Author: newsdesk

  • ‘Murree Brewery is a juice brand’: BOL clarifies how beverages manufacturer sponsored its Iftar

    ‘Murree Brewery is a juice brand’: BOL clarifies how beverages manufacturer sponsored its Iftar

    BOL Network, which many deem as one of the country’s most controversial media outlets, has clarified its position after a viral screen grab from its Iftar transmission, showing Pakistan’s popular alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages manufacturer Murree Brewery as a sponsor, caused outrage over the internet.

    “Iftar sponsored by: Murree Brewery” could be seen popping up on television screens during BOL’s transmission in Ramzan as the channel hosted religious scholars, clerics and celebrities for Iftar every day.

    Here’s what Twitterati had to say about it:

    https://twitter.com/salarzai_/status/1262483061108871173

    https://twitter.com/FarazYasin97/status/1264691048699305989

    “Murree Brewery is a juice manufacturer,” actor Danish Taimoor clarified as he hosted his game show on BOL with host of the Iftar transmission in the hotseat.

    While it was also pointed out by several Twitterati that Murree Brewery also manufactured non-alcoholic beverages, Taimoor went on to name some of the juices and other non-alcoholic drinks by the beverages manufacturer.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “People are assuming its just alcohol. But as Muslims, we cannot even think of doing it,” he said as the host of the Ramzan transmission also clarified and said he had also apologised during his own show and the logo had been removed.

    “It was a misunderstanding and we cannot even think of doing something of the sort,” the two reiterated.

  • Twitter labels Trump’s tweets as ‘potentially misleading’ for the first time

    Twitter labels Trump’s tweets as ‘potentially misleading’ for the first time

    In a first, Twitter has labelled two tweets by United States (US) President Donald Trump making false statements about mail-in voting as “potentially misleading“.

    The two tweets, which were labelled as misleading after Twitter fact-checked Trump’s claims for the first time, had claimed that “mail-in ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent” and would result in “a rigged election”.

    The tweets were primarily about California’s effort to expand mail-in voting due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. On Sunday, the Republican National Committee sued California Governor Gavin Newsom over the state’s moves to expand mail-in voting.

    Twitter’s spokesperson said that the tweets “contain potentially misleading information about voting processes and have been labelled to provide additional context around mail-in ballots”.

    The label attached to tweets of President Trump says “get the facts about mail-in ballots,” that link leads to a collection of tweets and news articles debunking the president’s statement.

    On the fact check page, Twitter writes “Trump falsely claimed that mail-in ballots would lead to a rigged election”. On the contrary, fact-checkers say there is no evidence that mail-in ballots are linked to voter fraud”.

    The move by Twitter comes in line with the new policy introduced earlier this month to curb the spread of “misleading content related to the pandemic”, said a Twitter spokesperson.

    Brad Parscale, Trump campaign manager, responded to Twitter’s decision in a statement. “Partnering with biased fake news media ‘fact-checkers’ is only a smokescreen Twitter is using to try to lend their obvious political tactics some false credibility.”

    Trump responded on Twitter, saying the company is “now interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election” and that the company is “completely stifling free speech”.

    Have something to add to the story? Let The Current know in the comments below.

  • ‘Searching for mother’s body a nightmare’: Desperate pleas for help after losing family in PIA crash

    ‘Searching for mother’s body a nightmare’: Desperate pleas for help after losing family in PIA crash

    As Fazal Rahman, 80, and his wife, Wahida Rahman, 74, boarded a plane in on Friday, their family’s biggest fear was that they might get catch the coronavirus on their way to spend the holiday in Karachi.

    Instead the couple, who had been married for 54 years, were among the 97 people killed when an Airbus A-320, operated by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), crashed into a Karachi neighbourhood — country’s worst air disaster since 2012.

    READ: PK8303 — not the first: Timeline of major Pakistani air crashes

    “We held many calls deliberating with doctors and family […] Our biggest concern was that they made the trip safely,” said their son, Inamur Rahman, who instead of welcoming his parents for the Eidul Fitr holidays found himself picking through the wreckage of flight PK-8303 praying for a miracle.

    https://twitter.com/SiddiquiNaveid/status/1265341000987394050

    “I got in my car and followed the smoke and the ambulances,” said Rahman. “When I saw the area, I realised that it would be a miracle if they had made it,” he added.

    “I lost both my parents in this tragic & horrific crash. I submit to Allah’s will. However the ordeal we are suffering at the hands of #PIA is inexcusable. Callous, Insensitive, incompetent…. #PIAPlaneCrash [sic],” tweeted his brother, Adil Rahman.

    There were two survivors from onboard the aircraft, while no fatalities were reported on the ground in the densely packed neighborhood of multi-story homes abutting the eastern edge of Jinnah International Airport where the plane came down.

