Author: newsdesk

  • Artists accuse ‘Gul Ahmed’ for stealing their designs

    Activist Shehzil Malik whose designs support and promote women empowerment recently called out retail brand Gul Ahmed for stealing her designs.

    Soon after the allegations surfaced, the fashion outlet apologised to Shehzil and also posted a public apology.

    While the fire from this backlash was still burning, another artist came forward with a similar case. Gul Khan Truck Art’s owner artist Ali Gul took to social media to highlight the issue and seek help and support from his followers. Gul Khan Truck Art represents cultural artwork from Pakistan and makes beautiful home decor products among other things.

    Though Gul Ahmed has publicly apologised to the artists, the public is demanding answers. Artists and supporters alike are raising the issue and demanding proper action by the Gul Ahmed team.

  • Is Karachi cop’s novel coming to Netflix?

    Is Karachi cop’s novel coming to Netflix?

    Omar Shahid Hamid’s best-selling debut novel The Prisoner is coming to Netflix, though it’s unclear whether as a movie or a series.

    In an exclusive interview with The Current, when asked when his novel is being made into a movie, the officer responded, “Its production is underway and it is hoped that a deal will soon be made with Netflix or some streaming service.”

    “And most likely, we’ll start shooting it in summers. So…fingers crossed,” he added.

    Inspired by his experiences in the police service, Omar penned the novel, while on a sabbatical. The book is centred around an American journalist who is kidnapped.

    A brief synopsis of the novel reads: “On an unusually cold December evening in Karachi, American journalist Jon Friedland is kidnapped from one of the city’s poshest neighbourhoods. His captors plan to post a video of his execution on Christmas Day. The kidnapping has come at a bad time, embarrassing the Pakistani government in front of their US allies. The clock is ticking. Will the police and Intelligence Agencies recover Friedman alive?”

    “The story careens through the streets of Karachi, taking the reader into an all too real world of jihadis, corrupt police officers, and bloodthirsty political henchmen – all placed together in a city where no one is quite what they seem.”

    Hamid is also the author of The Spinner’s Tale (2015), The Party Worker (2017), and The Fix (2019).

    Watch the full interview here:

  • PAF releases new song on anniversary of Indian jet downing

    PAF releases new song on anniversary of Indian jet downing

    The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) released a new song to mark the first anniversary of the downing of Indian jets. Shuja Haider sang the song ‘Allah o Akbar’.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J21KZleUuCs

    Last year, Pakistan also put on display a statue of an Indian pilot whose plane was shot down on February 27, 2019.

    The life-sized statue of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman complete with his signature mustache had been installed in an exhibit at a museum in Karachi run by PAF.

    Indian plane was shot down over Azad Jammu Kashmir in February 2019 when an Indian plane entered the Pakistani airspace.

    After his capture, the Pakistani military released a video showing him sipping a cup of tea and politely refusing to answer questions. His comment on the tea “the tea is fantastic”

    made him a viral sensation on social media.

    He was released several days later in a peace gesture from Pakistan intended at defusing tensions.

  • Khalil ur Rehman did not offer Sonya Hussyn ‘Meray Paas Tum Ho’

    Khalil ur Rehman did not offer Sonya Hussyn ‘Meray Paas Tum Ho’

    Waseem Badami’s talk show, Har Lamha Purjosh seems to be a birthplace for controversies. Recently, writer Khalil ur Rehman Qamar appeared in the show and denied the Sonya Hussain’s claim that she rejected the role of Mehwish in the blockbuster drama serial Meray Pass Tum Ho.

    Speaking on the show, Qamar said, “Even if she had accepted the role, the final ball would have been in my court because no director or producer can finalise the cast on my script without me having the final say. Sonya was never in my books for that role.”

    Khalil ur Rehman also said that Hussyn had not reached the “calibre” to do justice to his script.

    He further said, “When Sonya met me in Lahore, I asked her whether she had refused my script and for what. Sonya had stated that when the role was offered to her, Humayun Saeed hadn’t been cast as the male lead. So I do not know what is the truth.”

    While responding to one of the questions of the host, he also said that the narrative of Rehmat Ajmal being not happy with her role was only because she wanted to develop a repute.”

    Read more – Rehmat Ajmal says she is not proud to be acting in ‘Meray Paas Tum Ho’

    Watch the full interview here:

    Earlier, Sonya Hussain said in an interview that I refused to play Mehwish in the drama because should could not see a woman as a negative character.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0mY7RM6C40
  • Hrithik Roshan extends support to Pakistani student mocked for stuttering

    Hrithik Roshan extends support to Pakistani student mocked for stuttering

    Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan, who has often spoken up about living with a speech impediment, won Twitter after he offered words of support and encouragement to a Pakistani student humiliated for stuttering.

