Author: newsdesk

  • VIDEO: Maryam Nawaz ‘attacked by police’ outside NAB office

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president and former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz, was on Tuesday caught in a clash between party workers and Punjab Police as she arrived at the Lahore office of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the case pertaining to receipt of 200 acres of what was supposed to be government land in Raiwind.

    To show solidarity, PML-N workers in the form of a procession had accompanied the party leader as she left for the NAB’s office in Thokar Niaz Baig. She was, however, told to head back as the situation deteriorated outside the anti-graft body’s office when party workers and police clashed.

    In two videos that she posted on Twitter, Maryam alleged that police pelted stones at her car which cracked her bulletproof vehicle’s windshield. “Pelting stones at my car, police have broken its windshield. This is a bulletproof car and police are pelting stones and shelling [PML-N workers] in front of NAB’s office to instigate workers. Why do you call us if you are so scared of us?” she was heard as saying in one of the videos.

    In another tweet, the PML-N leader condemned the firing of tear gas shells and assault her party workers were subjected to by the police.

    Speaking to party workers after the clash, Maryam said she had been summoned from her home so that she could be harmed. “I am standing here, if I have been called, then listen to me as well,” she said. 

    The PML-N leader said that she had arrived outside the NAB office to “answer lies” and will not head back home; however, the doors of the NAB office remained closed and no official of responded to Maryam’s statement. 

    The incident was followed by Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar taking notice of the clash and ordering the chief secretary as well as the inspector general to submit a report on the matter. “No one can be allowed to take the law into their hands,” said the chief minister. “Action should be taken against those who violated the law,” reports quoted him as saying.

    Meanwhile, support poured in for Maryam as Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari among many others voiced their concerns.

    “Condemn the unnecessary use of force, teargas & stone pelting on @MaryamNSharif & her party workers by police in Lahore today [sic],” Bilawal tweeted.

    THE CASE AGAINST MARYAM:

    According to Geo, NAB has accused Maryam of receiving 200 acres of what was supposed to be government land in Raiwind. Reports claim that the transfer was made during former Lahore deputy commissioner (DC) Noorul Amin Mengal and former Lahore Development Authority (LDA) director general (DG) Ahad Cheema’s tenure.

    NAB had also summoned Mengal along with the LDA officials of that time with records.

    A tract of land, stretching over 3,568 kanals, was bought by the Sharif family in 2013. The largest part of the property, 1,936 kanals, was transferred to the name of Nawaz and Shehbaz Sharif’s mother, Shamim Bibi. The land that was transferred to Maryam from that tract was 1,440 kanals.

  • Man gets stolen wallet back after 14 years

    Man gets stolen wallet back after 14 years

    A man, whose wallet got stolen in a local train in Mumbai in 2006, received a call after 14 years from the police saying they have found it.

    Hemant Padalkar had lost his wallet while travelling in a local train in 2006, containing Rs900 at that time. In April this year, he received a call from the Government Railway Police (GRP) updating him that his wallet was found.

    However, he could not then go to collect his wallet because of the lockdown in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    After the ease of the lockdown, Padalkar, recently went to the GRP office where he was given part of the money that was in the wallet.

    “My wallet at that time contained Rs 900, including a Rs 500 note which was later demonetised (in 2016). The Vashi GRP returned Rs 300 to me. They deducted Rs 100 for stamp paperwork and said the remaining Rs 500 would be returned after exchanging the scrapped currency note with a new one,” Padalkar was quoted as saying.

    According to local media reports, a GRP official said those who stole Padalkar’s wallet were arrested sometime back.

    “We recovered Padalkar’s wallet containing Rs 900 from the accused. We handed over Rs 300 to Padalkar and the remaining Rs 500 would be returned to him after the currency note is exchanged with a new one,” he added.

  • ‘She is an actress and she has to keep fit’: Agha Ali responds to backlash on ‘fat-shaming’ comments

    ‘She is an actress and she has to keep fit’: Agha Ali responds to backlash on ‘fat-shaming’ comments

    Agha Ali has responded to the backlash he received after a video clip of him and his wife Hina Altaf went viral on social media. In the clip, Hina and Agha shared that at the time of their marriage, the only promise that Agha took from Hina was that she will never get fat or gain weight.

