Author: newsdesk

  • Rashid Mahmood Langrial appointed as chairman of FBR

    Rashid Mahmood Langrial appointed as chairman of FBR

    The government has appointed Rashid Mahmood Langrial, currently Secretary of the Power Division, as the new Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). This announcement was made through a notice from the Cabinet Secretariat Establishment Division.

    According to the notice, “Rashid Mahmood, a BS-21 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service and presently serving as Secretary of the Power Division, is transferred and appointed as Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue, with immediate effect, in accordance with Section 10 of the Civil Servants Act, 1973.”

    Langrial, who entered the civil service in 1995, boasts a diverse career across various sectors.

    His previous roles include Chief Secretary of Gilgit-Baltistan, Commissioner of Lahore Division, Secretary of Agriculture in Punjab, Chief Executive Officer of the National Power Parks Management Company (NPPMCL), Chairperson of the Lahore Ring Road Authority, and Secretary of Tourism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

    Earlier in his career, he also served as Assistant Commissioner in Sindh and as Deputy Secretary in the Punjab Secretariat.

  • Sri Lanka defeats India after 27 years in an ODI series

    Sri Lanka defeats India after 27 years in an ODI series

    In the last match of the three-match ODI series, Sri Lanka defeated India by 110 runs, winning the series with a lead of 2-0 after 27 years.

    The first match between India and Sri Lanka was a nail-biting tie. Sri Lanka, playing first, scored 230 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. In response, India needed just 1 run off five balls with two wickets in hand, but the match took a dramatic turn as both wickets fell without scoring any runs.

    In the second match, Sri Lanka defeated India by 32 runs.

    Third ODI:

    Playing first, Sri Lanka scored 248 runs for losing seven wickets in the allotted overs. In response, India could only score 138 runs, losing all their wickets in 26.1 overs.

    The last time Sri Lanka won an ODI series against India was in 1997.

  • Pakistan military plans to acquire nearly 4,000 kanals of land in Haripur for ‘defence purposes’

    Pakistan military plans to acquire nearly 4,000 kanals of land in Haripur for ‘defence purposes’

    Geo Fact Check has reported that an official letter, circulating on social media since last month, claiming that the Pakistan Army intends to acquire nearly 4,000 Kanals of land in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is indeed authentic.

    The Military Estate Officer in Abbottabad Cantt wrote the letter to the deputy commissioner (DC) in Haripur district, KP.

    The letter read, “It is apprised that the Army authorities intend to acquire a chunk of land measuring 3,481 kanals and 17 marlas situated at village Kenthla and Kot Jandan, tehsil Khanpur, district Haripur for defence purposes.”

    Two government officials, including the additional Assistant Commissioner of revenue in Haripur, Ijaz Khan Jadoon, have confirmed the letter’s authenticity to Geo Fact Check.

    “The complete process of [land] acquisition will take six to 12 months,” stated Ijaz, adding that the land was located behind Islamabad’s Margalla hills.

  • Will Young Stunners be allowed to perform in India?

    Will Young Stunners be allowed to perform in India?

    If you’re a fan of the talented Pakistani hip-hop duo, Young Stunners, you might have seen the buzz about their upcoming tour in India. Two stars Talha Anjum and Talhah Yunus, who are the Young Stunners have gained a massive following across the border.

    Young Stunners’ upcoming performances are in Delhi on December 25, Bengaluru on December 21, and Mumbai on December 13. Skill Box is in charge of organizing the tour and has started accepting pre-registrations for concert tickets, giving priority to those who purchase them early.

    However, the rappers have not announced the tour on their social media and have only updated it with updates about their tours in Australia and Canada. And, some Indian social media users are criticizing the event by reposting previous tweets from Talha Anjum’s accounts, which allegedly made fun of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan, attacked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and called for the independence of Kashmir from Indian rule.

    The organizer for the Young Stunners’ tour, Desi Disco Entertainment, says that the duo’s shows in India are still on, with registrations open on another website for the Young Stunners Mumbai gig.
    Vaheed Khan, the director of Desi Disco, stated in an interview with The Print in India, that the controversy was a part of a larger strategy to attack the show for declining to work with certain handles.

    Vaheed Khan said, “We won’t let a few negative tweets stop our show. Some social media pages wanted a share of our profits, but we refused to promote them. That’s why they started posting negative tweets. Half of these tweets are fake and have nothing to do with Talha or Pakistan.”
    Young Stunners have a huge fan following in India, with the largest number of their Spotify listeners from Mumbai (152,583 listeners) and New Delhi (245,000 listeners). While the controversy swirls, fans await an official confirmation from the duo.

    Here are the previous tweets of Talha Anjum which created a controversy:

  • Fact-Check: Has Google changed Adiala Jail’s name to Imran Khan Jail?

    Fact-Check: Has Google changed Adiala Jail’s name to Imran Khan Jail?

    Social media is packed with posts claiming that Google Maps has labelled Rawalpindi’s Central Jail aka Adiala Jail as ‘Imran Khan Jail’.

    On July 25, a user on X (formerly Twitter) claimed that Google had changed the name of Adiala Jail (where former Prime Minister Imran Khan is detained) to show its association with the PTI head. The post included a screenshot allegedly showing the jail’s location with the caption “Adiala Jail (Imran Khan).”

    This post has been viewed nearly three lakh times, reposted 6,800 times and liked 19,000 times.

    What is the reality?

    Information technology experts have debunked the claims and confirmed that Google Maps has not named Adiala Jail after the former prime minister.

    Asad Baig, executive director and founder of Media Matters for Democracy (MMFD), an Islamabad-based non-profit organization working for media literacy and development, told Geo Fact-Check that the online claims were “false” and Google doesn’t take political positions.

    Asad added, “Google Maps relies on various methods for labelling sites. One of which is user-generated labels or ‘user contributions’. Often, individual users may send misleading or incorrect information, which other users can correct by using the ‘report a problem’ feature.”

    Google’s response:

    A response from Google following the report’s publication on August 5 explained that users can provide information in Google Maps. The platform’s automated systems and trained operators monitor suspicious behaviour and their policies and act to remove any infringing content quickly.

    Google further clarified that the “incorrect name” in question has been removed, and safeguards implemented on the listing to prevent additional edits that violate the policy.

    This indicates that Google itself did not change the name of Adiala Jail to “Imran Khan Jail”.

  • ‘Game of Thrones pe bhe kar lein’, Ali Gul Pir on Maria B filing case against Barzakh

    ‘Game of Thrones pe bhe kar lein’, Ali Gul Pir on Maria B filing case against Barzakh

    The web series Barzakh has ended, but the drama surrounding the project hasn’t stopped. Zindagi announced that they would take the show off YouTube Pakistan on August 9 because of a controversy over its ‘inappropriate’ content.

    After the announcement, designer Maria B threatened to take the ‘Barzakh’ team to court for promoting what she called ‘provocative’ themes.

    In response, rapper Ali Gul Pir pointed out that ‘Barzakh’ is an Indian production. He questioned whether Maria B would take similar legal action against other international shows like Game of Thrones, which also has controversial content.

    Gul Pir, on his Instagram stories, said we have bigger problems to worry about, such as lack of education and inflation. “There are many things on the internet, on YouTube. We faced a YouTube ban for three years before. This [Barzakh] is an Indian product. Your actors acted in it, but it’s an international project. You cannot ban everything on the internet,” he said.

    Gul Pir explained that banning things often makes them more popular. Instead, people should simply not watch what they don’t like. “You don’t have to watch these things. I didn’t even know about this drama until you made it famous. There are many actors who, if you don’t like them, don’t watch their stuff. But banning everything is not the solution.”

    The rapper added that Pakistanis often misdirect their anger and do not criticize the poor condition of government hospitals or lack of education.
    “Unfortunately, we are here while the world has progressed. No outrage over our performance at the Olympics or the state of Jinnah Hospital. But a drama? Court! The whole country gets outraged over a drama. There is no outrage over lack of education, but mention sex and everyone is outraged!”
    On Tuesday, after Zindagi’s announcement to take down Barzakh from YouTube Pakistan, the show’s director, Asim Abbasi, said he supports the decision to protect his team’s safety.

  • Time to leave: Hasina’s son convinced her to flee the country

    Time to leave: Hasina’s son convinced her to flee the country

    On August 5 2024, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India as the demonstrations grew bigger and bolder.

    Ruling since 2009, her resignation was deemed as a major victory by the people of Bangladesh who, moments after she left, had barged into her palace.

    And while the protests were happening for over a month, with over 300 killed while thousands injured and arrested, what really prompted Sheikh Hasina to escape?

    The New York Times reports that until the final hours, Hasina firmly believed she could withstand the crowd gathering around her. Three sources familiar with the internal conversations disclosed that she ignored the suggestions of her security advisors, who had warned that their efforts to suppress anti-government protests had already been unsuccessful and that any additional action would lead to more violence and bloodshed.

    Her top security advisors then resorted to her family in order to dispel Sheikh Hasina’s rigidity and make her realise that, “it was the end”.

    The heads of army, police, air force, and navy came to her residence where she met with them alongside her sister, Sheikh Rehana, who had come from London just days earlier for a visit.

    Her sister spoke to Hasina in private for about 20 minutes after which she was “quiet, but still reluctant”.

    Army chief Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman, who is also a relative of Sheikh Hasina, then contacted her son, Sajeeb Wazed, living in Virginia, US, to urge him to persuade his mother to recognize the seriousness of the situation.

    “She wanted to stay, she did not want to leave the country at all,” Mr. Wazed later told Indian news channels. “We were concerned for her physical safety first. So we persuaded her to leave.”

    By then, the security personnel had estimated that Sheikh Hasina had less than an hour to leave.

    “At very short notice, she requested approval to come for the moment to India,” India’s foreign minister, S. Jaishankar told the Indian Parliament.

  • ‘Resilient spirit’, Pakistan extends solidarity with the people of Bangladesh

    ‘Resilient spirit’, Pakistan extends solidarity with the people of Bangladesh

    As Bangladesh grapples with the the end of a historic uprising, Pakistan extended solidarity with the country’s people and wished for peace and normalcy.

    The Ministry of Foreign Office (MOFO) stated in a press release that, ‘’the government and people of Pakistan stand in solidarity with the people of Bangladesh and sincerely hope for a peaceful and swift return to normalcy’’.
    ‘’We are confident that the resilient spirit and unity of the Bangladeshi people will lead them towards a harmonious future,’’ the statement further stated.

    On Monday, Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule ended when demonstrators stormed into her palace and parliament.

  • Afghanistan’s key cricketer banned for five years for match-fixing

    Afghanistan’s key cricketer banned for five years for match-fixing

    Afghanistan cricketer Ihsanullah Jannat has been banned for five years for match-fixing.

    According to the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), batsman Ihsanullah Jannat has been banned from playing in all formats. He violated the International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption code during the second season of the Premier League in Kabul this year. The cricketer has accepted all the charges and admitted to involvement in corruption.

    The ACB anti-corruption unit is also investigating three other players for alleged involvement in match-fixing.

    The 26-year-old has played three Tests, 16 ODIs, and one T20 international match.

  • ‘UmroAyyar: A New Beginning’ stuns at San Diego Comic-Con

    ‘UmroAyyar: A New Beginning’ stuns at San Diego Comic-Con

    Pakistani cinema has achieved a new milestone with ‘UmroAyyar: A New Beginning,’ the first film from the country to be showcased at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

    The film was met with excitement from the audience, marking an important moment for the industry.

    Viewers loved its unique mix of ancient stories and modern filmmaking.

    The movie’s impressive special effects and rich cultural story captured the imagination of attendees.

    VR Chili Production, the studio behind the film, announced that the story will continue. They plan to release the next part, ‘UmroAyyar: The King of Tricksters.’ This new chapter will build on the exciting story and innovative elements that made the first film a hit.