Author: newsdesk

  • Mahira Khan turns producer with web series ‘Baarwan Khiladi’

    Mahira Khan turns producer with web series ‘Baarwan Khiladi’

    After acing pretty much everything else, Mahira Khan is stepping into production with a web series titled Baarwan Khiladi. The actor has set up a production house Soulfry Films with her dear friend and producer Nina Kashif. Baarwan Khiladi will be their first project together.

    Read more – We can’t show a woman being assaulted and falling in love with the same man, says Mahira Khan

    “I’m nervous and excited to share with all of you my first venture into production,” said an excited Mahira while announcing the news. “I would have no one better to be my co-pilot on this trip with me other than Nina Kashif.”

    Mahira also gave a sneak peek into their upcoming project, revealing that Baarwan Khiladi is “a coming of age story set against the backdrop of the OG of all games – cricket.”

    According to Mahira, the web series featuring Danyal Zafar, Shahveer Jafry and Kinza Hashmi in the lead, is “a story about friendships, relationships, unity, failure, success, love and courage.”

    The series has been penned by Shahid Dogar and directed by Adnan Sarwar of Motorcycle Girl fame. Saba Faisal, Sarmad Khoosat, Mira Sethi and Khaqan Shahnawaz are also part of the cast.

    Baarwaan Khiladi has reportedly been shot inside the Walled City of Lahore and Shahveer in an Instagram story revealed that shooting lasted one and a half month. While a release date has not yet been announced, the series will stream on Tapmad, a South Asian OTT platform.

    Read more – UrduFlix to launch with Alizeh Shah’s ‘Dulhan aur Aik Raat’

    Meanwhile, Mahira while announcing her new venture had said: “There is a story behind everything and I live for stories – hearing them and telling them.”

  • After FIA, NAB too cannot probe BRT project

    After FIA, NAB too cannot probe BRT project

    The Supreme Court has stopped the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from investigating alleged irregularities in the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.

    The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had approached the apex court against a ruling by the Peshawar High Court wherein the court had asked NAB to probe the mass transit project over alleged corrupt practices that resulted in massive losses to the national exchequer.

    A three-member bench headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial set aside the decision of the high court, saying it was based on speculations.

    According to the petition filed in the high court, the project was transferred to the Peshawar Development Authority despite the formation of a special BRT cell in the provincial transport department that also hired staffers and consultants. The court had observed the project was not coordinated well, resulting in delay and loss of money. 

    This is not the first time that NAB has been barred from touching the BRT. In 2018, after the PHC asked NAB to probe the BRT project, then chief justice Saqib Nisar had suspended the decision in Sept 2018.

    In Feb 2020, an SC bench headed by Justice Bandial had stopped the Federal Investigation Agency to stop the BRT investigation. At this time, the KP government’s lawyer had alleged that the PHC had issued its verdict without any reasoning.

    PESHAWAR METRO:

    The BRT bus service was launched on Aug 13 last year by Prime Minister Imran Khan after much delay as it missed several deadlines.

    The KP government and the project’s execution agency had promised to open the project, launched in October 2017, within six months on April 20, 2018. However, the deadline was missed.

    The project managers kept changing the launch dates from May 20 to June 30 to December 31 in 2018 to March 23, 2019, but the project was finally launched in Aug 2020. Since then, multiple buses of the BRT have broken down or caught fire.

  • Iqbal’s sculpture in Lahore park built by gardeners as a tribute

    Iqbal’s sculpture in Lahore park built by gardeners as a tribute

    A new sculpture of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, erected at Lahore’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, is all social media can talk about ever since pictures of it emerged on Twitter on Monday. While the structure appeared to be an honest attempt to pay a tribute to the country’s national Poet and renowned scholar, netizens are not happy with the way it turned out.

    Several social media users demanded authorities to immediately remove the sculpture as they felt it was a “display of insult” rather than a tribute to the poet.

    https://twitter.com/The_Najeeb/status/1356506382061735938?s=20

    Several journalists, social activists and renowned personalities including Hamid Mir, Jamal Shah, and Jibran Nasir also criticised the government for its incompetence.

    Several users questioned why it was even allowed to be placed at the park.

    However, it later emerged that the statue was built by the gardeners of the park as a tribute to the great leader. Chairman Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) Yasir Gillani shared this news on social media, saying that the gardeners prepared it on their own and the “authority did not pay a single penny” for it.

    Later, Focal Person on Digital Media to CM Punjab Azhar Mashwani also clarified that the sculpture was made by the gardeners of the park to express their love for Iqbal.

  • Newsletter- 1st February 2021, Sunday

    Newsletter- 1st February 2021, Sunday









    *|MC:SUBJECT|*

    Hey, Good morning *|MERGE1|*.  It’s Laila from The Current. Today is Monday and it is the 1st of February, which means for the next 14 days you will be hearing a lot about Love. Don’t be that snarky person who rolls their eyes at the idea of Valentine’s Day. Let people do what they need to make themselves happy. Weather today will be warm and sunny in all major cities of Pakistan.

