Author: newsdesk

  • Imran’s ‘blue-eyed’ Shabbar Zaidi resigns as FBR chairman?

    Imran’s ‘blue-eyed’ Shabbar Zaidi resigns as FBR chairman?

    In a rather expected development, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Syed Shabbar Zaidi on Tuesday resigned from the post, a private media outlet claimed.

    A prominent chartered accountant and former caretaker provincial minister for Sindh, Zaidi was named by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan in May last year as his choice for the new FBR chief.

    Adviser to the PM on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh had last week hinted that the federal government may change the FBR chief if his health did not improve any time soon.

    Shaikh, in an interview with a private news channel, had shared that the government may decide to change the FBR chairman if he did not recover quickly as the government also planned to introduce a mini-budget.

    “The FBR chairman is ill and we hope he recovers quickly,” Shaikh had said. His statement had come weeks after Zaidi had sought an indefinite period of leave from his official duties on grounds of poor health.

    Earlier, Zaidi had gone on sick leave from January 6 to January 19. This had led to rumours that there was a rift in the government’s economic team. However, those rumours were rejected by the FBR.

    Meanwhile, another media outlet has rubbished the claims regarding Zaidi’s resignation.

    “I am not resigning from my post as chairman FBR. I have just not been performing my duties due to my health,” Zaidi told Geo News.

  • Karachi man takes up educational expenses of boy selling samosas

    A man in Karachi has come forward to bear the educational expenses of a child who recently went viral on social media. Video shows the boy selling samosas outside a local hospital.

    https://www.instagram.com/tv/B8L8dU4pXD6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    “I come here after I am done with school,” the boy had said in the video. When asked about the grade he studied in, he replied, “I am in class four.”

    A school principal, Basim Ahmed Faridi took to social media to announce that he had decided to take up his educational expenses.

    “I got a chance to meet this child whose videos went viral past day, Zahid is a son of an Afghan-origin family and he lives near Mamji Hospital water pump in a house where his grandfather and mamu worked for 30 years,” he wrote, adding that Zahid’s family was an upright and honest one.

    “I have offered to his parents that Zahid can study at my school, Speak & Spell Schooling System near Ayesha Manzil, up to his matriculation and I can even teach him up to his intermediate.

    “All the time I only thought that these days do bring joy to that poor hardworking child, but where this community will take this child, by interviewing him, calling him on media sets, boosting their TRPs and then leave him alone to the same life pattern that he is living right now,” he wrote.

    “This will definitely hurt this child a lot, so I just decided to take a permanent and long-lasting step for him just by giving him what can never be taken away education,” he added.

    Praising the boy, Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar on Friday said: “We can all learn from him.”

  • Edhi Foundation wants to evacuate Pakistani students from China

    On the request of Pakistani students stranded in Wuhan, the Abdul Sattar Edhi Foundation had decided to evacuate them by arranging chartered flights.

    The Edhi Foundation on Sunday wrote a letter to Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mehmood Qureshi asking for permission to evacuate students from China’s city of Wuhan.

    In the letter, Faisal Edhi, managing trustee of the foundation formally requested the foreign minister to grant them permission to evacuate Pakistani students that have been trapped in Wuhan of Hubei province of China.

    “The Pakistani students are in our contact and we want to evacuate them from China,” Edhi wrote in the letter.

    The letter states that coronavirus has been spreading fast and Pakistani students are suffering from stress and facing a serious food shortage.

    “Most of the Pakistani students are not infected and we can save them,” said the letter.

    The letter highlights that many countries such as America, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and India have already evacuated their citizens from Wuhan and are taking precautionary measures on their own.

    He not only asked the government for permission but also asked to assist in identifying the areas where students will be quarantined until they are tested and cleared.

    Once the government grants them permission, the Edhi Foundation will contact airlines and arrange chartered flights to evacuate the students at the earliest, elaborated Faisal Edhi.

  • Bring on the bling, it’s all about the sparkle

    Bring on the bling, it’s all about the sparkle

    Award season means there are plenty of red carpet looks to get inspiration from. The first Pakistan International Screen Awards (PISA) were held on Friday (February 7) in Dubai and our stars made sure to put forward their best fashion front.

    Read more – Pakistan International Screen Awards comes under fire for ‘disrespecting’ nominees

    From Mahira Khan to Meera Jee, everyone dazzled on the red carpet and looked like a million dollars. What was trending on the red carpet this week was sparkles, glitter and bling. Check out the pictures below:

    Mahira Khan

    Mahira cut a svelte figure in a dress by Lebanese-American fashion designer Rami Kadi for the red carpet before changing into a sparkly sari by Élan for the after-party.

    Meera Jee

    Meera Jee is sure bringing her A-game in this blingy power suit.

    Ayesha Omar

    Va-va-voom. Ayesha looks fab-u-lous in this gold outfit by labourjoisie.

    Reema

    Sarwat Gilani

    Sarwat dons a midnight blue sari by Soshai.

    Hareem Farooq

    Hareem looks like she came straight from the galaxies in this shimmery sari by Élan.

    Aima Baig

    Sana Javed

    Sana Javed stuns in this anarkali-style dress by Nomi Ansari.

    Hira Mani

    Sadaf Kanwal

  • This Valentines week, Mahira Khan receives love from an unexpected place

    This Valentines week, Mahira Khan receives love from an unexpected place

    The first Pakistan International Screen Awards were held in Dubai the past weekend and Mahira Khan stole the spotlight as she dazzled in a metallic, sequenced outfit by Rami Kadi.

    In case you missed it, check out her outfit here:

    Isn’t she glittering?

    Turns out, close friend and designer Hassan Shehryar Yasin (HSY) styled Mahira for the big night. Sharing some behind the scenes pictures, HSY explained the concept behind Mahira’s look and praised her for carrying the outfit with utmost elegance and grace.

    “Mahira is an elegant star,” he wrote in the caption, which almost read like a love letter. “That’s her thing. Elegance. She doesn’t have to try too hard, it’s a natural thing for her.”

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B8YC0HpBONr/

  • Quiz: Which Pakistani movie are you?

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  • PHOTO: Junaid Safdar enjoys polo match in Lahore while sick Nana is in London

    PHOTO: Junaid Safdar enjoys polo match in Lahore while sick Nana is in London

    Nawaz Sharif’s grandson Junaid Safdar was recently spotted enjoying a polo match in Lahore. Pictures of him were widely circulated on social media following which he was heavily criticised for enjoying a polo match while his grandfather allegedly battles between life and death.

    Junaid, the eldest son of Maryam Nawaz and Captain Safdar Awan, is an avid polo player and often shares pictures of himself with his horses.

    Meanwhile, on December 21, 2019, Maryam Nawaz had filed a petition in the LHC in a bid to have her name removed from the no-fly list. The PML-N leader, in her petition, had said that she wanted permission to fly abroad so she could be with her ailing father. Nawaz’s brother Shehbaz Sharif had said the schedule for Nawaz’s critical medical procedures had been changed twice because Maryam was not there to accompany him.

    The petition was the PML-N leader’s second attempt to have her name struck off the travel restrictions list.

  • ‘Parliamentarians being threatened to legalise homosexuality in Pakistan’

    ‘Parliamentarians being threatened to legalise homosexuality in Pakistan’

    Lawmakers belonging to both the National Assembly and Senate are receiving threats for refusing to move the parliament for the legalisation of homosexuality in Pakistan, senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir has claimed.

    In his latest column for Daily Jang, Mir has quoted a senator as saying that students of a reputable educational institution are nowadays approaching parliamentarians to move the house for the legalisation of homosexuality in the country.

    “They [the youngsters] have been contacting different lawmakers and demanding, that like many other countries, homosexuality should be legalised in Pakistan,” the journalist quoted the senator as saying.

    He claimed that when the lawmaker advised one of the students to focus on religion and praying five times a day so that “their thoughts do not go astray”, the youngster urged the senator to at least move the Upper House in this regard.

    “When the senator strongly turned down the student’s demand, they were threatened by the youngsters,” Mir wrote. He further claimed that some students have also approached parliamentarians belonging to religio-political parties, but they not yet responded.

    HOMOSEXUALITY IN PAKISTAN:

    The Colonial British government criminalised homosexuality in India under section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) of 1860. Pakistan, after independence, adapted the same laws under the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) that states, “Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than two years nor more than ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.”

    In the 1980s, rules against homosexuality stiffened even more under General Muhammad Ziaul Haq. The punishment for homosexual activities increased to life imprisonment or even death by stoning as a result of the Sharia Law added to the PPC.

    Religious leaders have consistently forbidden and condemned homosexual activities as being immoral under the constitution of Islam. People in Pakistan, who identify themselves as homosexual, do not expose their sexual preference in public due to the fear of being looked down upon or physically attacked.

  • ‘Jo hain memes’ will tickle your funny bones

    ‘Jo hain memes’ will tickle your funny bones

    Who does not like memes? Memes not only lighten up our mood but also make us all go LOL and we wish this meme culture never dies at least as long as the internet exists.

    This collection of memes will make you laugh hard.

    Memes jo hain humor hamara bohat funny hai.

  • Naya Pakistan: Govt to set up 50,000 shops to sell daily-use items on subsidised rates

    Naya Pakistan: Govt to set up 50,000 shops to sell daily-use items on subsidised rates

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has reportedly decided to provide jobs and daily-use items to people on subsidised rates under which 50,000 new retail shops will be opened.

    Reports quoted sources as saying that Rs25 billion have been allocated for the programme in the first phase, citizens will get loans up to Rs500,000 for opening retail shops and 1,500 such shops will be opened immediately.

    The Utility Stores Corporation (USC) will reportedly supply 60 per cent items to retails shops, while shop owners will get remaining items from the open market. This plan of the government will provide jobs to 50,000 families.

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has also directed to continue the Rs7 billion relief package to Utility Stores till the end of Ramzan. The premier was informed that Utility Stores need up to Rs10 billion funds after which he had directed the ministries concerned to make arrangements for the same.

    Meanwhile, PM Imran has said that his government would announce various measures to reduce the prices of basic food items for the common man.

    He explained that the government departments concerned had also begun doing an in-depth probe into the flour and sugar price hike.

    In a series of tweets, the premier said he was aware of the difficulties being faced by ordinary people, including the salaried class, and had decided to announce a number of measures for giving relief to them come what may.