Author: newsdesk

  • Fawad Chaudhry expresses disappointment over Musharraf verdict

    Fawad Chaudhry expresses disappointment over Musharraf verdict

    Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry says that no one in Pakistan was happy with Musharraf verdict.

    A Special Court on Tuesday awarded death penalty to former dictator General (retd) Pervez Musharraf for high treason.

    Addressing a press conference in Jeddah, Fawad said that countries cannot function without the army.

    “GHQ has a vital role in formation of the country’s security policy,” said Chaudhry adding that all state institutions should respect each other and not tread into others’ jurisdiction.

    Earlier in the day, Fawad also expressed his displeasure over the verdict saying that what’s the point of verdicts like these which only serve to create further distances.

    It must be remembered that when Musharraf declared Emergency on November 3, 2007, Imran Khan said on Dr. Shahid Masood’s show that Musharraf must be tried for high treason and should get the death penalty.

    https://twitter.com/hyzaidi/status/1207003979596652544?s=20

  • ‘A son of the soil’: Mehwish Hayat, Shaan respond to Musharraf verdict

    Former military dictator General (r) Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday was handed death sentence in the high treason case against him.

    According to reports, the court, in its short order, said that it analysed complaints, records, arguments and facts in the case for three months, adding that it found Musharraf guilty of high treason according to Article 6 of the constitution.

    While everyone including members of the media, civil society and politicians had thoughts to share on the matter, people were very curious to know what Mehwish Hayat has to say on the matter given that she had earlier tweeted in favour of Musharraf and was brutally trolled for it.

    https://twitter.com/cyalm/status/1206960344561782784?s=20

    Here’s what Mehwish had to say on the verdict.

    Meanwhile, here’s what she had tweeted earlier:

    Other celebrities who shared their thoughts on the matter included Shaan and Hamza Ali Abbasi.

    Elan’s creative director Khadija Shah also expressed her disappointment on the court’s verdict.

    https://twitter.com/khadijah_shah/status/1206851891679965184?s=20
  • Pakistan ranked 151 out of 153 in gender equality index: WEF

    Pakistan ranked 151 out of 153 in gender equality index: WEF

    According to the Gender Equality Index report of the World Economic Forum, Pakistan stood 151 out of 153. The only two countries below Pakistan are Iraq and Yemen.

    Though grand claims have been made about improving educational opportunities for youth, empowerment of democracy and the betterment of health facilities in the country, all have been shattered after the INGO placed Pakistan at number 150 in the list of economic participation and opportunities, 143rd in education attainment, 149th in health and survival and 93 in political empowerment globally.

    While Pakistan stood 112th in 2006, the standing has drastically slipped to 151 in the the last 14 years.

    The report highlights that there is a huge gap of 32.7 percent between men and women in the context of economic opportunities. The gap has also widened to 94.6pc – which means that women do not have the same facilities in comparison to men.

    On the contrary, Bangladesh ranked 50, followed by Nepal 101, Sri Lanka 102, India 112, Maldives 123 and Bhutan 131.

  • Sri Lankan commentator Russel Arnold becomes a Biryani fan

    Famous
    Sri Lankan cricket commentator Russel Arnold has become a fan of Karachi’s
    biryani. The former cricketer is now  in
    Karachi with the ICC’s official commentators’ team for the second Test match
    between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

    Russel took to Twitter to express his love for biryani, stating Karachi as the ‘Biryani Capital’ of the world.

    Unsatisfied with a single plate, Russel even hit an extra session in the gym to eat  some more biryani.

    The
    arrival of Sri Lankan cricket team has marked the return of Test cricket in
    Pakistan. With the first Test match in Rawalpindi being washed out by
    rain, everybody is now waiting for Karachi Test that will decide the series.

    The matches are scheduled from December 19 (Wednesday) to December 23 (Monday) at the National Stadium, Karachi.

  • ICC selects Pakistan’s Nida Dar for its T20I team of the year

    ICC selects Pakistan’s Nida Dar for its T20I team of the year

    Pakistan’s Nida Dar, more popularly known as Lady Lala, was picked in the ICC Women’s T20I team of the year.

    The 32-year-old is the only Pakistani player in the 11-member squad led by Australia’s Meg Lanning. The maximum number of players have also been selected from Australia namely Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry and Megan Schutt.

    Other members in the team include India’s Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadhav, South Africa’s Lizelle Lee and Shabnim Ismail. Dani Wyatt is the only England player in the team.

    Nida Dar made her debut as a bowler in women’s twenty20 match against Sri Lanka in 2010. She took her first five-wicket haul in a match against Sri Lanka in women’s Twenty20 Asia Cup 2018. She was also named as the standout player in the team by the International Cricket Council for the 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 tournament.

  • These steamy photoshoots will turn up the heat in this cold

    These steamy photoshoots will turn up the heat in this cold

    The mercury might be falling, but latest celebrity photoshoots sure are turning up the heat.

    Ayeza Khan & Danish Taimoor

    Real-life couple Ayeza and Danish have set our screens on fire with their latest photoshoot. Their chemistry is sizzling.

