Author: newsdesk

  • Arif Alvi dismisses Secretary to President as bills mystery deepens

    Arif Alvi dismisses Secretary to President as bills mystery deepens

    Hours after the President said that he does not need Waqar Ahmed’s services, the Secretary has said in a statement on Monday that Dr. Arif Alvi did not sign the Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill, 2023, or the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2023, nor did he make a written decision to send them back to parliament for further consideration.

    On Monday, the official X (formerly Twitter) account of @PresOfPakistan stated: “In view of the definite statement of yesterday, President’s Secretariat has written a letter to Principal Secretary to Prime Minister that the services of Mr. Waqar Ahmed, Secretary to President, are no more required and are surrendered to the Establishment Division, immediately”.

    President Arif Alvi caused a sensation on Sunday when he said in a tweet from his personal account that he did not sign the official secrets (Amendment) Bill, 2023, or the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2023, as he does not agree with the laws. He said that despite his orders to return the bills to parliament, his staff disobeyed him.
    “I confirmed from them many times that whether they have been returned & was assured that they were,” Alvi wrote about the bills in a tweet, adding that he just found out that his staff “undermined my will and command”.
    He also asked for forgiveness from those who are affected by the bills.

    The tweets came about after news broke that he had signed the Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Army Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023. Now both bills are part of the law.
    On the other hand, former Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani has said that “the tweet of President Arif Alvi was inappropriate”.
    Raza Rabbani pointed out that if an inquiry is initiated, the president will have to appear before a committee of the upper house since he is a part of the parliament under Article 50 of the Constitution.
    “As per Article 75 of the Constitution, when a bill is sent for assent, the president has two options: either give assent, or refer the matter to the parliament with specific observations. Article 75 does not provide for any third option,” he stressed.
    The ministry has said neither of the requirements was fulfilled. Instead, the president purposely delayed the assent, it added. Returning the bills without any observations or assent is not provided for in the Constitution, the spokesperson said, adding that such a course of action is against the letter and spirit of the Constitution.
    “If the president had any observations, he could have returned the bills with his observations like he did in the recent and distant past. He could have also issued a press release to that effect,” the law ministry said.

  • Meta set to unveil web version of Threads, challenging X

    Meta set to unveil web version of Threads, challenging X

    Meta is getting ready to launch the web version of Threads, which is its rival to X (previously known as Twitter). This launch is expected to happen early this week, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Threads, which offers short-form posts, has been missing a web version since its start.

    Mark Zuckerberg, who is the CEO of Meta, mentioned that they’re working on adding this feature along with a better search function. Right now, the search function is quite limited; you can only search for usernames. These changes are expected to be ready in a few weeks.

    However, The Wall Street Journal’s sources say that the exact launch plans are not set in stone and could change. Adam Mosseri, who posted on Threads, shared that they’ve been testing an early version internally for a short time. But before it’s released widely, some more work is needed.

    Threads started as a basic version similar to Twitter just about a month and a half ago. Surprisingly, it quickly gained over 100 million users and attracted celebrities and brands. However, it has been missing some important features. The company has been slowly adding improvements, like a follow feed and the ability to verify a link using a Mastodon profile. This suggests that Meta might be considering integrating with the decentralised social network protocol Activity Pub.

  • World Cup 2023: Pakistan matches may be rescheduled again

    World Cup 2023: Pakistan matches may be rescheduled again

    The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) has asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to change the schedule of two matches for the upcoming 2023 ICC World Cup in India. After security concerns were raised by local police, Indian media reported on Sunday.

    According to Indian media reports, Hyderabad police have sounded the security alarm for consecutive games, including the match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka on October 10 at Rajiv Gandhi Cricket Stadium.

    The Pakistan-Sri Lanka match was originally scheduled to take place on October 12. But the date was later changed to give Pakistan enough time between games after their match against India on October 14.

    Earlier this month, nine matches in the World Cup had been postponed. But the HCA has reportedly not been consulted on the matter as they were forced to submit a request to change the schedule.