    The couple received immense criticism on social media and people called them out for promoting fatphobia.

    In a story posted to his Instagram, Agha clarified his statement and said that he asked his wife not to gain unnecessary weight because she is an actress and needs to look fit.

    “No producer or director or writer would like to have an overweight heroine,” said Agha.

    He added: “She was chubby before and has worked really hard to keep fit. I myself have had a weight loss journey.”

    The actor also expressed his anger over the matter and said that has is not a fat-shamer and has never made fun of or ridiculed overweight people. He also said that he will host a live session to discuss the matter.

  • Pakistan Railways removes first woman station manager within hours of appointment

    Pakistan Railways removes first woman station manager within hours of appointment

    Syeda Marzia Al-Zahra, who was appointed as Pakistan’s first-ever woman station manager in Lahore was removed from her position by Pakistan Railways a few hours after her appointment.

    As per reports, a union of station masters allegedly severely opposed her appointment and threatened to protest against the admin if the notification was not cancelled.

    Speaking to Independent Urdu, Union Central Chairman Muhammad Irfan said it was against the law and the civil rights of station masters.

    However, Zahra said that she would continue supervising the office of station manager being ATO-1 of the PR’s Lahore division under the law.

    “Though I cannot look after the post now under the new notification, I being an ATO-1, can exercise my authority to supervise this post. And I will do this. Office of Lahore Cantt station master also comes under my supervision,” she explained.

  • PUBG to add Chitral National Park, Badshahi Mosque, Noor Mahal, Clock Tower in maps

    PUBG to add Chitral National Park, Badshahi Mosque, Noor Mahal, Clock Tower in maps

    PUBG is hosting an exclusive Independence Day event for Pakistani players as a token of appreciation for all the love and support shown by the local players.

    To compete in the event, players will have to complete two matches in classic mode or kill 5 enemies in the arena.

    As they score, they will be rewarded points and will go along a map lined up with several tourist spots in Pakistan such as Chitral National Park, Badshahi Mosque, Noor Mahal, Clock Tower, and many more.

    There are special rewards for the exclusive event as well. There will be new royal passcards to collect exclusive outfits, parachutes, bag skins, and much more.

    The exclusive Pakistani event is to celebrate the 74th Independence Day. The game was unbanned in the country recently.

    PUBG got banned last month due to controversy regarding its addictive behaviour. When it was banned, Prime Minister Imran Khan started receiving endless tweets speaking against the ban. Soon after, the Islamabad High Court gave orders to unban the video game.

  • Fahad Mustafa, Iqrar ul Hassan extend support to Saba, Bilal after music video backlash

    Fahad Mustafa, Iqrar ul Hassan extend support to Saba, Bilal after music video backlash

    Fahad Mustafa, Yasir Hussain and Iqrar ul Hassan Syed have extended their support to Saba Qamar and Bilal Saeed after they received backlash for shooting part of their upcoming music video at Lahore’s historical Wazir Khan Mosque.

    Iqrar ul Hassan requested all his followers to accept Saba and Bilal’s apologies and said that Bilal’s respect in his eyes has increased after his apology message. Fahad later retweeted Iqrar’s tweet and urged everyone to forgive and move on.

    Yasir Hussain also extended his support to his Lahore Se Aagay co-star and called out trolls spreading hate.

    Shafaat Ali also voiced his support, though he did not explicitly name anyone.

    Last weekend, Saba and Bilal found themselves in hot water after they released the teaser of their upcoming music video Qubool Hai. Part of the music video, which has been directed by Saba herself, has been shot inside Wazir Khan Mosque upsetting the public, who demanded strict action be taken against those who allowed the video to be shot inside the mosque.

    Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar also took notice of the incident following which the Punjab Auqaf department suspended the manager of Masjid on Sunday. According to reports, the CM sought a report from the minister concerned and the department’s secretary on the matter.

    “The mosque is the holiest place and no one can be allowed to trample upon its sanctity. Whosoever is found responsible will not be spared,” an official handout quoted the chief minister as saying.

