own tv series 24 in India at the time said that I consider Hina as an inspirational figure and use her acting to motivate and teach my students at the academy to learn the art of doing different roles of different modes. For a newcomer to do a variety of roles with different modes is not easy, he complimented.

  • Despite so many good looking men, ads feature women, Tahir Asharfi criticises Pak ads

    Despite so many good looking men, ads feature women, Tahir Asharfi criticises Pak ads

    Special Representative of the Prime Minister on Religious Harmony Maulana Tahir Ashrafi has criticised advertisements featuring women. “Despite having so many good looking men in the country, advertisers still hire women to represent their brands.”

    Tahir, while addressing a press conference at the Punjab Institute of Quran and Seerat Studies, said that he is against the practice of women being “unnecessarily featured in advertisements”.

    Talking about the strategy of curbing Islamophobia, Tahir Ashrafi said, “For this purpose, the government has started reaching out to different Islamic scholars across the globe.”

    “The ulema have a role to play in eradicating obscenity, terrorism, and extremism from the country,” said Maulana Tahir Ashrafi  while talking about the increase in sexual crimes.

  • Everything you need to know about Ehsaas Rashan programme

    Everything you need to know about Ehsaas Rashan programme

    The registration of poor families whose monthly income is less than Rs31,000 has begun today under the Ehsaas Rashan Programme. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection Dr Sania Nishtar, giving details of the programme, said that the eligible families will be able to obtain items of daily use like flour, oil, sugar and pulses at subsidised rates from Utility Stores and retail stores (kiryana shops). Small retail stores opened even in streets and localities will also provide this facility if they are registered and authorised for this system.

    Registration process:

    The National Socio Economic Registry (NSER) survey of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has been completed.  A database of 27 million households was originally developed during a nationwide survey under the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government in 2010-11.

    Another survey will be used to identify deserving families for this new pro-poor programme. It will take three or four weeks to complete the process of registration. The beneficiaries will need a mobile phone number registered on their Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC), which will be produced before the specific stores from which purchases on subsidised rates will be sought.

    How will it work?

    The kiryana merchants will require downloading the relevant app on their Android phones, entering CNIC numbers of the customers and pass on the benefits after authentication from the back-end immediately.

    The customer will receive a verification code, which would be entered by the kiryana merchant in the app.

    Eligibility Criteria:

    20 million households across Pakistan with a poverty score of less than 39 and an income of Rs 31,000 per month.

  • Australian Cricket team to tour Pakistan in March-April 2022

    Australian Cricket team to tour Pakistan in March-April 2022

    The Australian cricket team will be visiting Pakistan next year in March and April for three Test matches, Three ODIs and one T20I, announced the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday.

    Read More – New Zealand cancels Pak series due to ‘security concerns’ despite PM Khan’s call to NZ PM

    According to the details, the first Test match of the series will start on March 3 in Karachi. The second Test will be played in Rawalpindi from March 12 to 16 and the third in Lahore from March 21 to 25.

    Meanwhile, all four white-ball matches of the series will be played in Lahore. These matches will be played from March 29 to April 5.

    Read More – ‘Decision of England board is cowardly, was made out of fear of the players and India’: British author

    Earlier, the PCB Twitter account had tweeted that they will be making a big announcement shortly.

    Australia has not played in Pakistan since 1998.

    However, team Pakistan is set to face Australia in the semi-finals of ongoing T20 World Cup 2021 on (Thursday) November 11.

  • Top military officials brief parliamentarians on national security

    Top military officials brief parliamentarians on national security

    The meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PNSC) comprising members of the National Assembly (NA) and Senate has started in Islamabad, reports Geo News.

    Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Director-General (DG) Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency Faiz Hameed are also present at the National Assembly to attend the session.

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, all four chief ministers, along with parliamentary leaders are among the attendees.

    The military leadership will brief the political leadership about the emerging situation in Afghanistan and the overall affairs of national security. The parliamentarians will be taken into confidence over a secretive deal between the government and the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), sources privy to the matter said.

  • Punjab government revokes ban on TLP

    Punjab government revokes ban on TLP

    The government on Sunday revoked the ban on Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

    The notification in this regard was issued by the Ministry of Interior on Sunday, a day before a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security is being held in the National Assembly in which the Opposition members are expected to debate on this matter.

     “The provincial cabinet has considered the request of the organisation and in view of the assurance and commitment by the organisation, is of the opinion that the said organisation shall abide by the Constitution and laws of the country and therefore, keeping in view the larger national interest and long term perspective to ensure that such incidents do not recur in future, the government of Punjab has proposed to the federal government to consider revoking of proscription of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan,” read the notification.

    “In exercise of the powers conferred under sub-section (1) of Section 11U of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 (as amended), the federal government is pleased to remove the name of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan from the First Schedule of the said Act as a proscribed organisation for the purposes of the said Act,” said the notification.

    TLP had been placed in the First Schedule as a proscribed organisation by the federal government on April 15 this year on the recommendation of the Home Department of Punjab.

    The Punjab government initiated the process to unban TLP last week. Punjab Home Department sent a summary for the revocation of the TLP ban to Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Usman Buzdar and his cabinet.

  • Man accidentally throws Rs3,139,500 in trash bin

    Man accidentally throws Rs3,139,500 in trash bin

    A businessman in  Greece accidentally threw a bag containing 19,000 Euros (RsRs 3,139,500) in a dustbin after mistaking it for garbage.

    As per reports, a businessman from the Greek Island of Limos was carrying cash in a bag and a garbage bag on Monday. On his way to his office, the man dumped both the bags into the dustbin. After reaching his shop, he realised that he had mistakenly dumped the bag with the cash as well.

    The businessman told the local media that after realising his mistake, he ran to the area where he had dumped the bags but the garbage bags were missing.

    “I panicked and stopped the cops and told the officers about the money and how I threw it accidentally into a dustbin,” said the businessman.

    The police officers along with him located the garbage truck and caught up with the vehicle at the island harbour before it could dump the contents for burning.

    The businessman told the local media that he, along with three officers, reached the rake and started searching through all the trash. After a few minutes of searching, they found the first garbage bag but the bag filled with money was still missing.

    According to reports, the man and the police officers on finding the first bag were hopeful that they would locate the one with money too. The businessman and the cops searched each garbage bag in the dump and finally found the bag with the euros after searching for almost an hour.

  • Aiman-Muneeb, Minal-Ahsan’s ‘double date’ getaway, Hira and Nimra adore

    Aiman-Muneeb, Minal-Ahsan’s ‘double date’ getaway, Hira and Nimra adore

    Sister duo of Aiman Khan and Minal Khan along with their respective husbands Muneeb Butt and Ahsan Mohsin Ikram went on a double date at a Karachi’s luxurious hotel.

    Also seen with them is the adorable Amal Muneeb.

    Fellow celebrities Hira Mani and Nimra Khan cheered them on social media with comments and likes.

    The Pyar Ke Sadqay star gave Muneeb his red vintage car to drive to the venue.

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