    Urwa Hocane & Farhan Saeed

    The couple celebrated their third wedding anniversary with an all-black, glittery photoshoot.

    Saba Qamar & Emmad Irfani

    Shayan and Mannat from Cheekh reunited for a magazine shoot and oh boy!

    Rubbab Ali

    Model Rubbab Ali, makeup artist Fatima Nasir and photographer Alee’ Hassan got together for an editorial shoot and here are the results.

  • ‘Darkest time of my life’: Imran Abbas pens emotional note on father’s demise

    ‘Darkest time of my life’: Imran Abbas pens emotional note on father’s demise

    Imran Abbas penned an emotional note on his father’s demise, who passed away on Sunday, saying this was the darkest time in his life.

    “Perhaps this is the darkest time of my life…I lost my father, my strength, my backbone. I can’t stand up straight at the moment. Thanks for your messages and posts but I won’t be able to reply to them for a while,” Imran wrote on Instagram.

    “It’s like breathing bricks and with huge lump in my chest with lots of guilt of not giving him time, saying what I shouldn’t have said and not saying what I should have.”

    He continued, “Looking around for the echoes of his voice which I won’t ever listen again, the touch I’ll never feel again, his face which became a thing of past.”

    “Please value your parents because there is no one in this whole universe like them,” the actor asserted, “Give them love and time, that’s all they want. Otherwise we are just left with regrets and remorse.”

    Meanwhile, fans and collegues, including Meera and Reema, expressed their condolences and sent prayers for the deceased.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B6GXsmJH9XQ/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

  • Explainer: Musharraf’s crime, punishment as per law

    Former military ruler General (r) Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday was sentenced to death by a special court hearing the high treason case against him.

    The case was reigstered against the ex-dictator for imposing a state of emergency on November 3, 2007, by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government in 2013 under Article 6 of the counstitution.

    Here is what Article 6 says:

    “Any person who abrogates or subverts or suspends or holds in abeyance, or attempts or conspires to abrogate or subvert or suspend or hold in abeyance, the Constitution by use of force or show of force or by any other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason.”

    The second clause of the article maintains that any person aiding, abetting or collaborating in the acts will also be considered guilty of high treason; while clause 2A states that an act of high treason cannot be validated by any court, including the Supreme Court (SC) and a high court.

    The last clause directs the parliament to provide for the punishment of persons found guilty of high treason, and according to the High Treason (Punishment) Act, 1973, the punishment is death or lifetime imprisonment.

    STATE OF EMERGENCY:

    On November 3, 2007, the then president and chief of army staff (COAS) Musharraf issued a proclamation of emergency, which held the constitution in a state of temporary suspension.

    While he later resigned as army chief 25 days into the emergency on November 28, the state of emergency and its responses are generally attributed to the controversies surrounding his re-election during the presidential election on October 6, 2007, including his holding of both offices of president and COAS at the time.

    Coming to power six years later, Nawaz Sharif had announced putting the former military ruler on trial for treason, saying the former president had committed treason by abrogating the constitution and should be tried under the law.

  • #ThankYouJinnah trends on Twitter as India attacks its own students

    As India enters another day of protests against Modi-government’s Citizen Amendment Bill, Pakistani Twitterati have taken to Twitter to thank Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah for creating a separate homeland for Muslims.

    Here’s what you need to know about the Citizen Amendment Bill that has now become an act and part of law.

    Slide right for details of the Citizen Amendment Act

    Modi’s government has called in troops to deal with the students, much like it has done in Kashmir. The internet has been shutdown and curfews have been imposed. Unarmed students were beaten in New Delhi and in Assam, three young men have been shot and killed.

    A Pakistani Hindu says that:

  • VIDEO: Bilawal, Bakhtawar go to the beach

    VIDEO: Bilawal, Bakhtawar go to the beach

    Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday took a break from his political activities to bond with nature.

    Accompanied by his sister, Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, Bilawal made his way to Hawke’s Bay Beach where he released 300 baby green turtles into the sea. According to details, Bilawal was very excited to touch the baby turtles who were hatched at the Marine Turtle Conservation Nursery of Sindh Wildlife Department.

    The Sindh Wildlife Department, along with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), has been carrying out a sea turtle conservation project in Pakistan since 1979. Adults are tagged and the eggs collected from the beach are incubated in special enclosures at Hawkesbay and Sandspit. Hatchlings are weighed and counted at the Sindh Wildlife lab at the beach and the relevant data is gathered.

    Though adult sea turtles spend most of their lives in the oceans, they return to the beach where they were born to lay their eggs. Every year in October and November, green sea turtles arrive at the sandy beaches of Sindh and Balochistan which are important nesting sites for sea turtles. The turtles lay their eggs there and leave after burying them. This is where the wildlife department steps in a takes care of the eggs, which are vulnerable and can easily be preyed. After an incubation period of about two months the youngsters hatch and scramble towards the water. Only one in a thousand survive to adulthood.

    Watch video of the Bhutto-Zardari siblings releasing sea turtles here:

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B6KzzXdBLCN/

    Meanwhile, Bakhtawar also shared her experience on Twitter: