Category: Uncategorized

  • Blast in Lahore leaves at least three dead, several injured

    Blast in Lahore leaves at least three dead, several injured

    A blast in Lahore near Pan Mandi in Lahore’s New Anarkali which is a crowded area occurred on Thursday.

    As per reports, the blast resulted in at least three deaths (confirmed by Deputy Commissioner (DC) Lahore) and 28 injuries. A police official said the blast caused a 1.5 feet-deep crater in the ground. The injured people were shifted to Mayo Hospital.

    An improvised explosive device (IED) was used in the attack.

    According to DC Lahore, no alert was issued previously by the government. He said that the blast took place at 1:45 pm, while the safe city cameras would be used to track down the culprits.

    The deceased has been identified as 38-year-old Ramzan, resident of Ferozewala, and a child aged 10-12, Zeeshan.

    The area was sealed as police officials were gathering evidence from the scene of the crime.

    After the blast, Twitter was flooded with videos and recent developments.

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan came forward to express his grief and requested a report from the Punjab government.

    Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar took notice of the explosion and instructed the director-general to submit a complete investigation report on it.

    Punjab Cheif Minister Usman Buzdar tweeted: “The blast near Anarkali Bazaar Lahore is a vicious act of sabotaging the atmosphere of law and order.”

    Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) Shehbaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz have also condemned the act.

  • IHC indicts ex-GB judge Rana Shamim in affidavit case, defers journalists’ indictment

    IHC indicts ex-GB judge Rana Shamim in affidavit case, defers journalists’ indictment

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday indicted former Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Judge Rana Shamim for allegations that he levelled against former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar in a signed affidavit in London.

    IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah has deferred the framing of charges against the media personnel who were also named in the case, including journalist Ansar Abbasi and Jang Group owner Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman.

    The contempt of court case is in accordance with the publication of an affidavit containing allegations that Saqib Nisar attempted to influence a case against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, to bring Imran Khan into power.

    The IHC chief justice said the court had been disrespected and questioned whether anyone had any issue with the high court.

    Justice Minallah said the court could not give a license for anyone to disrespect it. “[It is] not even realised that there was an attempt to influence a case [that was being heard in court]. This court believes in open accountability and welcomes it. Has there been any order from July 2018 till now on which this perception [of judges being compromised] fits?”

    “The article is not related to Saqib Nisar but it has to do with this court. People have been told the judges of this court are compromised. A case was fixed for hearing two days later when the story was published,” Justice Minallah said.

    The chief justice addressed Judge Shamim and asked if he had heard any contempt cases himself during his tenure as a judge. Shamim responded in the negative, saying he had neither heard such cases nor believed in the concept of contempt.

    At this point, Justice Minallah gave Judge Shamim the opportunity to present the arguments made in his petitions. Shamim said that in the first petition he requested that a fact-finding inquiry be conducted into the case instead of framing the charges. In the other petition, he requested for the attorney general to be removed as the prosecutor.

    He also said it was important for the requirements of justice that former CJP Nisar’s reply was also made part of the inquiry and cross-examined. “This will not be a case of criminal contempt unless the facts stated in the affidavit are proven wrong,” he argued.

    The court proceeded to reject Shamim’s petitions and indicted him.

    Moreover, adjourning the indictment against the journalists, Justice Minallah said that if it was found during the trial that the news story was published deliberately, then action would be taken.

    After the arguments, Justice Minallah adjourned the proceedings till February 15 and asked Shamim to present his written response.

  • COVID-19: Pakistan ranks number 2 in performance for measures taken against the virus

    COVID-19: Pakistan ranks number 2 in performance for measures taken against the virus

    Pakistan has been ranked number two in The Economists’ world normalcy index, that measures recovery and opening up of society and economy post COVID-19. The Economist has compiled data from January 2021 to January 2022.

    Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives and head of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Asad Umar, while sharing the screenshot of the report wrote. “Pakistan ranked number 2 in the world in Economist global normalcy index measuring recovery post covid opening up of society & economy. Pak was 3rd in the first evaluation and number 1 in the second. Pakistan is the only country in the world to be in top 3 in all three rankings.”

    Read more- NCOC bans indoor events in cities with Covid positivity rate over 10%

    Yesterday, NCOC announced a ban on indoor gatherings and events have been banned in the districts and cities with Covid-19 positivity rate exceeding 10 per cent. 

  • Justice Ayesha Malik confirmed for Supreme Court Judge, needs President’s formal approval

    Justice Ayesha Malik confirmed for Supreme Court Judge, needs President’s formal approval

    The Parliamentary Committee on Wednesday confirmed the nomination of Justice Ayesha Malik to the Supreme Court (SC).

    Justice Malik only requires the president’s formal assent to become the first woman to be elevated to the country’s top court.

    Justice Malik will remain a judge of the Supreme Court until March 2031 and may even have a chance to become the first woman to hold the post of chief justice.

    After a session on January 6, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) recommended Justice Malik’s name by a majority of five votes to four.

    Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, senior judge Justice Umar Ata Bandial, former judge Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Law Minister Barrister Farogh Naseem, and Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan had supported Justice Malik’s candidature, while Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Pakistan Bar Council representative Akhtar Hussain opposed the selection.

  • ‘Told to get done lips and nose surgeries, plastic doll’: Kriti Sanon opens up on Bollywood’s dark secrets

    ‘Told to get done lips and nose surgeries, plastic doll’: Kriti Sanon opens up on Bollywood’s dark secrets

    Bollywood actor Kriti Sanon has opened up on facing body-shaming and criticism about her looks in her latest interview.

    Recently, during her chat with Bollywood Bubble, the Housefull 4 diva talked about facing comments on her appearance as she was criticised for her nose, gummy smile, and lips and how she tackled it with grace.

    Kriti Sanon's Weight Loss Journey After the Release of Mimi Was a 'Real Task'

    The Dilwale star said, “There had been times when I was told to line my lips to (make it) look fuller. It didn’t make sense to me. I did try it once (she laughs).”

    She further added, “I was also told that my nostrils flare up a little bit when I smile. So, yes there will be criticism from everywhere. When I smile or laugh, sometimes they do but that’s normal na. I am not a plastic doll.”

    “People told me ‘You have gummy smile’. That I am born with, I can’t do anything about it. These are little things that people don’t say directly ki ‘yeh change karo (change this)’. I feel like those things everyone hears,” she revealed.

    She went on to say,” Someone was telling me now it’s not the pressure, but I think the pressure is increasing with all these Instagram filters and everything coming, everyone wants to be perfect all the time. So, I have gone through that, heard things. Someone asked me to make my waist a little more in. Sometimes random people also say things. You have to make sure that you are not listening to just everybody.”

    On the work front, Kriti was seen in Mimi last year and is now gearing up for her next film Adipurush with Prabhas.

  • FBR freezes all bank accounts of singer Aima Baig

    FBR freezes all bank accounts of singer Aima Baig

    The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has frozen all bank accounts related to Pakistani singer, Aima Baig over unpaid taxes on Wednesday. She has not paid her taxes from the years 2018, 2019, and 2020.

    She allegedly withdrew Rs 25 million from her bank accounts and emptied them before FBR attempted to recover money from the accounts.

    Now FBR is planning to seize all vehicles belonging to the singer.

    On January 14, 2022, Aima received a notice from the FBR for non-payment of taxes worth Rs 85 million.

    On the work front, the singer will feature in Pakistan Super Leagues’ (PSL) Anthem along with Atif Aslam. The music will be produced by Abdullah Siddiqui.

    She was recently in the news over a controversial video where she showed her middle finger to a person in the crowd during her concert.

    Aima clarified the reason for her actions, saying she did it because someone in the crowd did it first to her.

  • Senate passes resolution regarding artist royalties, celebrities laud

    Senate passes resolution regarding artist royalties, celebrities laud

    The Senate of Pakistan has passed a resolution that ensures royalties for artists, Senator Faisal Javed announced on Tuesday.

    The resolution, passed unanimously, would empower the Copyright Board to fix royalties for licensing and assignment of work and to ensure payments to artists, according to actor Humayun Saeed.

    Until now, artists only get paid once for their work but the media houses are free to re-run plays and movies featuring them and earn more money.

    Royalties are payments that artists receive on the reruns of their projects.

    Royalties had been the subject of debate since the death of actor Naila Jafferi, who had publicly appealed to the government that artist be given royalties. Her video came at a time when she was battling cancer.

    The resolution was introduced by Senator Javed. He congratulated the entertainment industry on Twitter.

    “Congratulations as the resolution has been passed by the Senate unanimously today. Appreciate the support from all the members of the house.”

    Celebrities such as Mikaal Zulfiqar Humayun Saeed, Adnan Siddiqui and Ramsha Khan lauded the development.

  • Bollywood special: How much do Akshay, Ranveer, Hrithik and Khans charge per film?

    Bollywood special: How much do Akshay, Ranveer, Hrithik and Khans charge per film?

    Bollywood is touted to be among the biggest film industries of the world, and has given birth to many transnational superstars. While some take upfront fees to be a part of the project, some opt for a profit-sharing deal to reduce the burden of recovery.

    Indian media tabloid, Pinkvilla has revealed the fee of Bollywood A-listers.

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    Akshay Kumar is among the actors who juggles between profit sharing and upfront fees. The actor has charged over100 crores for his forthcoming Cinderella. However, for some relatively smaller films and home productions, the actor has adopted a hybrid model i.e. charging a minimum amount as acting fees and then entering the profit sharing agreement in the ratio of 40 to 50 percent share in the profits. The actor had come on board Sooryavanshi for a sum of Rs 70 crore. The reason for Akshay Kumar to get such huge fees are the revenues from satellite and digital, as Khiladi’s films tend to do well on both platforms.

