Afghanistan’s Taliban-run higher education ministry has said that female students would not be allowed access to the country’s universities until further notice, barring them from getting education, something that is their right and a basic necessity.
Where the Afghan Taliban’s takeover poses threat to many, people questioned what will happen to the women? Will their needs be sabotaged? Will they be treated as a lesser entity of the state? Will the women have freedom to live and recover from the torments of the past? Will the women be given the chance to have a good life? Looking at the present situation, one can only think: Why are the Afghan Taliban so afraid of a woman’s mind? If you educate a woman, you educate an entire generation. But this notion fails to prevail in the region.
The ban on female education has drawn international condemnation and people across the world are angry at how Afghan women are being treated.
After the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021, they closed schools across the country. Most schools eventually reopened, but girls in secondary school were told to stay at home until conditions— which the Taliban didn’t define— were ready for them to return to classes. The announcement to return to school never came.
In addition to barring women and girls from education, the Taliban have imposed a raft of rules to govern female behaviour.
We can only hope that the Taliban recognise women as equals and give them their due right and recognition.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry has announced that Chief Minister (CM) of Punjab, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, will get a vote of confidence from the provincial assembly before January 11.
Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan has already summoned a session of the assembly on Jan 11.
In a press conference on Saturday, Fawad Chaudhry claimed that the coalition government in Punjab has the support of 187 lawmakers.
He added that Imran Khan chaired a meeting of the party’s senior leadership on Saturday where it was decided that the vote of confidence would take place at the earliest.
Earlier in the week, the Lahore High Court had reinstated Elahi as the chief minister and also issued notices to all parties involved in the case, summoning them to appear before the bench on January 11.
The court suspended Punjab Governor Muhammad Baligur Rehman’s order till the next hearing (Jan 11) and also did not make it compulsory for the CM to take a vote of confidence on his orders.
In a meeting on Saturday, PTI chief Imran Khan predicted that the next general elections would be held in March or April.
On Friday, CM Elahi said that the Punjab Assembly would be dissolved in line with Khan’s directives. His statement came moments after he assured the high court that he would not dissolve the legislative.
Chief Minister (CM) Pervaiz Elahi has said on Friday that the Punjab Assembly will be dissolved in line with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s directives, moments after he assured a high court that he would not dissolve the legislative.
“The decision to dissolve the assemblies is final; Imran Khan’s decision will be implemented,” the chief minister wrote on his official Twitter handle.
اسمبلیوں کی تحلیل کا فیصلہ حتمی ہے عمران خان کے فیصلے پر مکمل عملدرآمد ہو گا۔ امپورٹڈ حکومت انتخابات سے بھاگنا چاہتی ہے۔ ہم امپورٹڈ حکومت کو عوام کے کٹہرے میں پیش کریں گے اور حتمی فیصلہ عوام کا ہو گا۔
The Lahore High Court (LHC) restored Elahi as the chief minister on Friday evening, December 23, following an undertaking submitted by him stating that he would not dissolve the provincial assembly.
PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry has also emphasized that provincial assemblies will be dissolved “in any case”.
“The undertaking that Pervaiz Elahi has given is technical. However, the PTI does not agree with the undertaking that was given to the court.
Assemblies will be dissolved in any case,” Fawad told journalists in Lahore.
A a viral video from an Indian flight went viral which showed a passenger calling a cabin crew member his “servant” amidst a high-pitched argument.
The flight was going from Turkey to India.
“You are pointing finger at me and yelling at me. My crew is crying because of you. Please try to understand, there is a cart and counted meals are uplifted (on the plane). We can only serve what your boarding,” she is heard saying in the video.
To this the man asks why she is “yelling” at him. “Because you are yelling on us,” she answers.
At one point, the passenger said “why are you yelling? Shut up” to the air-hostess, who also asks the former to “shut up.”
“I am peacefully listening to you with all due respect, but you have to respect the crew as well,” the air hostess says.
Tempers soaring even mid-air: “I am not your servant”
“We are aware of the incident that took place on flight 6E 12 from Istanbul to Delhi on December 16, 2022… IndiGo is cognizant of the needs of its customers and it is our constant endeavor to provide a courteous and hassle-free experience to our customers. We are looking into the incident and would like to assure that customers’ comfort has always been our top priority. We are committed to providing the best experience at all times,” said the airline in a statement.