    More than two dozen homes were damaged as the airliner roared in, leaving a tangle of severed electric cables and exposed rebar — a broken wing rested against the side of a home, an engine on the ground nearby.

    The jet fuel set the wreckage ablaze, along with homes and vehicles, sending black smoke into the sky, a Reuters witness said.

    Crowds rushed to the site, relatives searching for loved ones, rescue workers and the curious. Scores of ambulances and fire-engines jammed the narrow, debris-cluttered streets.

    One rescue worker told Reuters two bodies were found with oxygen masks on. Many bodies pulled from the wreckage were charred beyond recognition.

    Airline’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Air Marshal Arshad Malik said on Friday the last message from the pilot indicated a technical problem. A team from Airbus is due to arrive to investigate, a PIA spokesperson said.

    SCREAMS AND FIRE:

    Shahid Ahmed, 45, was at the airport waiting for his mother to arrive. When he reached the crash site he saw rescuers retrieving bodies and people taking selfies.

    “There was no one responsible at the site, people were busy posing for pictures,” said a distraught Ahmed, who lost his mother, Dilshad Begum, 75, who was also flying to Karachi for Eid.

    After scouring the site and failing to find his mother, Ahmed went to look for her in hospitals.

    There was no list of the dead or injured at any of the hospitals, it was all chaos and mismanagement,” said Ahmed, who sobbed as he recounted the ordeal.

    “Searching for our mother’s body was a nightmare.”

    READ: ‘Ertuğrul’, Bollywood stars react to PIA crash

    One of the survivors, engineer Muhammad Zubair, told a local media outlet the pilot came down to land, briefly touched down, then pulled up again.

    He announced he was going to make a second try shortly before the plane crashed, Zubair said from the hospital.

    “I could hear screams from all directions. Kids and adults. All I could see was a fire. I couldn’t see any people – just hear their screams,” he said.

    PLEA FOR HELP:

    Meanwhile, Arif Ali Faruqui says his entire world came crashing down just two days before Eid as his wife and three children were also onboard the ill-fated plane.

    In a video message, Faruqui of Lahore asked Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan to help him in identifying the remains of his family while casting doubt over the handling of the DNA sampling by authorities.

    “If I hadn’t identified my wife or daughter’s bodies, the authorities could have handed over the remains of the wrong people,” says Faruqui in a video message that, according to The Express Tribune, has gone viral.

    He urged PM Imran to take action against the “red tape and bureaucracy” faced by people who lost loved ones in the crash.

    Faruqui says his wife wanted to spend Eid in Karachi with her mother, who has terminal cancer.

    “The decision to send the kids was taken very late as they wanted to see their grandmother,” he told.

    READ: PIA crash survivor recalls what happened

    Sitting outside the emergency ward of Karachi’s Jinnah Hospital in, he broke down while narrating his ordeal.

    “The process for getting death certificates and collecting remains is extremely insensitive and inept,” said Faruqui, who had to identify the charred remains of his family.

    After facing delays in the handing over of remains of identified family members, Faruqui says he is being harassed by police as the burial took place without issuance of death certificate.

    “I was questioned for 90 minutes and the document is still not issued,” he told

    There is also a trust deficit between authorities, he added. “Two separate teams of Sindh and Punjab are conducting DNA tests.” He added that some people had even taking remains from the morgue without confirmation of identity.

  • Anoushey Ashraf misses a call from Engin Altan

    Anoushey Ashraf misses a call from Engin Altan

    Imagine missing a call from Ertuğrul himself because your phone was on silent. You’d be absolutely gutted, right? But that is exactly what happened with actor-VJ Anoushey Ashraf, who shared the incident on social media.

    Read more – Mehwish Hayat’s crush has been updated after watching ‘Diriliş: Ertuğrul’

    Anoushey, who is a big fan of the series, shared that her friend Murat Tarman, called her on Facetime while he was hanging out with Engin Altan Düzyatan, the guy who plays Ertuğrul in the hit drama series Diriliş: Ertuğrul. But because her phone was on silent and she was meditating, she missed the call! Tarman and Altan then sent her a video wishing her and all Pakistanis Eid Mubarak.

    Tarman is the Honorary Consul General Of Pakistan in Turkey.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CAnve4ZjbVW/

    Set in 13th century Anatolia and based on the struggle of Ertuğrul Gazi, father of Osman I – the founder of the Ottoman dynasty, Diriliş: Ertuğrul has been trending in the country ever since its first episode aired on PTV Home. Pakistanis are loving the drama series and it has become a sensation in the country. According to PTV, 133.38 million people have watched the drama series from April 25- May 14. PTV’s YouTube channel has also registered an exponential rise in its viewership with 3.5 million subscribers and episodes trending every day on the social media platform.

    In an exclusive interview with The Current, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Javed Khan revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had gifted the drama series to Pakistan as a goodwill gesture.