    After severe criticism and backlash, Bilal, in a video message apologised for hurting the public’s sentiments and clarified that they did not dance or record any music in the mosque.

    “We realise what has happened over the past few days has hurt your sentiments deeply,” says Bilal in the video. “We as Muslims, as decent human beings and as artists will never, ever trivialize or condone disrespect to Islam or any other religion, race, caste, colour or creed. If we have unknowingly hurt anyone’s sentiments we apologise to you all with all our heart.”

    He continued: “Alhamdulilah I am a Muslim and I was raised in a Muslim household. I cannot even think about doing something that would disrespect my religion. I solemnly affirm in the name of Allah that neither did we play any music in the mosque and nor did we dance and the witness to that is the management of the mosque.”

    Referring to the clip in which he is twirling Saba, Saeed said: “There was a move that we did for the sake of the photoshoot. We were not following any dance sequence and neither was there any music playing in the background. We understand that we have unintentionally made a mistake and we are acknowledging our mistake.”

    “Saba Qamar and I, are just humans like the rest of us and to err is human,” he further said. “As a Muslim, if I was in your place, maybe I would also think the same. So we also apologise to you, and hope that you can let this go. As a realisation on our part, I am also removing the entire sequence from the video, and assure you that we won’t make such mistakes in the near future.”

    “I had never imagined my name would be associated with something like this. As a Muslim, I am extremely regretful of this and apologise on behalf of all of us, including Saba and our entire team,” he concluded.

    https://www.instagram.com/tv/CDrKp4KJf1o/?utm_source=ig_embed

    Earlier, Saba had also clarified that “this is also the only sequence that was shot at the historical Wazir Khan Mosque” and is a prologue to the music video.

    “The BTS video that’s making rounds on social media was just a circular movement to click stills for the poster of ‘Qubool’ depicting a happily married couple right after their Nikah. Hurting or offending anyone or being disrespectful to a holy place is as unimaginable and unacceptable for me as for any decent human being,” she had said.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CDoMcOtB6ch/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_video_watch_again

  • After 35 years, Toshiba officially closes laptop business

    The Japanese giant Toshiba has sold its final shares of the company, which means that the firm is no longer connected with making PCs or laptops.

    Sharp corporation bought 80% of Toshiba’s personal computing shares in 2018 for $36 million and has now bought the remaining shares, Toshiba said in a statement.

    Toshiba made its first laptop, the T1100, which was launched in 1985. It weighed 4kg (8.8 lbs) and worked with 3.5 inches (8.8cm) floppy disks.

    The laptop was launched only in Europe at first with an annual sales target of 10,000 units.

    In 2011, Toshiba sold more than 17 million PCs but by 2017 this had fallen to 1.9m.

    In 2016, it had ceased making consumer laptops for the European market and focused only on hardware production for businesses.

    Recent years have been difficult for the company. In 2015, the firm posted a full-year loss of $318 million.

    That same year its president and vice-president resigned after an independent panel found the company had overstated its profits for the previous six years.

    In 2019, it wound up its nuclear business NuGen in the UK after failing to find a buyer for it.

    During the 1990s and early 2000s, Toshiba was among the top PC manufacturers, but as more players crowded into the market and with fewer unique features to offer, Toshiba’s laptops faded in popularity.

    By the time it sold its stake to Sharp, Toshiba’s share of the PC market had decreased from its 2011 peak of 17.7 million PCs sold to about 1.4 million in 2017, according to Reuters.

  • Lockdown order withdrawn; Punjab returns to ‘pre-coronavirus’ routine with a few exceptions

    The Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department has allowed resumption of “pre-COVID-19 practices subject to the adoption of social distancing guidelines” as it withdrew the government’s lockdown order.

    According to the notification dated August 9, all sectors barring marriage halls and marquees and educational institutions have been allowed to resume operations from Monday (August 10), with timings and weekly holidays “reverted to pre-COVID-19 practice”.

    According to Dawn, religious congregations will only be held after approval from the administration and will be bound to follow the standard operating procedures laid out by the government. Operators of public transport — that has been allowed to resume function — will also have to ensure that preventive measures are being observed by passengers.

