By the end of next month, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be receiving bunker buster version of Israel-made Spice 2000 bombs, which the country is reported to have used in the failed Balakot airstrikes in February, India Today reported.
According to reports, India and France had signed a Rs3 billion deal with Israel to acquire the bomb that has a standoff range of 60km and approaches the target using its scene-matching algorithm.
It consists of an add-on kit for warheads such as the MK-84, BLU-109, APW and RAP-2000; and was also used by the IAF in a failed attempt to bomb the religious seminaries in Balakot in February this year.
The attack had been foiled by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) that had forced Indian pilots to abort their mission and return in haste.
India had also later failed to support its claims with facts as observers and international media reported that the seminaries New Delhi had claimed to have destroyed, were standing even days after the intrusion.
Two episodes in, ARY’s latest offering Meray Pass Tum Ho is being discussed everywhere – from Whatsapp groups to Facebook groups. ARY knew they had a hit on their hands with Humayun Saeed, Ayeza Khan and Adnan Siddiqui in the main roles. And this isn’t your run of the mill saas/bahu drama.
The story begins with a happily married Danish (Humayun Saeed) and Mehwish (Ayeza Khan) who live within a government officer’s means. They have a son who isn’t going to a good school because of lack of finances. Danish is smitten by his wife and is willing to do everything and anything to make her happy. Mehwish, on the other hand, is materialistic and wants expensive jewellery because her friend Anushay (Meher Bano) is loaded and she wants to be too. To make Mehwish happy, Danish gives up his morals and resorts to corruption, because as the man he must give her what she wants.
So Danish turns to becoming a corrupt government official and getting lakh, two lakh rupee kickbacks to buy his wife jewellery so she can compete with her richer friend Anushay. In walks, Anushay’s husband’s boss Shahwaar (Adnan Siddiqui) who is a ladies man, has a wife who lives abroad, travels a lot with his secretaries and has a Prado.
The Kabab mai haddi
At the end of the second episode, we kind of know what’s coming. Mehwish, entranced by Shahwaar’s good lucks, dashing smile and above all, money, money, money is going to flutter towards him, and Danish, getting a feeler of Shahwaar’s interest in his wife asks her to stay away from such a “loose” character.
The moment when they spot Shahwaar together
The actors are great and the story is realistic. The script has been penned by Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar while Nadeem Baig has directed this – both masters of their games. The lust for money taking over a genuinely loving marriage happens – to both men and women and it seems the drama might be taking that interesting route. Let’s see how it goes since the twist is bound to be epic.
Amid rising Kashmir tensions, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has called Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who had recently drawn ire of hundreds of thousands of people for awarding Indian PM the country’s highest civilian honour.
According to reports, the “regional and international developments” were discussed over the phone call, while a tweet by the crown prince also confirmed the development.
Mohamed bin Zayed receives a phone call from the Pakistan Prime Minister, discussing ways to enhance bilateral cooperation as well as the latest regional and international developments and issues of mutual interest.
The two dignitaries discussed “ways to enhance bilateral cooperation as well as the latest regional and international developments and issues of mutual interest”, the tweet said.
Mohammed bin Zayed — or MBZ — is also the deputy supreme commander of the UAE armed forces. The phone call between the two leaders comes days after Indian premier Narendra Modi was awarded UAE’s highest civilian honour.
The move had sparked outrage among rights activists over the Modi-led government’s clampdown on the Muslim-majority Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK).
MBZ had personally put the gold medal around Modi’s neck, with a portrait of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the UAE’s first president after whom the order is named, displayed behind them.
Abu Dhabi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi conferred with Order of Zayed, UAE’s highest civilian award by Crown Prince, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. pic.twitter.com/tezAhEDtJU
The two men had also held hands for a moment and spoken quietly. “You deserve it,” MBZ had told the Hindu nationalist leader at one point while posing for photos.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and United Nations (UN) Secretary General António Guterres among others have been made respondents in a petition seeking “jihad in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK)”.