    Morning Meme

    Editorial- Daniel Pearl case

    Our editorial this week is about Supreme Court’s order of releasing four men accused of the murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002 and the outrage expressed by the new US administration at this. 
     

    Read on

    ‘Not bound by it’: Pakistan questions legitimacy of UN treaty on nuclear weapons

    Pakistan says it is not bound by any of the obligations enshrined in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons — adopted in July 2017 — as the accord failed to take on board the “legitimate interests of all the stakeholders”.  For more, click on the link below. 

    Read on

    UAE decides to grant citizenship to ‘talented and innovative’ people

    UAE has adopted amendments that would allow Gulf state to grant citizenship to investors and other professionals, including scientists, doctors, engineers, artists, authors and their families.

    Read On

    Adnan Siddiqui thinks ‘Pakistanis are more tolerant than Indians’

    Adnan Siddiqui kehte hain ke Pakistanis are more tolerant than Indians. Considering what is happening these days in our neighboring country, we think he is right to some extent. 
     

    Read On

    ‘Please don’t be that fool that runs after numbers,’ says Ayeza after hitting 8 million Instagram followers
     

    Ayeza Khan has recently become the most followed Pakistani celebrity on Instagram with 8 million followers, but Ayeza ziada khush nahin hain iss milestone ko achieve karne pe. 
     

    Read On

    PM Imran offers condolences to Shaan over mother Neelo Begum’s death
     

    Veteran film star and Shaan’s mother Neelo has passed away at the age of 80. She was suffering from cancer. Prime Minister Imran Khan in a tweet expressed his grief and extended his condolences to Shaan and his family

    Read On

    Current Baba’s prediction

    Everything will go just fine this week except for the part where you won’t be able to manage your finances, so try to go easy on the online shopping.

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  • Arabic teaching compulsory in Islamabad schools after Senate okays bill

    Arabic teaching compulsory in Islamabad schools after Senate okays bill

    All primary and secondary schools in Islamabad are required to introduce the Arabic language as a compulsory subject after the Senate approved the Compulsory Teaching of the Arabic Language Bill 2020 on Monday.

    The bill presented by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Javed Abbasi was endorsed by all members of the upper house, except Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani who wrote a dissenting note. The bill will be implemented within six months.

    As per the bill, Arabic will be taught in schools in Islamabad from grades 1-5, while Arabic grammar will be taught in grades 6-12.

    Senator Abbasi said Arabia is “the fifth most spoken language in the world”, adding that it would also open up more job opportunities for Pakistanis in the Middle East. According to the senator, the Holy Quran is in Arabic and “we would not go through the problems we are currently facing had we understood the Holy Quran”.

    Parliamentary Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ali Muhammad Khan also agreed with Abbasi. He said the bill was in line with Article 31 of the Constitution that says: “Measures should be taken to spend our lives according to the Holy Quran and Sunnah.”

    According to Khan, learning Arabic was crucial to “become a good Muslim […] and understand God’s message”.

    However, PPP’s Rabbani said that legislation to make Arabic a mandatory language in schools was an attempt to “use Islamic for political purposes”. He further termed this an attempt to erase the diversity of Pakistan by imposing the foreign Arabic culture.

    “The Arab culture is not mine, [the] Indus Valley [Civilisation] is my culture,” he said, adding the Arabic language has nothing to do with Islam or Quran beyond being the language it was revealed in.

    In a response to The Current’s story on Instagram, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said that contrary to the media reports, the PPP opposed the said bill.

  • Exercise instructor unintentionally captures Myanmar coup in workout video

    Exercise instructor unintentionally captures Myanmar coup in workout video

    An aerobics instructor filming her exercise routine in front of Myanmar’s parliament has gone viral on social media after it unintentionally captured the first moments of a dramatic coup in the background.

    The video recorded in capital Naypyidaw shows a woman, reportedly named Khing Hnin Wai, do her workout as black SUVs drive up to a security checkpoint on the road leading to the Assembly of the Union complex behind her.

    As the upbeat song she is dancing to builds tempo, the convoy swells in sync with the music. As per details, the dancer is oblivious to what is happening behind her.

    According to The Guardian, Wai on Tuesday early morning clarified that video was real and that she had filmed many videos in the location before.

    She has been filming dance videos outside the assembly for 11 months, said Wai.

    Meanwhile, social media cannot get enough of the video and has been cracking jokes on it ever since it surfaced. The original clip shared on Twitter has received more than 12 million views till the filing of this story.

    https://twitter.com/CT_Bergstrom/status/1356359909525188608?s=20

    https://twitter.com/donmoyn/status/1356333329147113473?s=20

    People are also debating if the video is fake or real.

  • ‘Get vaccinated at your own risk,’ Punjab health minister tells people

    ‘Get vaccinated at your own risk,’ Punjab health minister tells people

    As Pakistan is all set to kick off its vaccination campaign, Punjab Health Minister Yasmin Rashid has implied that the government won’t be responsible for the potential adverse effects of the coronavirus vaccines.

    According to The News, due to the reported side effects of the vaccines, the minister told people to get the vaccine at their own risk. “We will make the public aware of the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine,” she added while addressing a press conference in Lahore.

