Actor and former singer Ahmed Ali Butt has released the first episode of his podcast series ‘Excuse Me’, featuring comedian and host of ‘Hasna Mana Hai’, Tabish Hashmi. A clip from the episode is going viral in which Tabish opened up about the time he performed stand- up comedy in colleges, stating that the main purpose of such events was to pick people from crowds and mock something about them.
“This was 2009-2010, we were all misogynist, mocking people for skin tone, body shaming them and even for short height,” remarked the comedian. “We didn’t know what we were doing was wrong.”
To which, Ahmed Ali Butt responded that this kind of comedy was not wrong at all, elaborating:
“I don’t think such a thing as this is wrong. Comedy is always done at the expense of others. Otherwise you shouldn’t do comedy at all.”
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has recently made changes to Form 45, a document used for counting results.
According to the ECP, from now on, date and time will also be entered into Form 45. The Commission said that objections to the amendment can be submitted till October 20.
What is Form 45
Form 45, commonly known as the “Result of the Count” form, is a significant record in the Pakistani electoral process. It plays a pivotal role in documenting and revealing voting outcomes at specific polling stations. Here, we delve into the importance of Form 45 and its role in Pakistan’s electoral process:
Purpose: Form 45 is a cornerstone of transparency and accountability in Pakistan’s elections. Its primary goal is to create an official record of voting outcomes at specific polling stations. This documentation is indispensable for compiling and verifying results at the constituency level.
Contents: Form 45 includes details like the polling station number, constituency name, the total number of registered voters at that station, the total votes cast, and a comprehensive breakdown of votes garnered by each candidate.
Signatures: Form 45 is signed by the Presiding Officer responsible for overseeing the voting process. Additionally, representatives of candidates present at the polling station also sign the form as witnesses. These signatures are crucial for confirming the accuracy of recorded results.
Transparency and Verification: Form 45 is instrumental in maintaining transparency throughout the voting process. It empowers candidates and their representatives to independently validate results recorded at the polling station and cross-reference them with the final results. This robust verification process minimizes the potential for irregularities or manipulation in election outcomes.
Compilation and Reporting: After polling concludes, the Presiding Officer completes Form 45 and promptly submits it to the Returning Officer overseeing the respective constituency. The Returning Officer’s role is pivotal, as they collect and consolidate Form 45 from all polling stations within the constituency to determine final election results.
Public Accessibility: In a dedicated effort to promote transparency, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) mandates Presiding Officers to prominently display Form 45 outside polling stations for public scrutiny. This transparency measure enables voters, candidates, and their representatives to openly observe, verify, and validate election results, fostering confidence in the electoral process.
At least 42 people have reportedly died after flash floods swamped following a glacial lake burst its banks in the Indian Himalayas in Kolkata this week.
150 missing people are still missing.
On Wednesday, a cloudburst led to severe rain, causing Lhonak Lake to overflow and a consequential avalanche resulting in the flooding of Teesta river.
It is said to be one of the worst calamities in the region in more than 50 years.
Accoeiding to authorities in Sikkim, 22,000 people have been affected.
“We got calls from people that river levels could rise at 3am and we ran for our lives,” Reuters quotes Javed Ahmed Ansari, 44, a resident of Teesta valley, who owns a river rafting business.
“We ran towards the hill in the jungle … We saw houses getting swept away. I can now only see the first floor of our house which is filled with sand, everything is submerged.”
According to Reuters, officials involved in the project said that scientists and government authorities had beenbworking on an early warning system for glacial floods at Lhonak Lake which could have given people more time to evacuate if it was fully operational.
The Lux Style Awards really lived up to its name last night with how the creme de la creme of Pakistan’s entertainment industry came out, dressed to the nines. Some of the biggest stars of Pakistan were present to celebrate the night’s occasion like Saba Qamar, Saim Sadiq, Yumna Zaidi, and even Maya Ali. Most importantly, who were the best looks of the night? This time we can safely say that celebrities served a whole three course dinner with the way they slayed on the red carpet, and we’re sharing some of the looks that had us going oh la la!
Haseena Yumna Zaidi was the belle of the ball last night, walking away with two of the biggest awards and looking like she stepped out of a fairy tale. The actress wore a shimmering ensemble by Noor H Gul, paired with a simple makeup look and her hair in an elegant bun.
Alina Khan may have only stepped into the main screen last year with her standout performance as Biba in ‘Joyland’ but she isn’t ready to fade away yet. The actress left everyone spellbound by how serene she looked at the awards last night with a decorated peplum she paired with a black silk skirt, and silver earrings, to make her outfit shine.