As per the details, lawyer Muhammad Sharif Sabir has moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for directions to the government to “declare jihad” in the troubled valley.
While the court has dismissed the plea “as non-maintainable”, among other respondents were the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) PM, ministries of defence, foreign affairs and Kashmir affairs.
Emotions run high ever since New Delhi abrogated Article 370 of its constitution and robbed IoK of its autonomy. Pakistan has been protesting on all fronts against the move that can pave way for a Muslim genocide in the disputed territory.
“Kashmir Hour” on Friday is also being observed across the country on PM Imran’s call for solidarity with Kashmiris.
Marriott recently announced it is replacing travel-sized toiletries — tubes of shampoo, conditioner and bath gel — with larger bottles in an attempt to reduce plastic waste.
The world’s largest hotel chain said the small toiletries being used aren’t usually recycled. The new bottles will be made from recyclable materials.
Once the change is fully implemented, the hotel chain said it expects to reduce its plastic disposal by 30%, or nearly 2 million pounds of plastic it sends to landfills annually.
The change will affect roughly 500,000 guest rooms and will be made at most of its 7,000 hotels around the world by December 2020.
The supply of electricity to the Prime Minister’s (PM) Secretariat is likely to be snapped over non-payment of bills running into millions, Khaleej Times has reported.
According to reports, the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) has also issued a notice in this regard as the secretariat currently owes the distributor over Rs4 million in power bills.
“This is a recurrent problem with the secretariat. We will cut off the power supply if dues are not paid,” reports quoted sources in the IESCO as saying and added that the dues had not been cleared despite several reminder notices being sent.
Meanwhile, the country’s annual fiscal deficit has reportedly risen to the highest in the last three decades at 8.9 per cent for the financial year 2018-19.
Fiscal deficit is the difference between revenues and expenditures of a federal government. According to reports, the deficit that increased to 8.9 per cent of Pakistan’s gross domestic product in the financial year that ended in June, was recorded at 6.6 per cent last year.
The figure that depicts the situation of the country’s crippling economy, coincides with one-year completion of the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.
Remember the infamous Panama leaks? The same ones which ousted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and made him na-ehl? Netflix has made a film on the incident and how it unfolded worldwide and the trailer of it has been released.
The film titled The Laundromat has Meryl Streep in the lead as Ellen Martin, whose dream vacation takes a wrong turn and leads her down a rabbit hole of shady dealings that can all be traced to one Panama City law firm, run by seductive partners. She soon learns that her minor predicament is only a drop in the bucket of millions of files linking an off-shore tax scheme to the world’s richest and most powerful political leaders.
Along with Meryl, the film also starres Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas, Jeffrey Wright, Matthias Schoenaerts, James Cromwell and Sharon Stone.
The film is based on the book by Jake Bernstein titled Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite.
The Panama Papers were leaked documents that showed how Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm, allowed the wealthy and the connected to funnel money illegally in and around the world. Along with Nawaz, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Jackie Chan, Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan were also among those named.
We’ll be watching the movie to see if Nawaz will feature in the film and who’ll be playing him.
To observe Kashmir Hour, all traffic lights across Islamabad and Karachi will turn red at 12 pm on Friday and remain so for half an hour. During this time, the national anthems of Pakistan and Kashmir will be sung, traffic will be halted, sirens will be blared and demonstrations will be held across the country.
PM Khan in his address to the nation on Monday had announced that an event will be held on Friday every week to show solidarity with the Kashmiri people and send out a strong message.
In a follow-up tweet, the premier requested everyone to observe the Kashmir Hour and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan said that the PM will be outside the PM House to mark the occasion.
We must send a strong message to Kashmiris that our nation stands resolutely behind them. So I am asking all Pakistanis for half an hour tomorrow stop whatever you are doing & come out on the road to show solidarity with the Kashmiri people.