Celebrity public news is an unnecessary but amusing part of our lives. We abhor it but we love the small distraction it provides us from our daily lives. We hear headlines about a celebrity getting married, getting engaged, or promoting some diet tea product and move on. But there are a few times when a celebrity begins trending not because of an announcement but also because of a disturbing rise of misogynist backlash that pales in comparison to how a male public figure would be dealt with. And we cannot ignore this trend and go about our day, because it reflects on how publicly, women are made to face the same kind of scrutiny and slut-shaming that men aren’t subjected to at all.
This morning, Reham Khan announced her marriage to 36-year-old Mirza Bilal Baig. Minutes later, the ex-television host was trending across platforms. There was a wave of posts congratulating the journalist and filmmaker and sending her warm wishes for her future. The feel-good factor was quickly overshadowed by a tsunami of trolls sending hateful comments trolling Khan for the 13 year age-gap in her marriage, calling her all sorts of slurs, assumptions that she is power-hungry and selfish for wanting to marry a younger man when she is in her forties.
Some of the comments, like this Bashir here, seems to assume Reham is a man-eater for marrying someone younger than her. Would he say the same for male politicians marrying and discarding their young wives as soon as they get bored?
Or like this man jumping in the bandwagon to accuse Reham of being a gold digger, marrying famous men to write explosive books about them. Sir jee, women don’t exist in boxes to depend on men in order to make their own fame. Reham Khan had a career before she married Imran Khan. She didn’t need him to make her place in the public sphere. No woman should be reduced to her personal connections, her hard work counting for naught.
If the men were not enough , a lot of women can’t find it in them to support another woman comfortably living her own life and doing whatever she wants. Like this one calling her ‘graceless’ and unwilling to settle down. Why should you put an age limit to settling down and getting married? Women don’t die after their forties. They cannot suddenly stop living life and exploring what they like. As far as Reham’s multiple marriages go, Islam has granted both men and women equal permission to marry or divorce, so she has not committed any crime.
As a popular feminist slogan goes: ‘Sexism is a social disease’. It reduces women down to mere objects, forces them to deal with the endless unsolicited comments from not only men in their lives, but outside their homes consistently. It demands them to keep moulding themselves according to what other people think of them, and never seek their own independence or choices. When the truth is: women don’t need to keep justifying their choices to others.
We saw this previously with Churails actress Yasra Rizvi, when she faced an endless amount of hateful comments calling her ‘gold digger’ and ‘power hungry’ when she married a man ten years younger than her. Last year after rumors spread of a split between the two, Rizvi uploaded a post of the couple reminding everyone that they chose to remain blissful about their union, despite what haters think.
Hopefully, with Reham Khan and other public figures finally putting the notion of settling in your 20s in its grave, our audiences, especially mard hazarat, can come to respect women as multi-facated beings who don’t need to get married at the age of 25 and give up on life. It’s necessary for women to realise that they don’t owe an explanation about their decisions to random men, and it doesn’t make them a failure if they choose to marry later in their lives.
The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) continued their declining spree, plunging by $584 million to reach $6.1 billion as of December 16.
According to SBP, this is the lowest level of reserves since April 2014.
SBP’s reserves have decreased by $11.6 billion over the past 12 months. The central bank’s reserves, which were $17.7 billion in December 2021 and are now at $6.1 billion, hardly cover a month’s worth of imports.
Pakistan’s total liquid foreign reserves are currently $12 billion, with $5.9 billion of that amount held by commercial banks as net foreign reserves.
The lack of foreign assistance along with a delay in the IMF program’s revival, a greater trade imbalance, and rising foreign debt payments severely depleted the reserves.
The Fund’s criticism over an elevated budget deficit is said to be the reason why the ninth review discussions have been postponed.
While the IMF urges that the government must stabilize the economy, the government seems unwilling to levy more taxes in order to raise income.
Hailing from diverse realms of showbiz, the Pakistani showbiz industry icons have dominated the Top 50 Asian Stars list. Having greatly contributed to the entertainment industry, these Pakistanis celebrities were recognised nationally and internationally.
The list is published annually and this time, Pakistani actors and singers have made their nation proud. From Fawad Khan to Arooj Aftab, there have been eight stars who were listed among other South Asian artists on Britain’s EasternEye.
The list includes Fawad Khan, Sajal Aly, Atif Aslam, Ali Sethi and Shae Gill, Humayun Saeed, Hadiqa Kiani, Arooj Aftab, and Riz Ahmed.