Saba Qamar was a vision of elegance in the silk gown she had donned for the red carpet, and then the glittering ivory saari she wore during the performances. The actress walked away with the Best Actress award because of her stellar performance in ‘Kamli’.
Shae Gill won us over last year with her gorgeous singing but she is also ready to win more hearts with her sense of style. The ‘Sukoon’ singer looked gorgeous posing in a shimmery white gown with her hair pulled back in a bun, and was the recipient of the Most Streamed Song Of The Year award for ‘Pasoori’.
The headliner of the awards, and the one with whom we close this piece with a bang was definitely Ayesha Omar. She didn’t just come to serve, she came to break all expectations and leave us absolutely flabbergasted, even though the actress was not nominated for any awards. The ‘Bulbulay’ actress looked as if she stepped out of a Gatsby party with her glittering, dark blue ensemble along with her hair set in a 50’s style hairdo. We feel a separate category should be set up by Lux just to award the stylish person of the night: so that Ayesha wins every time!
The prestigious Lux Style Awards were held in Karachi last night, celebrating the best of fashion and entertainment. The night’s hosts were Fahad Mustafa, Saba Qamar, Ahmed Ali Butt and Dur-e-Fishan Saleem, while several celebrities took home some of the biggest awards of the night.
Veteran celebrities were honoured for their contributions to Pakistan’s entertainment industry, like Reema Khan took home The Youngest Lifetime Achievement Award, after Saba Qamar honoured the actress with a medley performance, and Marina Khan received the Lux Changemaker’s Award.
Two of biggest celebrations last night was when two fan-favourite celebrities walked home with the biggest awards of the night. Yumna Zaidi was the belle of the ball last night when she bagged two awards for her performance in ‘Bakhtawar’ making her the most awards actress in Pakistan’s entertainment industry, and Pasoori got it’s well needed due after breaking out as an international hit with Ali Sethi walking home with two of the biggest awards of the night. While in the film category, Kamli was honoured with Saba Qamar receiving the Best Actress award, and the film receiving the Best Film of the year award.
Here is a complete list of all the winners from last night:
Just days ahead of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s anticipated return to Pakistan, a new medical report has been submitted to the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday by the legal team of the former Prime Minister, Geo has said.
Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), had been granted permission by the LHC in November 2019 to travel abroad for medical treatment based on his deteriorating health.
Since then, Nawaz Sharif has resided in London. The court, meanwhile, has ordered him to regularly submit medical reports to keep authorities updated about his health conditions.
In September 2023, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif announced that his elder brother would be ending his self-imposed exile of four years and returning to Pakistan on October 21.
The latest medical report, filed by Nawaz Sharif’s legal team, features insights from Professor Carlo di Mario of London’s Royal Brompton Hospital, who has been providing medical care to the former Prime Minister throughout his stay in London over the past years.
Professor Carlo di Mario, an expert in Interventional Cardiology, detailed Nawaz Sharif’s medical history, stating, “We initially attempted medical treatment, strengthening his antianginal therapy.”
However, due to persistent anginal symptoms and the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the decision was made to perform an angioplasty in November 2022 to cure a blocked left circumflex artery.
The procedure included rotational atherectomy, intravascular lithotripsy, and the deployment of multiple stents under IVUS guidance. Despite these interventions, the medical report indicates that Nawaz Sharif still experiences some residual anginal symptoms, and continuous monitoring is recommended.
The report also highlights the complexity of Nawaz Sharif’s medical condition, mentioning “diffuse distal coronary disease in a patient with diabetes and multiple other comorbidities that would require frequent follow-up investigations both in London and Pakistan.”
With this fresh medical report submitted to the Lahore High Court, Nawaz Sharif’s health status remains a focal point as the date of his return to Pakistan draws nearer.
The Anti-Human Trafficking Circle Lahore of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested four suspects who went to Saudi Arabia to beg under the guise of Umrah.
Among the four suspects were two women and two men.
According to the spokesperson of FIA, the accused were offloaded by FIA Immigration at Lahore Airport. They had reportedly gone to Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq several times to beg, and were to be received by Pakistani agents on arrival in Saudi Arabia.
Half of the money earned through begging was to be given to the agent.
So far, a case against the accused and the agents has been registered while investigations are underway.
Pakistan’s sweetheart Mahira Khan was a picture of serenity at her intimate wedding to tech businessman Salim Karim.
There was barely any information of who was invited to the private occasion, where only close friends and family members, along with a few figures from the entertainment industry, were present. In our previous story, we were able to decipher that among the attendees were PPP Senator Sherry Rehman, fashion designer and Mahira’s childhood best friend Feeha Noor Javed, and social media bloggers.
