Author: newsdesk

  • ‘Never happened even under Martial Law’, reporters stopped from attending Parliament session

    In a first in Pakistan’s history, reporters were not allowed to enter a joint session of Parliament on Monday.

    Parliamentary reporters were to be present in the press gallery for President Dr Arif Alvi’s address but entered the hallway to find that the door was locked. The press gallery was closed for the journalists.

    The Parliamentary Reporters Association (PRA) strongly condemned the closure of the press gallery and said, “Closing the gallery is the worst dictatorship.”

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator PPP, Sherry Rehman condemning the closing of the press gallery tweeted, “This did not happen even in martial law era. Govt [government] is on collision course with democracy”

    Twitterati lashed out at the government for banning the journalists from entering the session.

    Journalist Absar Alam tweeted, “This is the Parliament’s Press Gallery, which was never closed during the Martial Law era, but is closed today so that journalists cannot enter.”

    Journalist Nusrat Javeed tweeted, “Have been covering Parliament since 1985. Even in [the] worst of times governments never behaved so humiliating to media. Sad. Really sad.”

    Journalist Owais Tohid took to Twitter and said, “Highly condemnable act to ban accredited journalists from covering joint parliament session. So-called punishment for protesting proposed draconian laws to silence Pakistani media.”

    Even though the reporters have been banned from covering the session, the joint session is being aired live on news channels.

  • ‘Media Martial Law’, Journalists sit in protest against proposed media authority bill

    ‘Media Martial Law’, Journalists sit in protest against proposed media authority bill

    Pakistani journalists are protesting in front of the Parliament House against the proposed Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA), which aims to muzzle media freedom. The on-going protest started on Sunday. Journalists marched from the National Press Club to the Parliament House and stayed overnight.

    They said the sit-in would continue till President Dr Arif Alvi’s address to the joint session of parliament, which is scheduled to assemble on Monday.

    DETAILS OF THE PROTEST

    Renowned journalists including Mazhar Abbas, Hamid Mir, Fahd Husain, Kashif Abbasi, Saleem Safi, Asma Shirazi, Gharidah Farooqi Imtiaz Alam, and Afzal Butt are participating in the protest, headed by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ).

    PFUJ general secretary Nasir Zaidi, while talking to Voicepk.net said, “Prior to this, we struggled against every law to control the press in the eras of dictators, and we will struggle against such laws even today.”

    Senior journalist Afzal Butt said, “Many attempts had been made in the past to silence the media by dictators, but journalists successfully fought for their rights and this time too, the journalist community would protect freedom of the press.”

    Journalist Imtiaz Alam stated that, “The government through the PMDA was trying to impose ‘media martial law’. “as per Dawn.

    Journalists and politicians are criticising the government. “Parliamentary reporters have banned from sitting in the press gallery of Parliament for joint session,” tweeted PPP’s Senator Sherry Rehman.

    SUPPORT BY JOURNALISTS

    Other journalists have expressed their concerns and showed solidarity with fellow journalists on social media accounts.

    https://twitter.com/zburki/status/1436954006820118537

    INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION

    Pakistani journalists in Britain also condemned the Pakistan government’s plans to establish the PMDA.

    “The officials of the High Commission called journalists individually and asked them not to hold the protest outside the High Commission premises and also issued threats of serious consequences for organising the protest,” wrote Murtaza Ali Shah for Geo News.

    “The journalists particularly singled out the current information minister [Fawad Chaudhry] for first playing his role in the economic murder of journalists and now pushing through a black law to completely finish the private media which provides thousands of jobs to media workers,” he added.

  • VIDEO: Aiman Khan quickly reacts as a guest confuses her with bride Minal

    VIDEO: Aiman Khan quickly reacts as a guest confuses her with bride Minal

    A guest on Minal Khan and Ahsan Mohsin Ikram’s Valima mistakenly considered Aiman as the bride and congratulated her for the wedding.

    A video is circulating on social media, in which a woman can be seen congratulating Aiman by confusing her with twin sister Minal.

    “I’m not the bride, I’m bride’s sister,” said the Baandhi star while pointing at Minal.

    https://youtu.be/-4278ir-9×8

    The Ishq Tamasha diva donned a tea pink attire embellished with fine silver embroidery. The look was all about rosy pink hues. She complimented her exquisite look with heavy earrings and a beautiful hairstyle.

    The twin sister duo had hilarious reactions to the video.

    The Parchayee pair tied the knot in a star-studded event on Saturday, September 10.

  • Matthew Hayden, Vernon Philander new Pakistan coaches for T20 World Cup

    Matthew Hayden, Vernon Philander new Pakistan coaches for T20 World Cup

    Pakistan’s cricket team will be coached by Australian Matthew Hayden and South African Vernon Philander during the T20 World Cup, the newly elected Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ramiz Raja said in a press conference on Monday.

    Hayden and Philander will be taking over from the pair of Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis, who resigned from their posts one month ahead of the T20 World Cup.

    Speaking about Hayden, Raja said: “The Australian can bring some aggression into the team. He has experience of World Cups and was a world-class player himself. Having an Australian in the dressing room will be of great benefit for us.”

    On Philander he said: “I know him well, he understands the nuances of bowling and he has a great record in Australia.”

    The development of adding Hayden and Philander to the Pakistan side comes after the sudden resignations of Misbah and Waqar.

    According to ESPNcricinfo, “Hayden and Philander have exceptional credentials as cricketers, but neither has any substantive coaching experience. Philander only retired from international cricket in 2020, and was due to take part in the South African domestic season which begins on September 24 this year. Hayden retired in 2009, and has taken on occasional media work, but his assignment with Pakistan at the World Cup is his first major coaching assignment.”

    PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja also announced that 192 cricketers with domestic contracts will see an increase of PKR100,000 in monthly retainers across all rungs. This means that domestic men’s cricketers in the 2021-22 season, which begins with the Cricket Associations T20, the Second XI competition, from September 15 at Quetta’s Bugti Stadium, will now earn between PKR140,000 to PKR250,000 per month, which is an increase of 250 per cent for the players in the D category, which is the lowest category.

    Earlier, the PCB announced that Misbah and Waqar have resigned and that former Pakistan Test players, Saqlain Mushtaq and Abdul Razzaq would be interim coaches for the time being.

    Read More – Pakistan squad for New Zealand, England and ICC T20 World Cup announced

    The Pakistan team is in Rawalpindi and are practicing ahead of their One-Day International (ODI) series against New Zealand.

    Meanwhile, the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to be the seventh ICC Men’s T20 World Cup tournament, with matches taking place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman from October 17 to November 14, 2021.

  • VIDEO: President Alvi shares ad on stigma surrounding contraceptives

    A government-sponsored advertisement addresses the social stigma surrounding the use of contraceptives in Pakistan. President Dr Arif Alvi shared the public service announcement (PSA) and tweeted, “The health of the nation is closely linked to maternal and child health”.

    “Make the right family arrangements for prosperity, keep a check on the number of children. Ensure good health. Don’t ignore this topic but discuss it and spread the message,” the president added.

    At the end of the PSA, a helpline number is also given: 0800-1117.

    https://twitter.com/ArifAlvi/status/1437311083497328641

    People on social media are lauding the government’s initiative

    https://twitter.com/lemonfresh02/status/1437353973317570560

    https://twitter.com/ReemKhurshid/status/1437338920572887045

  • Mexican rapper gets ‘gold hair’ surgically implanted into scalp

    Mexican rapper Dan Sur has adopted a new look by getting the chain hooks surgically embedded into his scalp, the New York Post reported.

    The 23-year-old rapper “wanted to do something different”. He underwent the surgery back in April and since then he flaunts his ‘golden hair’ to his social media followers.

    “The truth is that I wanted to do something different because I see that everyone dyes their hair. I hope not everyone copies me now,” he said in one of his TikTok videos.

    “This is my hair. Golden hair. The first rapper to have gold hair implanted in human history,” he added.

    The rapper has also got a matching gold grill recently.

  • Video: Kinza, Saboor get uncomfortable as someone records them while eating food on Minal’s wedding

    Video: Kinza, Saboor get uncomfortable as someone records them while eating food on Minal’s wedding

    Actors Kinza Hashmi and Saboor Aly graced their best friend Minal’s wedding ceremony in designer attires. The duo got uncomfortable as a friend records them while eating food on the event.

    The Fitrat diva later on starts teasing her Gul-o-Gulzar co-star.

  • PTI leads in Cantonment Board polls, PML-N in second place

    PTI leads in Cantonment Board polls, PML-N in second place

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerged as the biggest winner in the Cantonment Board elections held across Pakistan on Sunday, reports Radio Pakistan.

    According to the unofficial results, PTI got 58 seats, while the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) scored 51. Independent candidates claimed 49 seats.

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has managed to win 14 seats and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) got 10 seats. Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) won five seats while Balochistan Awami Party (BNP) got two seats.

    Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry in a tweet said the Cantonment Board election results show that the Opposition has left with no standing following a crushing defeat.

    Reacting to the ruling party’s victory, federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said: “Cantonment elections once again show the PTI not only as the largest party but also the only national party.”

    PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif called party leaders and congratulated them on their success in the cantonment polls.

    Province wise results:

    PTI won the most number of seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) — 18 — followed by 28 in Punjab, 14 in Sindh, and three in Balochistan.

    PML-N won big in Punjab, bagging 51 seats, managing only five in KP, three in Sindh, and none in Balochistan. In Lahore, the PML-N bagged 15 of 19 wards.

    PPP was surprisingly unable to defeat PTI in Sindh, instead of tying with them for 14 seats. The remaining three seats were won in KP, meaning none were won in either Punjab or Balochistan.

    Independent candidates scored big in Punjab, bagging 32 seats. They secured nine in KP, seven in Sindh, and four in Balochistan.

    MQM won all of its 10 seats in Sindh, whereas JI won five in Sindh and two in Punjab.

    ANP won two seats in KP, whereas BAP won two in Balochistan.

  • PICTURES: Celebrities attend Kabir Hussain’s ‘goat themed’ Aqiqa, Iqra-Yasir express love for son

    PICTURES: Celebrities attend Kabir Hussain’s ‘goat themed’ Aqiqa, Iqra-Yasir express love for son

    Iqra Aziz and Yasir Hussain celebrated the Aqiqa of their first child Kabir Hussain. The ceremony was attended by Wajahat Rauf and his family along with Khuda Aur Mohabbat 3 fame Noor-ul-Hassan.

    Kabir Hussain was born in July 2021. Earlier, actor Sonya Hussyn made a surprise visit to meet the little Hussain at their residence.

  • VIDEO: Dog interrupts cricket match

    VIDEO: Dog interrupts cricket match

    A dog interrupted the semi-final of the Women’s All-Ireland T20 between Bready Cricket Club and Civil Service North or Ireland Cricket Club in Magheramason.

    The video shows the dog running on the field with its black leash trailing behind it. When the wicket-keeper tried to hit the stumps and missed, the dog hurriedly snapped up the ball and began running away, as players tried to chase it down.

    Read More: Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards: Laughing snake, other finalists will make your day

    The dog finally stopped running after a player calmed it down and retrieved the ball so the match could resume.