In ascending order, Fawad Khan sits at number two. The handsome hunk broke records with his terrific performance in The Legend of Maula Jatt smashing all Pakistani box-office records globally.
Following Khan is the iconic singer Atif Aslam securing the 13th spot. Aslam also became the most-streamed Pakistani singer of 2022.
Sitting at number 16 is actress Sajal Aly. The diva made her international debut with the English film What’s Love Got To Do With It? that propelled her to international stardom.
At the 17th spot, we have Riz Ahmed. This British Asian actor has been shining bright like a diamond by winning a Best Live Action Short Film Oscar at the 94th Academy Awards for The Long Goodbye.
For the 38th spot, Arooj Aftab jumped in to make it to the list. The New York-based singer is the first female Pakistani artist to win a Grammy award for Best Global Music Performance, along with securing a Best New Artist nomination.
At number 40 we have the talented singer Hadiqa Kiani. The Pakistani pop icon with her soldout concerts, philanthropy, and humanitarian work during the flash floods in Pakistan helped her secure a spot on the list of accomplished artists.
Another fine actor of Lollywood who recently made his Netflix debut is Humayun Saeed sitting at number 45. Saeed’s fine acting skills helped him land a key role as Dr. Hasnat Khan in the popular The Crown series.
At number 46 is the Pasoori duo Shae Gill and Ali Sethi for the roaring success of their Coke Studio 14 single.
Reham Khan has tied the knot with an overseas Pakistani, 36-year-old Mirza Bilal Baig, who lives in the US. Mirza Bilal Baig is a corporate professional and has been married twice before. He has one child from a previous marriage.
Reham Khan and Bilal tied the knot in a simple ceremony in Seattle.
The news was shared by Reham from her official social media pages with pictures of the two.
Reham, while sharing the news about her marriage wrote, ” I am delighted to share the good news with my followers & well-wishers that I have tied the knot in a simple marriage ceremony with Mirza Bilal. In the absence of my parents I want to request you for your prayers and kind wishes as I embark on my new life. Life is about love and understanding, and after a very long lonely struggle I finally met a man who impressed me with his intelligence and won me with his honesty and his composure. Although Mirza is a good 13 years younger to me, he is the sage in my life. A man I can trust. A man who will be around me in my darkest hour. A man who I feel safe with. Like you have welcomed me in your hearts and prayers, I am sure you will extend the same warmth to the man who I have chosen to share my life with. I would like to thank Mirza’s parents for warmly welcoming me into their beautiful family, and my children for being supportive as always. Special thanks to my son for fulfilling duties of being my Vakeel. Finally, as we are both hoping it will be third time lucky for us, I would politely request you to respect the privacy of our respective immediate families & our children.”
Mirza Bilal Baig is a former model and has also been part of “The 4 Men Show”, “Dil Pey Mut Ley Yaar” and “National Alien Broadcast”.
Yesterday, actress Mawra Hocane shared pictures of herself and her mother performing Umrah together at Makkah.
In the caption, Hocane revealed that this was her first Umrah and that she had wanted to do for a long time. Now she has gotten a chance to fulfill her wish.
21/12/22 marks the fulfilment of my biggest biggest wish ALHUMDULILLAH
We performed Umrah together, Mama & I.. twice.. what more could I possibly ask for now.. ALHUMDULILLAH ❤️ Life truly feels complete.. I have to think hard now to wish again for a long time… just so so grateful..
Thankyou.. all of you for all your prayers & best wishes.. I prayed for all of you as well.. my first Umrah will always be so so special for me.. a small little glimpse of my dreams coming true..
The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that a marriage can be dissolved on the basis of cruelty inflicted by a husband upon his wife. The verdict was announced in a case filed against the Peshawar High Court (PHC) verdict which overturned the decision of the family court of dissolving a marriage on the basis of cruelty by the husband. Headed by Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, a three-judge Supreme Court bench announced the landmark verdict.
Family court had dissolved the marriage due to cruelty following the recording of evidence and hearing from both parties on a suit brought by Tayyeba Ambareen against her husband Shafqat Ali Kiyani demanding dower money, dowry items, medical expenses, and maintenance for herself and their daughter.
However, the decision was overturned and the woman was instructed to return five tolas of gold to her husband.
The SC in its verdict has said that the family court rightly dissolved the marriage on account of cruelty after a thorough examination and consideration of evidence.