    Hyderabad police informed HCA that they won’t be able to make security arrangements for back-to-back matches. Further security will be needed for the Pakistan and India match especially.

    The match between Pakistan and India was originally scheduled for October 15. But it was rescheduled for October 14 due to the Indian festival Navratri.

    World Cup will start from October 5, continuing till November 19. In which a total of 10 teams competing for the title of Champions. World Cup will be played at a total of 10 different venues.

    Read More: Team AGONxi8 won PUBG mobile pro League Pakistan Fall 2023

    However, BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla shut down the request of Reschedule.

    There will be no other changes to how the World Cup is played, as it requires the participation of multiple stakeholders.

    Hindustan Times reported that Rajeev Shukla said “I can’t say for sure that will change, but back-to-back games are not ideal. I mean, it would be great if they (BCCI) reconsider”.

    BCCI vise president Rajeev Shukla shut down the request of Reschedule

    Rajeev Shukla shut down the request of reschedule and said:

    “I am in charge of Hyderabad, the World Cup venue. If there is a problem or something like that, we will do our best to fix it. Changing the World Cup schedule will not be easy, nor is it likely to happen. Only BCCI cannot change the schedule, teams, ICC, and all involved” Rajeev Shukla said.

  • Pakistani rupee slides to Rs297.13 against US dollar on first day of the week, losing Rs1.35

    Pakistani rupee slides to Rs297.13 against US dollar on first day of the week, losing Rs1.35

    The Pakistani rupee (PKR) continued its decline against the US dollar on the first working day of the week. PKR went down by 0.45 per cent, which is about Rs1.35, and closed the day at Rs297.13 in the interbank market, as reported by the State Bank of Pakistan.

    This shows that over the past five trading sessions, the Pakistani rupee has lost a total of Rs8.64. It’s important to note that on the previous Friday, the rupee had closed at Rs295.78 after losing 0.86 paisas, which is about 0.29 per cent.

    Looking at last week, from Tuesday to Friday, the Pakistani rupee experienced a significant loss of Rs7.29. This indicates a period of notable fluctuation for the rupee in the foreign exchange market.

  • Policemen being investigated for filming female colleagues for TikTok without their permission

    Policemen being investigated for filming female colleagues for TikTok without their permission

    A TikTok video has been circulating across Twitter (now X) recorded by two male police officers of the Punjab police. The video shows female police officers in the middle of a meeting, being recorded without their knowledge. The video has been dubbed with a Bollywood song while the policemen give unprofessional expressions.

    When the video was criticized by Twitter users, the official page of Punjab Police responded, condemning the action and stating that an investigation against the two men is underway.

  • Khalil-ul-Rehman Qamar is still not over Mahira Khan schooling him for his misogyny

    Khalil-ul-Rehman Qamar is still not over Mahira Khan schooling him for his misogyny

    Controversial drama writer Khalil-ul-Rehman Qamar has said that he will never work with superstar Mahira Khan again. The writer had landed in a storm when during a TV appearance alongside journalist Marvi Sarmad on Neo TV, he hurled swear words at her after she chanted the famous Aurat March slogan ‘Mera jism meri marzi’. Several prominent figures lashed out at Qamar on his misogynist behavior, including actress Mahira Khan. Her outspoken condemnation became the source of a grudge against the actress that Qamar seems to carry till date.

    How dare a woman correct a man for using degrading, disgusting language against another woman, right?

    Recently, while talking on ‘Public Demand with Mohsin Abbas Haider’ the ‘Mere Pass Tum Ho’ writer was asked about whether he would ever ‘forgive’ Mahira Khan. Qamar replied that despite efforts made by others to fix the feud between the two, the screen writer has no desire to ever work with the actress again.

    “I’m still shocked today that the way the two of us respected each other, it gave her no right to tweet the way she did. She had every right to phone me, she could have discussed with me and I could have explained…She is a beautiful and accomplished actress but I’ll never be able to work with her.”

    Mahira has never publicly expressed regret or spoken about the feud, however, KRQ keeps talking about it three years later, openly expressing resentment towards her.

    Last year, KRQ shared a screenshot of Mahira condemning the brutal language Khalil used against Marvi, and in the caption he wrote: “May iska behad ehtram karta tha lekin iski ye zaban aur ghatiapan mujhay martay dam tk nahi bhoolay ga.”

    Like last year, KRQ shared a screenshot of Mahira ciondemning the brutal language Khalil used against Marvi, and in the caption he wrote: “May iska behad ehtram karta tha lekin iski ye zaban aur ghatiapan mujhay martay dam tk nahi bhoolay ga.”

    During an interview with Nadir Ali in October 2022, KRQ said Mahira had lost out on the opportunity to star in ‘London Nahi Jaungi’ and ‘Mere Pass Tum Ho’ because of her comments.

  • Anti-terrorism court grants 3-day physicial remand of Imaan Mazari and Ali Wazir

    Lawyer and activist Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Former Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Ali Wazir were produced before Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain on Monday. Imaan’s legal team argued that “Police have not yet found anything,” and that “officials had also not investigated anything related to Imaan”.

    It was also mentioned that Imaan fainted at the police station and was unable to meet her mother. “Imaan Mazari wants accountability of institutions for which she is being called a terrorist,”

    Similarly, Ali Wazir affirmed that “nothing wrong” has been done and that they had insisted the interim government let them gather in islamabad. “We wanted our voices to be heard in Islamabad”, added Wazir.

    The court reversed its verdict and granted a three-day physical remand of the two.

    On Sunday, 20 August, human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and former lawmaker Ali Wazir were arrested by “unidentified persons”. While the reasons for the arrests have not been given by the police, Islamabad Capital Police stated, “No one is authorised to give a statement from a police station.”

    Imaan Mazari’s mother, Shireen Mazari, said while talking to the media that Imaan was dragged out and taken away. The policewomen also dragged Shireen Mazari herself but the officials let her go since they were only there to arrest Imaan Mazari.

    About twenty men made their way to Imaan’s bedroom and confiscated her laptop and phone. They did not let her change her clothes either and dragged her out where another 20 officials were standing outside. No men, however, wore police uniforms.

    The cases so far

    On Friday, 18 August, approximately 300 people attended the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement protest in Islamabad. The speakers included Ali Wazir and Imaan Mazari. The focus of the speeches was condemnation of discrimination against the Pashtuns and called for the return of missing persons.

    Imaan Mazari and Ali Wazir were presented before district and sessions court where Judicial Magistrate Ihtasham Alam Khan heard two of their cases on Sunday.

    In the first, terrorism case, the investigating officer (IO) requested for a 10-day physical remand. The judge, however, has ordered for the two to be presented in an anti-terrorism court. Imaan was to be kept in a women police station till Monday.

    In the other case, the IO requested a five-day physical remand for Mazari and Wazir but the judge said the court could not grant Imaan’s physical remand.

    She has been sent on 14-day judicial remand with orders to be produced on September 2 whereas Wazir has been granted two-day physical remand after pre and post-medical examination.

    Two first information reports (FIR) have been registered against Wazir and Imaan.

    The first FIR was registered on the complaint of Tarnol Station House Officer (SHO) Miam Mohammad Imran who was present at Tarnol Phatak chowk to ensure peace during a rally led by Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM). According to the complainant, the rallly devaited from the allocated area violating no-objection certificate

    The SHO has claimed that the participants of about 700-800 were armed with sticks who attacked the police, official vehicles, and shut down shops when asked to restore access to GT road that they had blocked.

    The second FIR was registered under the complaint of Inspector Mohammad Ashraf who was present when about 950 PTM supporters blocked GT road. He said that people including Manzoor Pashteen and Iman Mazari spoke against the state, inciting hatred and revolt.

    A PTM spokesperson told AFP that many more members have also been detained since Friday protests.

  • X starts deleting Tweets including photos and links shared before 2014

    X starts deleting Tweets including photos and links shared before 2014

    Twitter seems to have removed a bunch of pictures uploaded on the platform between 2011 and 2014. This was noticed by a user named Tom Coates last Saturday. Not only did the images vanish, but links made using Twitter’s link shortening service during the same time don’t work anymore.

    Tom Coates updated his tweet to explain that pictures are gone and links are broken, but the data still exists on Twitter’s servers.

    Famous images like Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscars selfie, which got over 2.8 million retweets and is the most retweeted post ever, were affected. Luckily, this image was restored on Saturday, along with a tweet of Barack Obama hugging the First Lady after his re-election in 2012.

    It seems that photos and links added from 2016 onward are working fine. This suggests there might be a cutoff related to this issue. This also lines up with when Twitter added “enhanced URL enrichment” for link previews and “native attachments” that let you add photos without using up the 140-character limit.

  • Activist Malala Yousafzai sends support to Afghanistan women’s football team

    Women’s rights activist and Noble Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has expressed her support for the women’s football team from Afghanistan, who were banned by the current Taliban government from playing the sport after the takeover in 2021. Currently, the team resides in Melbourne, Australia, where they escaped to in 2021, but right now the football team is not recognised by the government or the FIFA organisation.

    “I’m very sad. I was expecting a lot more for football’s governing body,” said Khalida Popal, who was the former captain of the women’s football team.

    “[Fifa needs] to stand with these women. We want leadership – we need a strong voice to stand with us. Don’t keep silent.”

    Currently, the Afghanistan Women’s Football team is being sponsored by the Australian professional football club Melbourne Victory, and now activist and Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has joined the ranks in calling for the team to be recognised by FIFA.

    The producer behind ‘Joyland’ was in Melbourne to watch the Women’s World Cup and shared a post of her meeting the team members of the Afghanistan women’s football team, writing that she was inspired by their bravery and determination.

    “I came to Melbourne because of a story. The New York Times published an incredible account of the keeper for the Afghanistan Women’s Team and how its founder @khalida_popal_girlpower helped the players escape near-certain death after the Taliban gained control and banned women’s sports. I was inspired by their bravery and determination. They were so proud to play for their national team and now they were burying their jerseys to avoid being caught and killed.

    Today, I finally met the AWT in person— including Fatima and Khalida — to continue to support their campaign to be recognised by FIFA. This is the power of stories and why we must continue to share them. You never know who could be listening.”

    The Pakistan-born activist urged her followers to read more about the football team and to donate funds to help support them as they live in exile and away from their families

  • Team AGONxi8 won PUBG mobile pro League Pakistan Fall 2023

    Team AGONxi8 won PUBG mobile pro League Pakistan Fall 2023

    AGONxi8, a PUBG mobile competitive team, has won PMPL (PUBG mobile pro league), the biggest PUBG mobile event in Pakistan, organized by Krafton, Tencent and Nodwin.

    PMPL has a league stage that is two weeks long, in which the top 20 teams from Pakistan compete with each other. The top 16 teams from the league stage qualify for finals, where they compete for the title of PMPL Champions.

    A mini match of TDM (Team Death Match) is also played during this event having an overall prize pool of USD 1000.
    In the first week of the tournament, Agonxi8 was on the top spot with 238 points, holding on to first place in the second week with 210 points. In the finals, they played aggressively from day one. By day three, they finished in first place with 295 points.

    FALAK was the MVP of this PMPL, having 60 eliminations points. He also makes a global record of 60 elimination in the three days finals. The previous record was made by TonyK from team Vampire E-Sports from Thailand.

    The overall prize pool is 70,000$ which is distributed as follows:
    Participation award: 1,750$
    TDM Award: 1,000$
    MVP (Most value able player) Award: 1,000$

    AGONxi8 also qualified for PMGC (PUBG mobile global championship) which will be a LAN event in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. PMGC is the global tournament of PUBG mobile with a prize pool of USD 4,000,000.

    Overall Standings of PMPL fall 2023: