Author: newsdesk

  • Rs410m approved for maintenance of two VVIP aircraft as PTI touts austerity

    Rs410m approved for maintenance of two VVIP aircraft as PTI touts austerity

    The federal government has approved an additional amount of Rs410 million for the repair and maintenance of two VVIP Gulfstream aircraft said to be in use of President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, The News reported.

    The supplementary grant, that comes as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) touts austerity to lessen the burden on the national treasury, was sanctioned in March 2019 by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC).

    It has now been reflected in the budget document for formal approval by the parliament.

    The report further said that the Defence Production Division is responsible for the maintenance of these aircraft, however, ECC had failed to resolve differences between Ministry of Defence Production and Pakistan Air Force (PAF) regarding the transfer of said funds.

    Directorate General Defence Procurement had purchased the two VVIP aircraft (one brand new and one used) at a cost of $58.55 million ($58, 550,924) in September 2005 on the directions of Ministries of Finance and Defence.

  • You won’t believe who Aamir Liaquat is engaging in a Twitter spat with

    You won’t believe who Aamir Liaquat is engaging in a Twitter spat with

    Aamir Liaquat is no stranger to controversy. Ever since he married his second wife, Tuba Aamir, his private life has also come to the forefront and his daughter, Duaa Aamir, often takes to social media to lash out on her father and his new wife.

    Aamir and Tuba, who recently concluded their Ramazan show on PTV, are currently in Saudi Arabia for Umrah and have been sharing moments from their trip on social media. In response to these updates, Duaa wrote on Twitter:

    While Aamir did not directly respond to his daughter, he threw shade at her by retweeting a tweet which said that the stupidest people are those who share their family problems online for attention. Tuba also shared the same tweet.

    He then went onto retweet another tweet which had the same context.

    Tuba also followed the same path as her husband by subtly calling out Duaa for her tweet.

    She then went onto tweet a verse from the Quran.

    Aamir then decided to thank Tuba for “understanding”, though we’re not sure about what.

    In response to Aamir and Tuba’s tweets, Duaa shared a song from Disney’s Aladdin hinting that no matter what, she will not keep quiet.

    https://twitter.com/Duaa_e_aamir/status/1139100173697724417

    In midst of all this drama, Aamir son, Ahmed got into an accident which resulted in major loss of blood. Thankfully, the situation is under control and Ahmed is on the road to recovery.

  • ‘Amir confessed to spot-fixing after Afridi slapped him’

    ‘Amir confessed to spot-fixing after Afridi slapped him’

    Mohammad Amir confessed to spot-fixing only after then ODI captain Shahid Afridi had slapped him, former all-rounder Abdul Razzaq has claimed.

    “He [Afridi] told me to leave the room and after a while, I heard the sound of a slap. Later, Amir told the whole truth,” Razzaq said while speaking to a private media outlet on Wednesday.

    Spilling the beans on Pakistan’s ill-fated tour of England in 2010, a scandal that tarnished the image of Pakistan cricket, Razzaq also said that Salman Butt was involved in corruption much before the saga.

    “Butt was deliberately getting out and playing dot balls much before the scandal broke out in England,” the former all-rounder said, also blaming the then PCB management for “bringing a bad name to Pakistan cricket”.

    Butt, Amir and Muhammad Asif were the three players eventually banned for a minimum of five years in early 2011 by the ICC’s anti-corruption tribunal after they were first suspended in September 2010.

    All three have now returned to playing cricket after completing their five-year bans. But only Amir has been picked for the national team and is currently competing in the World Cup.

  • Pakistan Cricket Team turns to food for entertainment

    Pakistan Cricket Team turns to food for entertainment

    Pretty much like the rest of us, the Pakistan Cricket Team also turns to food for entertainment. And after last night’s loss, we’re sure they will be seeking solace in food too. Yeh bhi humari tarah.

    A report in the local media, quoting a team official, shared this news bite (pun intended) adding that this team is one of the easiest to manage. The official revealed that members of the team avoid partying and breaking curfews and instead turn to food, takeaways to be specific, for entertainment. This is in stark contrast to players of the previous World Cups who were very fond of indulging in the vibrant nightlife, occasionally causing a stir.

    The team official said that this good behaviour from the boys is attributed to Captain Sarfaraz Ahmed who himself is a very religious man along with being very disciplined. Though Sarfaraz doesn’t force anyone to follow him, the official believes that it is natural that the boys will follow suit. He added that all the boys are regular with their prayers but “neither of them is over-zealous.”

  • New study claims sleeping with light on can cause weight gain in women

    New study claims sleeping with light on can cause weight gain in women

    Women who sleep with the television or a light on in the bedroom may be more likely to gain weight, a new study has claimed.

    The research conducted a survey of almost 44,000 US women, with a follow-up five years later. The women in the study were classified according to their level of exposure to artificial light at night (ALAN) which came from a variety of sources, from small nightlights or clock radios to light shining in from the street to televisions or room lights.

    One of the key findings was that women who slept with a television or a light on in the room were 17 percent more likely to have gained five kilograms (11 pounds) or more during the study period.

    Authors suggested that the light may be suppressing the production of melatonin, thereby disruption circadian rhythm and eating patterns.

    Other possibilities were that light acts as a “chronic stressor” disrupting the release of stress hormones such as glucocorticoids that play a part in regulating food intake, or that there may be another mechanism at work that affects metabolism directly.