    Meanwhile, the creator of the show Mehmet Bozdag said that he hopes that Pakistan and Turkey can collaborate in the fields of art and cinema in the future.

    “I am surprised that we did not make any collaborations till this day because we call each other brother countries,” said Bozdag in a recent interview.

    “When one of us is in trouble, both countries are mobilized. But we should also do this act on better days and organise days of culture not only in the cinema but also in the field of cuisine, museums and history.”

    He continued, “We shall share our experiences with Pakistan and they should share theirs with us, and together we will sign world-shaking deals.”

    “Even if Turkey and Pakistan have separate borders, the souls are of one nation.”

  • Significant drop in freelance work amid COVID-19, but rates remain stable

    Significant drop in freelance work amid COVID-19, but rates remain stable

    The global coronavirus pandemic has not only affected regular jobs but changed the landscape of freelance work as most Pakistani freelancers observe a decrease in demand amid COVID-19.

    Freelancers form more than 100 countries, including Pakistan, have shared insights with a digital payment platform called Payoneer, saying that freelance work has dropped drastically.

    The results of the survey show that businesses and companies have cut freelancing costs and halted new projects and contracts.

    Payoneer’s report titled ‘Freelancing during COVID-19’, showed 64 per cent of Pakistani freelancers, 33 per cent of whom are graphic designers, said that the demand for work had dropped significantly.

    15 per cent of freelancers said that the demand remained usual, while 18 per cent reported that demand for their services had increased.

    Regarding the strength of team , 24 per cent Pakistani freelancers said they would maintain the same team or grow it while 9 per cent said they would cut down on team members.

    In Pakistan, 82 per cent of freelancers said the demand will increase after COVID-19. However, they predict a more competitive landscape.

    According to the survey, freelancers who work with international clients based in North America and Europe saw the highest slowdown in demand. Those with clients in Asia and Australia, saw less of a decrease in demand for freelance projects.

    Globally, the report pointed out, freelancing rates, however, remained stable despite the slowdown.

  • VIDEO: Hassan Ali, wife turn filmy on TikTok

    VIDEO: Hassan Ali, wife turn filmy on TikTok

    While many of us have turned to cooking, baking and organising our homes, amid the lockdown, Hassan Ali used this time to make Tiktok videos with his wife.

    The cricketer has gathered almost 321.9k followers on TikTok. TikTok is a Chinese video-sharing social networking service used to make short dance, lip-sync, comedy and talent videos.

    Pakistani cricketer Hassan Ali tied the knot with Indian aeronautical engineer Samiya Khan in 2019 in a private wedding ceremony in Dubai.

    The cricketer is suffering from multiple injuries because of which he is unable to perform on the field. He is reportedly scheduled to undergo a surgery.

  • ‘You have crossed the border, please go back,’ Indian army to Chinese soldiers

    ‘You have crossed the border, please go back,’ Indian army to Chinese soldiers

    A Himalayan border standoff between old foes India and China was triggered by India’s construction of roads and airstrips in the region as it competes with China’s spreading Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Indian observers said on Tuesday.

    Soldiers from both sides have been camped out in the Galwan Valley in the high-altitude Ladakh region, accusing each other of trespassing over the disputed border, the trigger of a brief but bloody war in 1962.

    About 80 to 100 tents have sprung up on the Chinese side and about 60 on the Indian side where soldiers are billeted, Indian officials briefed on the matter in New Delhi and in Ladakh’s capital, Leh, said.

    Both were digging defences and Chinese trucks have been moving equipment into the area, the officials said, raising concerns of a long faceoff.

    “China is committed to safeguarding the security of its national territorial sovereignty, as well as safeguarding peace and stability in the China-India border areas,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson’s office said in a statement.

    “At present, the overall situation in the border areas is stable and controllable. There are sound mechanisms and channels of communication for border-related affairs, and the two sides are capable of properly resolving relevant issues through dialogue and consultation.”

    There was no immediate Indian foreign ministry comment. It said last week Chinese troops had hindered regular Indian patrols along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

    But interviews with former Indian military officials and diplomats suggest the trigger for the flare-up is India’s construction of roads and airstrips.

    “Today, with our infrastructure reach slowly extending into areas along the LAC, the Chinese threat perception is raised,” said former Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao.

    “Xi Jinping’s China is the proponent of a hard line on all matters of territory, sovereignty. India is no less when it comes to these matters either,” she said.

    After years of neglect Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has pushed for improving connectivity and by 2022, 66 key roads along the Chinese border will have been built.

    One of these roads is near the Galwan valley that connects to Daulat Beg Oldi airbase, which was inaugurated last October.

    “The road is very important because it runs parallel to the LAC and is linked at various points with the major supply bases inland,” said Shyam Saran, another former Indian foreign secretary.