    The notification was issued three days after the federal government announced it was lifting restrictions on the tourism sector, restaurants and public transport, after months of suspension.

    The decisions were made in a meeting of the National Coordination Committee, which was presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan and attended by representatives of all the provinces. The meeting participants also decided to lift restrictions on railways, airlines and metro buses.

    While the restrictions are being eased as government boasts of having successfully tackled the pandemic, it is worth mentioning that a sudden spike has been recorded in coronavirus infections over the past week. The number of per day fatalities, however, on Sunday dropped to single digits for the first time in over 110 days.

  • KYA BOLA? (Aug 10): ‘Sir, NAB k khilaaf nahi bolna’ to Bilawal getting a Peshawar BRT card

    KYA BOLA? (Aug 10): ‘Sir, NAB k khilaaf nahi bolna’ to Bilawal getting a Peshawar BRT card

    Following are some snippets that stood out from Urdu newspapers on August 10, 2020, which The Current takes no responsibility for.

    ‘Sir, NAB K Khilaaf Nahi Bolna’
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_FSz7_9I4o

    It has been reported by Daily Jang that Punjab Information Minister Fayazul Hasan Chohan was spotted telling his boss, Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar, to not speak against the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in response to a journalist’s question during a press conference.

    “NAB k khilaaf nahi bolna,” he was quoted as saying.

    ‘Pakistan Ki Shanaakht Tabah Ho Rahi Hai’

    Daily Jang has quoted Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman as saying that the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is ruining Pakistan’s image. “Hukmaraan Pakistan ki shandar shanaakht tabah kr rahay hain,” he reportedly said.

    Bilawal Gets Peshawar BRT Card

    It has been reported by Daily Dunya that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Transport Minister Shah Muhammad Wazir has sent a travel card for Peshawar metro to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari over his criticism against the delays that the project faced amid rising costs. “Umeed hai Sindh hakoomat bhi Green Bus ka aik card mujhe bheje gi,” the minister said further.

  • FAW to launch affordable high-tech SUV cars for Pakistan

    FAW to launch affordable high-tech SUV cars for Pakistan

    FAW Motors has just announced that they will introduce Bestune cars for the mid-tier socio-economic segment of Pakistan. 

    Bestune, as of right now, has 8 vehicles in its product lineup, 4 of which are sedans, and the remaining 4, are Crossover Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs).

    Various reports suggest that Bestune shall be making an entrance by introducing the T77 Crossover SUV in the Pakistani Market.

    The T77 is a compact crossover SUV that was launched in November of 2018 at the Guangzhou Auto Show. Since its launch, the car has only been sold in the Chinese market.

    In terms of engine, the car is equipped with 1.2 litres turbocharged inline 4-cylinder petrol engine that makes 141 horsepower, 204-newton/meters of torque, with a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed automatic gearbox transmission. 

    In the latest version, the buyers can opt for a 1.5-litre Turbocharged-Gasoline Direct Injection (T-GDI) inline 4-cylinder petrol engine, that makes 166 horsepower and 258-newton meters of torque, with a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed automatic gearbox transmission. 

    On the inside you are greeted with a high-end interior, a modern Mercedes Benz like single-screen infotainment system and instrument cluster, intelligent connectivity technologies such as Bestune radio, AI music, smart entertainment, as well as intelligent control function.

    Other Features

    Among other features, the SUV comes with:

    • Autonomous parking
    • Driver and passenger seat airbags
    • Parking sensors
    • Lane departure warning
    • Lane keep assist
    • Collision warning
    • Blind-spot monitoring
    • Adaptive cruise control
    • Hill-start assist and descent control,
    • Traction control
    • ABS brakes with Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) and Brake-Assist (BA) Technology

    Reports of a much bigger and better T99 SUV to be launched in Pakistan are also floating but nothing has been confirmed yet.

    The company is making cars that are affordable yet modern, comfortable, and reliable. Since then, the company has mainly been operating in the Chinese and Russian Markets, where they have earned a decent amount of popularity.