    Twitter user Marium Zulfiqar, penned a long note on how a professor at a university in Islamabad had mocked and humiliated her cousin for stuttering during a class presentation. She added that her cousin has been traumatised by the incident and has not been able to come out of his room since then.

    Marium’s tweet was widely circulated on social media and caught the attention of the Bollywood superstar who tweeted his support for the student and offered him words of encouragement.

    According to Marium, the professor in question is the head of the Bachelor of Business Administration department in National University Of Modern Languages, Pakistan.

    Following Roshan’s tweet, Marium has put her Twitter account on private though it’s not sure why she did that.

  • PTI govt moves FIA against Khalid Butt for mocking Imran Khan

    PTI govt moves FIA against Khalid Butt for mocking Imran Khan

    According to journalist Anas Mallick, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is moving FIA against Khalid Butt, Faysal Chaudary and Mustafa Chaudhry for their political satire mocking Prime Minister Imran Khan.

    Mallick claims that the PTI government is seeking to register an FIR against the satire team.

    Khalid Butt and his team host a satirical show on Neo News. In January, they poked fun at PM Khan’s statement that nurses at Shaukat Khanum Hospital, who looked after him after he fell from the stage back in 2013, looked like hoors (companions from paradise) following painkillers.

    PM Khan is not the only one Khalid Butt and his team have mocked. They made fun of Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif after the PML-N voted in favour of the extension of the army chief. Meray Paas Tum Ho fame Danish and his subsequent death in the finale was also recreated by them.

    After Anas Mallick’s tweet, Khalid Butt tweeted: ‘Bring it on’ while journalist Kamran Yousaf sarcastically said that yes Khalid Butt & co should “immediately be arrested” since they are responsible for all the problems and all the U-turns taken by Prime Minister Imran Khan. “They must be booked under Article 6.”

  • Land in Saudi, get a visa on arrival

    Land in Saudi, get a visa on arrival

    Saudi Arabia is introducing a one-year multiple-entry visit visa for Pakistanis who have a valid UK, US or Schengen visa on their passports, reports The News. The visa will also be applicable for Umra but not for Hajj. There’s a catch though. The visa can only be issued to a credit card holder. When you land at any international airport in Saudi, a visa charge of Rs.18,000 will be charged to your card: cash is not accepted.

    People waiting at immigation. Photo credit: Marhaba Saudi

    You can stay in the country for 90 days and enter multiple times until the visa expires.

    There is another catch. You cannot enter the country if you have a valid UK, US, Schengen visa but have never used it Catch number three is that the first time to fly to Saudi to get an on arrival visa, you have to travel via Saudi Arlines, Flynas or Flydeal. The second time you visit, you can use any airline.

    The Kingdom Tower in Jeddah

    You can also apply for a tourist visa online. Once you submit it and it’s accepted, you will receive an electronic visa that you can show at immigration.

  • Lahore Qalandars, Quetta Gladiators, Karachi Kings fined for slow over-rate

    Following their loss from Islamabad United in a thrilling match at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore, Lahore Qalandars have been slapped with a fine for maintaining a slow over-rate during their one-wicket loss.

    According to a press release by the Pakistan Super League, all 11 playing members have been fined 10 percent each of their match fees as per Article 2.22 of the HBL PSL Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which deals with minimum over-rate offences.

    In the stipulated time, Qalandars were two overs short of their target after taking into account time allowances.

    As this was their first offence, they were only fined ten percent. If the team is found guilty of another slow over-rate during the tournament, then it will be deemed as their second offence and each member of their playing squad will be fined 20 percent each of their match fees.

    The charges against the team were brought forward by Ranmore Martinesz and Rashid Riaz (both on-field umpires), Shozab Raza (third umpire), Nasir Hussain (fourth umpire), while match referee Mohammad Anees imposed the fines, based on the applicable sanctions for Minimum Over Rate offences.

    Meanwhile, defending champions Quetta Gladiators and Karachi Kings have also been fined for maintaining slow over-rates during their match at the National Stadium on Sunday.

    Players from both teams were found to be one over short of their target after taking into account time allowances and, as such, playing members from either side have been fined 10 percent of their match fees as per Article 2.22 of the PSL Code of Conduct.

    The charges were levelled by Faisal Khan Afridi and Richard Illingworth (both on-field umpires), Asif Yaqoob (third umpire) and Syed Imtiaz Iqbal (fourth umpire), while match referee Roshan Mahanama imposed the fines.