Deputy commissioners in all the districts across the country have been directed to formulate a comprehensive plan for staging demonstrations against Modi-led Hindu nationalist Indian government’s illegal actions and gross violations of human rights in Kashmir.
Meanwhile, local political leaders in their respective constituencies will lead protest rallies. Students and civil society have been appealed to participate in the demonstrations. Celebrities and sportsmen will also be present at prominent locations across different cities to express their solidarity and have also appealedto their fellow countrymen to do the same.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, while addressing the nation on Monday had announced that an event will be held on Friday every week to show solidarity with the Kashmiri people.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor on Wednesday reiterated the government’s announcement and said that the first ‘Kashmir Hour’ will be held on August 30 at 12pm. During this time, national anthems of Pakistan and Kashmir will be played and sirens will be blared and everything is expected to come to a standstill, including the traffic.
The first of such events will be held this Friday (Aug 30) between 12pm-12:30 pm and celebrities and sportsmen are appealing to the citizens to respond to the PM’s call and express their solidarity with Kashmir. Taking to Twitter, Shahid Afridi, Shehzad Roy and Bilal Ashraf among others shared where they will be observing the Kashmir Hour and asked the people to join them.
Let’s respond to PM call for Kashmir Hour as a nation. I will be at Mazar e Quaid at 12 pm on Friday. Join me to express solidarity with our Kashmiri brethren. On 6 Sep I will visit home of a Shaheed. I will soon be visiting LOC.
#SaveKashmir InshaAllah will be thr 2moro 12noon at D chowk to show solidarity with KASHMIR. Let us all forget our differences & UNITE for Kashmir & make sure we do not let Kashmir fade away from headlines. May Allah help us all. PAKISTAN ZINDABAD, KASHMIR PAINDABAD.
Let’s respond to PM @ImranKhanPTI call for Kashmir Hour as a nation.I will be with 2500 girls studying at Smb Fatima Jinnah Gov School at 12 pm on Friday.Join me to express solidarity with our Kashmiri brethren. On 6 Sep I will visit the family of a Shaheed & will soon visit LOC
Let’s all respond to PM call for Kashmir Hour as a nation. I will be at Jehangir Kothari Parade Clifton at 12 pm on Friday. Join me to express solidarity with our Kashmiri brethren. On 6 Sep I will visit home of a Shaheed. #StandForKashmirOnFri
Let’s respond to PM call for Kashmir Hour as a nation. I will be at “JAHANGIR KOTHARI PARADE CLIFTON KARACHI” at 12 pm on Friday. Join me to express solidarity with our Kashmiri brethren. On 6 Sep I will visit home of a Shaheed. pic.twitter.com/ApLfyw2d6r
Let’s respond to PM call for Kashmir Hour as a nation. I will be at army museum lhr cantt at 12 pm on Friday. Join me to express solidarity with our Kashmiri brethren. On 6 Sep I will visit home of a Shaheed. That would b the least I can do to show my solidarity.
Let’s respond to PM’s call for Kashmir Hour as a nation. I am standing in solidarity wherever I am in Karachi to register my protest at 12 pm on Friday. Join me to express solidarity with our Kashmiri brethren. #IStandWithKashmir
Let’s respond to PM call for Kashmir Hour as a nation. I will be at moeen khan academy dha club at 12 pm on Friday. Join me to express solidarity with our Kashmiri brethren. On 6 Sep I will visit home of a Shaheed.
Let’s respond to PM’s call for Kashmir Hour as a nation. I will be at Faisal mosque Islamabad at 12 pm on Friday. Join me to express solidarity with our Kashmiri brothers and sisters. Also on 6 Sep I will visit home of a Shaheed. #letsunite
Must raise our voice against injustice & violence & must register our protest in response to PM Imran Khan’s call for #KashmirHour. Unfortunately I’m not in the country but regardless of where I am, I fully support this initiative. Friday 12PM. Do participate!#IStandWithKashmir