    Salman Khan was the first Indian star to get a salary of Rs 100 crore plus on a feature film with Sultan in 2016 and repeated the feat by becoming the first actor to get Rs 130 crore as acting fees in 2017 with Tiger Zinda Hai. Salman cracks a profit-sharing deal getting 60 to 70% of the total profits. Post Tiger Zinda Hai, it has all been home productions for Salman, which means he used to take home all of satellite and digital revenue as his acting fees. Bharat fetched him a sum of Rs 120 crore (Digital: Rs 80 crore, Satellite: Rs 40 crore).

    Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan have adopted the profit sharing model since the start of last decade. While Shah Rukh has been getting 60 percent of profit as his acting fees, Aamir has taken things a notch higher with a 75 percent share in profit. He got an elephant’s share for Dhoom 3, and Dangal. The fees of both these stars vary as per the revenues of films from all sources – right from satellite, digital to theatrical.

    Hrithik Roshan also has been following the profit sharing route for most of his films, though there have been instances where he has taken upfront fees and also opted for a hybrid model. He had opted for a 50 to 55 percent profit model for his last two releases – Super 30 and War.

    Ranbir Kapoor has got around 65 to 70 crores for forthcoming Animal, whereas Ranveer Singh too has upped his stakes by charging upwards of Rs 50 crore for Rohit Shetty’s Cirkus.

    Varun Dhawan is also contemplating to switch to the profit-sharing model soon.

    John Abraham’s acting fees have gone up 3-fold over the pandemic, from Rs 7 crore in Satyameva Jayate to Rs 21 crore for its sequel.

    Shahid Kapoor on the other hand charged Rs 31 crore for Jersey.

    Tiger Shroff charges an acting fees in the range of Rs 25 to 30 crore, has got seen a massive jump due to producer Vashu Bhagnani, who paid him Rs 35 crore for Ganapath.

  • ‘No infrastructure’: Hafeez questions PM Khan over no focus on sports

    ‘No infrastructure’: Hafeez questions PM Khan over no focus on sports

    Former captain of Pakistan cricket team Mohammad Hafeez has some reservations with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government over no clear sports policies for athletes in the country.

    Talking to Cricket Pakistan, the former cricketer said that it is a big question mark on “sportsman” Imran Khan that there are no special arrangments for sports in Pakistan by him.

    “Personally, I am disappointed with the current government,” Hafeez said.

    “No infrastructure has been set where sportsperson in our country can excel. This is a huge setback for me. I know our prime minister is a sportsman and if there is no focus on sports in his tenure, then this is a huge question mark,” Hafeez added.

    The 41-year-old cricketer further talked about Khan’s decison to shut down departmental cricket while he also praised the former head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and Test player Azhar Ali for raising the matter.

    “I am proud of them. They took a big step and sincerely raised concern for others. Pakistan is not yet a welfare state and departments were catering to many players, they were fulfilling financial needs. No alternative has been found yet either.”

    Meanwhile, Hafeez urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) not to call back players from franchise leagues as they receive huge contracts and calling them back damage their reputation.

    “Calling back players from leagues put a dent on a player’s portfolio. Recently, Pakistan players were called back from BBL. I want PCB to revisit this process. When players get NOC, he must play completely as his and Pakistan’s reputation is at stake.” Hafeez emphasised as he has been called back from leagues midway on many occasions in the recent past.

    Hafeez also lauded skipper Babar Azam for brilliantly leading the national team.

    The cricketer also cleared the air about his clashes with the board. “There was no rift with anyone but yes, I had some principle stances on which I don’t compromise. I stood tall against the things and raised my voice. People were unhappy with it and they took some decisions which were felt that my relationships were not on good terms with higher authorities.”

    Hafeez recently announced his retirement from cricket and said that he had planned to announce it after the 2020 World Cup but it got delayed due to Covid and then he announced it after playing the T20 World Cup in 2021.

    Hafeez said that he will happily serve Pakistan cricket in the future in any capacity but won’t run after money as a job-seeker in the cricket board.

    He concluded by hailing Shaheen Shah’s growth as a pacer and is looking forward to playing under him for Lahore Qalandars in the seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), starting from January 27 at the National Stadium Karachi.

  • Usman Buzdar is ahead of all Chief Ministers in performance: survey

    Usman Buzdar is ahead of all Chief Ministers in performance: survey

    The Institute for Public Opinion Research (IPOR) in its recent survey has found Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar is leading in satisfaction level for developmental works in comparison to other chief ministers, reports The News.

    As per the survey, Buzdar is ahead as 51 per cent of respondents from Punjab are satisfied with him. CM KPK Mahmood Khan ranked second by securing a 48 per cent satisfaction rating. CM Balochistan Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo secured 43 percent while CM Sindh Murad Ali Shah got only a 38 per cent rating.

    The research center surveyed from December 22, 2021, to January 9, 2022, in which they ask the opinion of 3,700 respondents from different provinces.

    About the improvement in the performance of provincial health departments, 72 per cent are satisfied with Buzdar while CM Shah is at last with a 53 per cent rating.

    Similarly, in the education sector 86 per cent of people have shown their satisfaction with CM Punjab and KPK education department drew the appreciation of 80 per cent of respondents.

    In all the sectors, Pakistan People’s Pakistan (PPP) CM Sindh is behind among all the other CMs.