However, it looks like some celebrities did attend the occasion. Producer Nina Kashif shared pictures of the event on her Instagram stories, where director and actor Sarmad Khoosat, actor Shehryar Munawar, singer Azaan Sami Khan, fashion designer Asim Raza, director Nabeel Qureshi could be seen.
The producer, who partnered with the ‘Raees’ actress to purchase the rights of Faiqa Mansab’s book ‘This House Of Clay and Water’ shared some pictures from the mehndi where actress Momal Sheikh was also present, who is starring in Mahira’s currently airing drama ‘Razia’.
The sister of the groom Farah shahid Karim had shared a picture of the family along with the groom with the caption: “My brother’s wedding”
Actor Muneeb Butt appeared as a guest on the late night comedy talk show ‘Mazaaq Raat’ where he was asked a question by an audience member on whether his wife, actor Aiman Khan would make a return to acting. Khan’s last drama was 2018’s ‘Bandi’ after which she gave birth to the couple’s daughter Amal in 2019, and then gave birth to another daughter in 2023.
The ‘Sar-e-Rah’ actor responded that it was his wife’s own choice to come back to her career.
“It is not my decision to tell her what to do and what not to do,” Muneeb shared. “This is her own life and her own decisions. I do not wish to dictate her on anything.”
We love how Muneeb is the ideal supportive husband, one who is not imposing his perspective on her.
It was a picture of serenity, one that won the hearts of millions of Pakistan. A 38-year-old single mother looking stunning in a light outfit walked down the aisle, shedding tears of joy as she married the love of her life, Salim Karim. For the past three days, Mahira Khan’s wedding was all anyone could talk about, and one many women are expressing joy about. One user shared a picture of Mahira as a bride, alongside veteran celebrity couple Manzar Sehbai and Samina Ahmed (who both married at a later age) with the caption “Love and life are worth trying for”, which pretty much sums up why we are feeling so emotionally attached to the event. Not because it’s a celebrity who got married, but because she chose to marry on her own terms, and kept advocating throughout her career that families can be complex and unique.
Mahira Khan married during the beginning of her career, to Ali Askari, whom she called her “childhood sweetheart” in some interviews. This decision, she revealed during a session at Faiz International Festival, was something other people urged her not to follow, because it might harm her career.
“You’re just 21 years old!’ Mahira recalled Ghazanfar Ali telling her, when she was working as a VJ.
“Career, career, career, it didn’t make sense to me. I just wanted to get married,” said Mahira. She spoke about how she objected to the concept that a film heroine is not allowed to get married or have a baby, and has to, in a way, remain “an untouched girl” to the public, while the same isn’t expected from the man.
The couple got divorced in 2015, but Mahira maintained that it was not out of enmity, as the two continued to remain close friends even to this day. She maintains a cordial relationship with him to this day
“I think that Azlan’s father and their family and my family, we are on the same page, when it comes to Azlan,” the actress told Fuchsia in 2021. “I’m very close to them, even now, as I have grown up in their house. It takes work, it takes swallowing your pride at times, and it takes trying to understand the other person. And for your child’s sake, you do it. If you’re lucky that people from both sides are good and looking at the child’s well-being and true happiness, then you forget the bitterness.”
She also revealed recently to Frieha Altaf that their relationship wasn’t abusive, and the two continued to remain good friends to this day, while ensuring that Azlan remained their top-most priority.
Such words coming from a woman hold a lot of weight as she is currently one of Pakistan’s top-paid actresses, and also one who comes from a country where divorce is treated like a plague. A 2021 report said atleast 19,875 households in Pakistan were headed by single mothers, but the majority of our pop culture loathes divorcees and does it openly. Only this year, two of the most critically acclaimed dramas consisted of women forcefully married to a man their family chose.
Mahira’s marriage is a lighthouse moment, proving that families can comprises of two parents and a child, but can also include a step-parent, or even just a single mother. Her wedding wasn’t typical, a powerful reminder that you can settle when you want and choose how to celebrate your wedding. One picture that made the most rounds on social media and earned a lot of praise was when the actress walked down the aisle with her son.
Many users highlighted the beauty of this picture, an actress being given away by the son she raised on her own as a single mother, to the man she married for love. There’s nothing more beautiful than this moment, no matter how many celebrity weddings we watch in the future, watching Mahira gracefully embrace her ‘imperfect’ family, while encouraging other Pakistani women to do so, is the catharsis we all needed.