    “Although research on corona is still going on all around the world, news of deaths of some COVID-19 vaccine recipients in certain parts of the world is disturbing,” she was quoted by the news outlet as saying.

    The minister said that the vaccination campaign in Punjab will start tomorrow. “We have been conveyed by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) that all chief ministers shall simultaneously inaugurate a vaccination drive in their respective provinces,” she added.

    At least 11 people lost lives due to coronavirus while over 400 tested positive on Monday, the minister said, adding that there was lockdown in 18 areas in Lahore. Some areas in Gujranwala, Gujrat and other cities were also under lockdown and movement of 5,634 people was restricted, she disclosed.

  • MQM founder Altaf Hussain in ICU due to COVID

    MQM founder Altaf Hussain in ICU due to COVID

    Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain has been under treatment for nearly three weeks in Britain due to coronavirus.

    Altaf urged his followers to continue praying for him, saying he would speak to them again after recovering.

    “May Allah protect everyone from this disease, COVID-19,” he was quoted by a news media outlet as saying. The MQM founder also appealed to listeners to “take precautions and help each other” in the times of a pandemic.

    On Jan 23, the MQM from its official Twitter handle tweeted: “MQM founder leader Mr Altaf Hussain got ill. After the check-up, the doctor advised him to rest and suspend his political activities.”

    Britain has had one of the world’s highest Covid-19 mortality rates and has recorded more than 106,000 deaths — the worst toll in Europe. The country is currently under a third national lockdown as it battles new strains of the coronavirus.

    On October 10, Hussain was charged by the UK’s Crown Prosecution Services with the terrorism offence in a case related to his incendiary speech relayed from the UK to his followers in Pakistan in 2016.

    After the speech, a crackdown was launched against the MQM and the government sealed its headquarter, Nine Zero, in Karachi. Later, MQM leaders in Pakistan also distanced themselves from him and removed his name from the party constitution, resulting in the formation of MQM-Pakistan.

  • President Alvi shares his list of 10 must-read books

    President Alvi shares his list of 10 must-read books

    After Prime Minister Imran Khan’s monthly book recommendations, President Dr Arif Alvi has shared a list of his favourite books.

    Read more – Duchess of Cornwall shares a list of her favourite books

    In a 14-minute-long video shot inside President House’s library, President Alvi listed his top must-read books and encouraged the youth to read them.

    “I want the interest of book reading to stay alive in Pakistan,” says President Alvi in the video.

    Check out President Alvi’s recommendations below:

    1. Revelation: The Story of Muhammad (Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him) by Meraj Mohiuddin

    2. Capital & Ideology by Thomas Piketty

    3. The Anarchy by William Dalrymple

    4. Upheaval (How Nations Cope with Crisis and Change) by Jared Diamond

    5. Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson

    6. The Metric Society by Steffen Mau

    7. The Big Picture by Sean Carroll

    8. Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark

    9. Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom

    10. The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli

    Later, President Alvi’s son Awab Alvi shared that the president makes a conscious effort to include reading in his daily routine.

  • ‘All in the details’: Bakhtawar shares closeup of mehndi outfit

    ‘All in the details’: Bakhtawar shares closeup of mehndi outfit

    Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari and Mahmood Choudhry’s wedding extravaganza over the weekend is all anyone can talk about. The two tied the knot in an intimate nikkah ceremony on January 29 with a wedding reception the next day. Pictures and details from the wedding festivities are limited considering there was a no cellphone policy at the event and guests were also limited because of COVID-19 SOPs.

    However, while thanking everyone for their prayers and wishes, the bride promised that the couple “will be sharing [their] joy” with their wellwishers through the moments captured.

    Staying true to their word, Bakhtawar and Mahmood shared pictures of themselves from their mehndi night on social media. While the groom donned a cream shalwar kameez with a shawl for the occasion, the bride glowed in a red and green outfit by Zara Shahjahan. Bakhtawar also shared a closeup of her outfit to show the details which included a tribute to her late mother Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.

    The dupatta was embroidered with the poem, ‘Woh ladki laal qalandar’ and Bakhtawar also held a pouch an embroidered portrait of Benazir on it.

    Speaking to a local media outlet, the designer shared that the “lehnga had patchworks of Sindhi embroidery and mirrors” on it. She further revealed that the embellishments on the shirt “were worked with flowers and at the centre of every flower, we embroidered Bakhtawar and Mahmood’s names.”

    “It was all done very minutely which is why it isn’t easily visible in the photographs,” she added.

    The couple had earlier also shared glimpses of their nikkah ceremony.

    Mahmood also shared a picture of himself tying his own turban saying: “Gentlemen always tie your own pugree.”

    Meanwhile, check out pictures from the reception below:

    UAE Minister for Culture Sheikh Nahayan bin Mubarak Al Nahayan also flew to Pakistan to attend the reception.

    Bakhtawar and Mahmood got engaged in an intimate ceremony in November 2020 at Bilawal House. Bilawal was unable to attend the event since he had tested positive for coronavirus at that time and was in quarantine.