    “It remains within our side of the LAC. It is construction along this new alignment which appears to have been challenged by the Chinese.”

    China’s BRI is a string of ports, railways, roads and bridges connecting China to Europe via central and southern Asia and involving Pakistan, China’s close ally and India’s long-time foe.

  • Humaima Malick says ‘Ertuğrul’ is totally worth her 100 rupees

    Humaima Malick says ‘Ertuğrul’ is totally worth her 100 rupees

    Of the stars who are happy with the airing of Diriliş: Ertuğrul on PTV, is Humaima Malick, who took to social media to say that the Turkish drama series is totally worth her 35 rupees.

    Read more – Yasir Hussain vs Turkish dramas: the debate heats up

    Later when a journalist corrected her and said that PTV’s prices have increased to Rs 100, Humaima said that even that is “totally worth it for such quality content”.

    “We need to support our national television to revive its brand,” wrote the actor.

    Meanwhile, Vasay Chaudhry was of the opinion that PTV should stop charging “those 35 rupees from every Pakistani’s electricity bill”.

    Read more – This is not the first time ‘Diriliş: Ertuğrul’ is being aired in Pakistan

    Set in 13th century Anatolia and based on the struggle of Ertuğrul Gazi, father of Osman I – the founder of the Ottoman dynasty, Diriliş: Ertuğrul has been trending in the country ever since its first episode aired on PTV Home. Pakistanis are loving the drama series and it has become a sensation in the country. According to PTV, 133.38 million people have watched the drama series from April 25- May 14. PTV’s YouTube channel has also registered an exponential rise in its viewership with 3.67 million subscribers and episodes trending every day on the social media platform.

    In an exclusive interview with The Current, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Javed Khan revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had gifted the drama series to Pakistan as a goodwill gesture.

  • Taliban deny plan to target Delhi, say ‘Kashmir is India’s internal matter’

    Taliban deny plan to target Delhi, say ‘Kashmir is India’s internal matter’

    Taliban have denied claims of joining Kashmiris’ freedom movement and attack New Delhi in retaliation against Indian atrocities under Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s regime that Pakistan and the international community fear is leading to the ethnic cleansing of the troubled valley’s majority Muslim community.

    According to Hindustan Times, the militant group has underlined that the Taliban “do not interfere in internal affairs of other countries”, saying the statement published in the media about the group joining Jihad in Kashmir was wrong.

    “The policy of the Islamic Emirate is clear that it does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.” Suhail Shaheen, the spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as the political wing of Taliban calls itself, tweeted in Arabic.

    The clarification came after officials monitoring social media noted a spike in posts around claims that Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid had said it was impossible to be friends with India unless the Kashmir dispute was resolved. The spokesperson was also claimed to have said that the Taliban, after capturing power in Kabul, would also “capture Kashmir from infidels”.

    Diplomats based in Kabul and Delhi said that the Taliban spokesperson’s clarification came after India worked the backchannels to confirm reports about the group’s approach to India, and on Jammu and Kashmir.

    New Delhi was told that the social media posts were fake and did not reflect Taliban’s position.

    But analysts have also underlined that Taliban comprises people holding different beliefs. For example, while the group has alleged deep linkages with the deep state of some countries, there are also some who favour an independent line.

  • VIDEO: Ertuğrul wishes his Pakistani fans Eid Mubarak

    VIDEO: Ertuğrul wishes his Pakistani fans Eid Mubarak

    Turkish actor Engin Altan Düzyatan, who plays the role of Ertuğrul in the hit Turkish series Diriliş: Ertuğrul, has sent his Eid greetings in a special message to his Pakistani fans on Eid-ul-Fitr.

    Read more – ‘Ertuğrul’, Bollywood stars react to PIA crash

    In a video message, shared on PTV’s official Twitter handle, Engin thanks his Pakistani fans for all the love they have sent his way and for appreciating the show.

    “I cannot thank you enough for the unimaginable love and incredible response you are giving to Ertuğrul Ghazi Urdu,” said Düzyatan. “I also would like to thank PTV for bringing Ertuğrul Ghazi to your home.”

    He added: “Aap sab ko meri taraf se Eid Mubarak.”

    Watch video:

    Set in 13th century Anatolia and based on the struggle of Ertuğrul Gazi, father of Osman I – the founder of the Ottoman dynasty, Diriliş: Ertuğrul has been trending ever since its first episode aired on PTV Home. Pakistanis are loving the drama series and it has become a sensation in the country. According to the latest figures by PTV, 133.38 million people have watched the drama series from April 25- May 14. PTV’s YouTube channel has also registered an exponential rise in its viewership with 4 million subscribers and episodes trending every day on the social media platform.

    In an exclusive interview with The Current, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Javed Khan revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had gifted the drama series to Pakistan as a goodwill gesture.