  • Zia’s son believes ex-army chief played ‘suspicious role’ in father’s death

    Zia’s son believes ex-army chief played ‘suspicious role’ in father’s death

    Muhammad Ijazul Haq, son of former military ruler and the country’s longest-serving head of state Ziaul Haq, has said that ex-army chief General Mirza Aslam Beg and former national security advisor (NSA) General Mahmood Ali Durrani had a “suspicious role” to play in his father’s death.

    According to a report in The Hindu, Ijaz has said that as per the evidence he has collected, Indian and Israeli spy agencies were also involved in his father’s plane crash in August 1988.

    “The plane came down due to spraying of nerve gas in the cockpit that maimed pilots,” he said and confirmed to the Indian English daily the presence of explosives in mango crates, besides claiming that a projectile had also hit the plane.

    Talking to The Hindu, Ijaz said he believed that Generals Beg and Durrani were somehow involved because “some of the doctors who were working in CMH Multan informed Zia’s family probably a month or two after the incident that they received orders from higher-ups to no do the autopsy of the body parts that were found after the crash.

    “Later on, some of them told us that they were transferred from Multan to far-flung places, which was obviously done to cover it up. When the autopsies were done on Brigadier General Herbert M Wassom, who was the United States (US) military attache, then why not the Pakistanis? I asked Gen Beg directly and indirectly but he never responded. The orders to transfer the doctors to far-flung places didn’t come from their immediate bosses; only the GHQ could have done it.”

    ZIA’S DEATH:

    Zia died in a plane crash on August 17, 1988. After witnessing a US M1 Abrams tank demonstration in Bahawalpur, Zia had left the small town by C-130B Hercules aircraft. The aircraft departed from Bahawalpur Airport and was expected to reach Islamabad International Airport. Shortly after a smooth takeoff, the control tower lost contact with the aircraft.

    Witnesses who saw the plane in the air, afterwards claimed it was flying erratically, then nosedived and exploded on impact. In addition to Zia, 31 others died in the plane crash, including then chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) Gen Akhtar Abdur Rahman, close associate of Zia, Brigadier Siddique Salik, the American Ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Lewis Raphel and General Herbert M Wassom, the head of the US Military aid mission to Pakistan.

    Conditions surrounding his death have given rise to many conspiracy theories. There is speculation that the US, India, the Soviet Union (in retaliation for Pakistani support of the mujahideen in Afghanistan) or an alliance of them and internal groups within Zia’s military were behind the incident.

    A board of inquiry was set up to investigate the crash. It concluded that “the most probable cause of the crash was a criminal act of sabotage perpetrated in the aircraft”.

  • New top lawyer excuses himself from fighting Justice Faez Isa case for PTI govt

    New top lawyer excuses himself from fighting Justice Faez Isa case for PTI govt

    The newly-appointed attorney general of Pakistan (AGP) — chief law officer and legal advisor of the government –, Khalid Javed Khan, has recused himself from representing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the Justice Qazi Faez Isa case.

    Justice Faez Isa, a vocal critic of the establishment, has been facing a presidential reference accusing him of concealing his properties in the United Kingdom (UK), allegedly held in the name of his wife and children. He has submitted before the Supreme Court (SC) that these properties were bought and have always been held in plain sight in the personal names of his wife and children.

    “The government has recommended the name of Additional Attorney General (AAG) Aamir Rehman to represent it in the Supreme Court,” Khalid said Monday, adding that he could not represent the federation. “I have already stated my opinion regarding the Justice Isa reference,” he explained, while his predecessor, Anwar Mansoor Khan, who was representing the government in the case against the top court judge, withdrew his unwarranted statement and tendered unconditional apology.

    Anwar had stepped down from the post after lawyer bodies demanding his resignation for his “baseless” claims against certain judges of the SC. He was replaced by Khalid as Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan appointed him last week.

    The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) had demanded Mansoor’s resignation over some comments he made regarding Supreme Court judges, for which he had been reprimanded by the court as well.

    During the hearing on Monday, the AGP told the court that AAG Aamir Rehman was ready for the case.

    Justice Ata Bandial, who is heading the 10-judge bench hearing the Justice Isa reference said the court would give the government additional time to prepare for the case.

    AAG Rehman had on Friday filed an application with the apex court, submitting that the hearing of the petition of Justice Isa as well as the identical petitions challenging the presidential reference fixed for February 24 may be adjourned for three weeks.

    As the hearing resumed on Monday, the AAG told the court that he would be out of the country till March 20 for some official work. On this, Justice Bandial said one of the judges on the bench would be away after March 20 and they would hear the case upon his return.