    The authors acknowledged several limitations including that the data was self-reported and they did not know how intense various light sources were.

    High light exposure may also “reflect a constellation of measures of socioeconomic disadvantage and unhealthy lifestyle behaviours, all of which could contribute to weight gain and obesity.”

    A professor of Chronobiology at the University of Surrey in Britain agreed with the finding saying, “To maintain good sleep hygiene, avoid light and electronic distractions in the bedroom.”

  • Win for parents as private schools restricted from increasing fees

    Win for parents as private schools restricted from increasing fees

    After months of struggle, parents have secured a win over private schools with their owners being barred from increasing fees by more than 5 per cent a year, a private media outlet reported.

    According to reports, the Supreme Court (SC) delivered the verdict on Wednesday while hearing a case filed by owners of private schools. They had sought legal approval to increase fees by 15 per cent to 20 per cent every year.

    Justice Ijazul Ahsan read out the reserved verdict.

    The top court upheld the verdict of the Sindh High Court (SHC) and overturned the Lahore High Court (LHC) decision in favour of the private schools.

    The schools have been ordered to return or adjust the extra amount they charged parents since the first ruling in the case.

  • Zartaj Gul and Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari fight it out on Twitter

    Zartaj Gul and Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari fight it out on Twitter

    The week has been pretty lit as far as Pakistani politics is concerned with three high-profile arrests, including those of former President Asif Ali Zardari, Altaf Hussain and Hamza Shehbaz, and the 2019-20 budget being presented.

    Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari, who often expresses her political thoughts on Twitter, took to the social media to defend her father and in the process, got into a Twitter feud with State Minister for Climate Change Zartaj Gul, who is also no stranger to controversy.

    It all started when Gul tweeted a picture of the arrested politicians crying, referring to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, who in his election campaign, had vowed to “make his opponents cry”.

    Bakhtawar responded to Gul in a tweet she later deleted. But, Zartaj had already taken a screenshot. She shared the tweet, calling Bakhtawar “disoriented”, “timid” and a “coward” and referred to Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari as her “sister”.

    Bakhtawar was not to back down and mocked Gul for her accent at the recent speech at the UN-Habitat Assembly.

    Zartaj then decided to have the final word.

    Later, Zartaj even took a dig at Bilawal when he called the budget “economic suicide.”

  • VIDEO: ‘PTI govt paying media houses to like them?’, Hamid Mir trolls Faisal Vawda

    VIDEO: ‘PTI govt paying media houses to like them?’, Hamid Mir trolls Faisal Vawda

    Senior journalist Hamid Mir has trolled Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda for claiming that “anti-Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)” media houses had started liking the government after financial benefits.

    Speaking on Mir’s show, Vawda on Tuesday said that media outlets, known for their alleged affiliation with opposition parties, were now highlighting achievements of the PTI government as they had been “provided with ease of doing business”.

    “It wasn’t our job, but we fought against lay-offs in the media industry. We made doing businesses easy by giving them [media houses] budgets,” he said.

    When Mir asked if he meant the government had paid media houses any money, Vawda agreed, saying the PTI had “paid them against government advertisements”.

    It wasn’t later that both Mir and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khurram Dastgir Khan broke into laughter.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Senior journalists have time and again expressed concerns over the state of Pakistani media ever since the PTI government took reins of the country.

    With cuts in government advertisements, a shakeout has been triggered and hundreds of thousands of media workers have gone jobless. Some journalists have also accused the PTI of using “stoppage of government ads to media as a weapon”.

  • VIDEO: PM Imran spotted dancing ‘to mock opposition’ during budget session

    VIDEO: PM Imran spotted dancing ‘to mock opposition’ during budget session

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has been spotted dancing on the floor of the National Assembly, in what appears to be an attempt to mock the opposition.

    As per the details, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government on Tuesday presented its first federal budget while members of opposition parties recorded a strong protest against PM Imran.

    They raised slogans, held placards and wore black armbands during Revenue Minister Hammad Azhar’s budget speech.

    As the minister concluded presenting the budget, the premier was seen being escorted out of the house, waving his hands in the air — suggesting he was least bothered about the ruckus.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Earlier, a Rs7 trillion austerity budget for the fiscal year 2019-20 was presented by the PTI government. It received severe criticism from opposition parties who termed the budget “anti-people”.

  • Two frogs married in India to bring rains

    Two frogs married in India to bring rains

    India and Pakistan have been hit by a terrible heatwave which is making life very difficult for those living in these areas.

    While the rest of us wait for the monsoon rains to come, citizens from the Indian state of Karnataka decided to take matters into their own hands. They got together and arranged a marriage between two frogs to appease the Hindu rain god.

    According to reports, four frogs were taken by the organisers to the department of Zoology in Manipal, where the zoologists identified the male and female frogs. Following the identification, one male and one female were singled out.

    The two frogs were then dressed up in specially made outfits and taken to the wedding venue in a decorated cycle auto.

    Several guests participated in the frogs wedding ceremony and celebrated the occasion. A feast followed the wedding ceremony.

    Interestingly, the frog couple will be sent on a honeymoon to Manna Palla near Manipal in Udupi. The main intention in arranging this frog wedding was to appease the rain Gods who seem to have deserted the coastal district over the past few months, and the people have been struggling to get water for drinking and other basic purposes.

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