Speaking to Ahsan Khan on his show Time Out with Ahsan Khan, Minal said: “What I learnt from Nisha was [that] it is just confidence. Aap main itna confidence hona chaheeye keh agar aap koi sahi faisla kar rahe toh uskay liye bhi confidence bohat zaruri hai. Agar ghalat hai toh uskay liye bhi aapko confident hona chaheeye.”
Minal further said that playing a negative character like Nisha helped her explore her own personality which in turn gave her more confidence.
Meanwhile, talking about social media, Minal said: “I think social media is important. It is important to know peoples point of view and what they expect from you.”
“But that doesn’t mean you let their expectations take over your life,” continued the actor. “That cannot happen. We have our own life also. Some people really need to learn not to be judgmental every single time. Learn to ignore if you don’t like something instead of making the other person feel bad through your harsh words.”
Minal added that she doesn’t let mean comments hurt her though they do get under her skin sometimes. To this, Saboor Aly, who was also on the show, said that she doesn’t like it when people raise fingers at her character or drag in her late mother.
Khan and Aly also talked about having famous sisters [Aiman Khan, Sajal Aly], saying that they are very proud to be associated with them and they are their biggest inspirations.
A meeting of the federal cabinet chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has rejected the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approval to import cotton yarn and white sugar from India, reports quoted sources as saying.
A day earlier, the ECC had approved two summaries of the commerce and textile ministry to lift ban on import of cotton and white sugar from India.
According to reports, there were 21 items on the agenda of the ECC meeting to be chaired by newly appointed Finance Minister Hammad Azhar. Commerce and Textile divisions had submitted five crucial summaries for approval besides others.
At the agenda no. 16, the Textile Division summary sought permission from the ECC to lift ban on import of cotton and cotton yarn from India in a bid to bridge raw material shortfall for the value-added textile sector.
In addition to this, another summary of the commerce ministry at agenda no. 20 also sought permission to allow import of white sugar from India through the Trading Corporation of Pakistan and commercial importers.
The resumption of import of these goods was expected to lead to partial revival of trade relations. On Aug 9, 2019 Pakistan downgraded trade relations with India in reaction to the latter’s decision to revoke Article 370 of its Constitution that granted occupied Kashmir a special status.
In May 2020, Pakistan lifted the ban on import of medicines and raw material from India to ensure there is no shortage of essential drugs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the first step of reversing of complete suspension of trade with India.
However, Indian premier’s letter to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Pakistan Day was the first step in the right direction amid reports of UAE Royals brokering peace.
On Tuesday, PM Imran replied to Modi’s letter, saying Pakistan also desired peaceful relations with India.
“The people of Pakistan also desire peaceful, cooperative relations with all neighbours, including India,” he said in his reply.
“I thank you for your letter conveying greetings on Pakistan Day.”
With the FIFA ban looming over the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), Mahira Khan and Yumna Zaidi have extended their support for Pakistan’s Women football team, requesting the authorities to resolve the women footballers’ issues.
“Sports are essential to a society to remain healthy [and] provide us with the heroes we so desperately need to look up to and represent our country,” said Yumna, sharing her thoughts on the matter.
Urging authorities to listen to the girl’s appeals, Yumna further said: “At present, the current Pakistan women’s football team seems to be going through a host of issues and I want to appeal to whoever is listening, please help them we need this.”
“We need them to shine,” she asserted.
Sharing a video of Hajra Khan on Instagram stories, Mahira wrote: “Respect the game!!! Respect the players!!”
In a step that could be seen as players’ and teams’ vote of no confidence against Ashfaq Shah, the players of Karachi United and Highlanders Football Club have announced their decision to withdraw from the ongoing National Women Football Championship after the Ashfaq-led-group refused to hand over Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) offices back to the normalisation committee.
While Ashfaq group’s act may lead Pakistan to a suspension from FIFA, both clubs say that they do not support the incidents that took place at PFF last weekend and have decided not to play under the Ashfaq-led setup in protest.
Karachi United FC, which was scheduled to play against WAPDA Thursday morning in the semifinal, posted their decision on the club’s social media page, saying that given the prevailing circumstances and based on the decision of players, Karachi United has decided to withdraw its women’s team from the National Championship.
The statement added that while the team had played its quarter final “under protest” and for purely football reasons, it had hoped that the matter would be resolved.
“Since the FIFA deadline has passed and no corrective action has been taken, the team is left with no option but to withdraw from the competition,” the club said.
“Being a football organisation, we feel that footballers and teams should never have to be put in such situations to make such choices as players and teams just want to play,” they added.
Karachi United further appealed to the FIFA, AFC, NC and all stakeholders to urgently resolve this issue to avoid Pakistan from being suspended.
BREAKING: Karachi United have decided to pull out of the National Women’s Football Championship which is now being organised without the PFF Normalisation Committee.
Islamabad-based Highlanders football club said in the statement that following the recent development in PFF, it has decided not to participate in NWFC any further.
“We do not support any act that brings football into disrepute because we believe that no individual is bigger than the game. However, the integrity of game should be maintained at all levels,” the club said in a statement.
“We, the Highlanders club, believe that this is in best interest of Pakistan football,” the statement posted on club’s social media accounts said.
Highlanders Women Football Club was playing its first national women championship and they proved themselves as one of the contenders to win the Trophy. They were scheduled to play against Masha United in the semi final on Thursday.
“We travelled from Islamabad to Karachi with a dream to do well on football field and to win the national women football championship. We are proud of Highlanders’ performance in the tournament and I believe that we made the statement that we wanted to,” the club said.
BREAKING: Highlanders FC become the second club to pull out of the National Women’s Football Championship which is now being organised without the PFF Normalisation Committee.
Earlier, six footballers from different teams had announced to boycott the championship ahead of the quarter final matches.
Later Masha United, which was one of the semi-finalists, “become the third team to withdraw from the ongoing National Women’s Football Championship which lost its official status after PFF NC was ousted. Only WAPDA left now and probably get declared champion”, announced FPDC on Twitter.
Masha United become the third team to withdraw from the ongoing National Women’s Football Championship which lost its official status after PFF NC was ousted.
Hajra Khan, Khadija Kazmi, Sarah Ali, Mashal Hussain, Maria Khan and Zahra Shah had issued a issued a joint statement on Tuesday, saying “the integrity of game is being challenged by politicised governance, adding that “we, too, are responsible for upholding the integrity of the game.”
The Pakistani footballers say FIFA ban would destroy their careers.
Meanwhile, the Provincial Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab, Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti had addressed the issue, saying: “Pakistan Football Federation’s decision to play a role in the dispute, the parties are being contacted. The suspension of Pakistan’s membership by FIFA will bring the country into disrepute in the international arena. A positive solution to the conflict will come out soon.”
پاکستان فٹ بال فیڈریشن کے تنازعہ پر کردار ادا کرنے کا فیصلہ،فریقین سے رابطہ کیا جارہا ہے۔فیفا کی جانب سے پاکستان کی رکنیت معطل ہونے سے عالمی سطح پر ملک کی بدنامی ہوگی۔بحیثیت حکومت ملک میں فٹ بال کے فروغ اور سہولیات کی فراہمی کا کام کررہے ہیں۔جلد تنازعہ کا مثبت حل نکلے گا۔
The Lahore Zoo administration has decided to euthanise a pair of lions because they are suffering from a terminal illness.
According to reports, the administration considering their health conditions has decided to put them to rest, as the pair has reached their maximum age limit.
“Both of them are ill from the past several days and could not be treated or cured,” said an official of the zoo, adding that x-ray and ultrasound reports of the pair present proof of their poor health conditions.
The official further said that “a tiger, brown bear and a zebra are also suffering from a crippling disease and a decision to euthanise them will be taken in the next meeting.”
Earlier, in February, two white tigers cubs aged three months died in Lahore Zoo. They were reportedly suffering from COVID-19.
Meanwhile, this is not the first incident of mistreatment of animals by zoo authorities in Pakistan. In December 2020, Peshawar Zoo lost its fourth giraffe in 2020, just a few days after a black bear’s death.
On the other hand, Islamabad’s Marghazar Zoo — which drew international condemnation for its treatment of lonely elephant Kaavan — shut down in December 2020 after its final occupants Babloo and Suzie were relocated to Jordan.
Pakistan has performed poorly with respect to legal and practical protections for the right to freedom of expression of its citizens during 2020, according to a new assessment report published by Media Matters for Democracy.
The Pakistan Freedom of Expression Report 2020 was launched through a webinar on Wednesday.
Speaking at the report launch, European Union (EU) Ambassador to Pakistan Androulla Kaminara said the report provides a comprehensive analysis of the state of freedom of expression in Pakistan and highlights some concerning trends.
“Freedom of Expression is enshrined in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. It is also one of the important aspects of Pakistan’s GSP plus commitment to upholding the international Human Rights Conventions and a key priority in the Strategic Engagement Plan between EU and Pakistan.”
“As this report confirms, the situation of journalists and documentation of threats they face through attacks, intimidation and harassment is particularly concerning. Disinformation is another area of concern, and one, which the European Union is working to address both at home and abroad. Misleading or false information can put lives in danger. It is crucial to resolutely counter disinformation with transparent, timely and fact-based communication and thus reinforce the resilience of societies,” she said.
The report documents the situation of freedom of expression in Pakistan with a new index based on six dimensions namely the legal environment, press freedom, digital expression, pluralism, the socioeconomic and political situation.
Pakistan scored low on all six dimensions to provide an overall score of only 30 points out of a total of 100 points on the assessment index. This cumulative score fell in the range of “poor” protections for freedom of expression in the country.
The report found that during the year 2020 Pakistan’s media and Internet regulatory authorities continued to exert arbitrary legal and regulatory restrictions on speech and online content, by ordering bans, suspensions, and advisories against social media apps, entertainment content, and news discussions of social and political issues.
Journalists remained vulnerable to physical, legal, and digital threats in the absence of long-awaited legislation on journalists’ safety, according to the study.
The report found that at least eight individuals connected with the media were killed, at least 36 journalists were attacked in the line of duty, 10 were arrested, and as many as 23 instances of arbitrary detentions in connection with news reporting and online expression were recorded across Pakistan during the year.
Women journalists were especially targeted with coordinated online attacks as they reported on political issues and the government’s pandemic response.
The report noted that the coronavirus pandemic intensified the challenges to freedom of expression and access to information in Pakistan.
Internet users were consistently exposed to disinformation while journalists reporting on the pandemic faced physical safety risks and restrictions on access to information sources, and many young citizens without Internet services found themselves abandoned as education systems shifted online, according to the report.
Amid deteriorating ties between the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) over former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani’s election as the leader of opposition in Senate, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has put forth a rather interesting offer.
Speaking to media, PML-N bigwig Rana Sanaullah has offered Gilani to bring his 31 votes in the Upper House to the table and get elected as the chairman with 27 others of the PML-N in the 104-member house.
While the PPP is yet to respond to the offer, here’s what you need to know about Gilani becoming the opposition leader in Senate…
Last week, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani notified Gilani as the opposition leader in the Senate after the PPP submitted a list of 31 senators to him.
PML-N’s Azam Nazir Tarrar had the support of 21 opposition senators while Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), which has five senators, did not support any candidate.
“In pursuance of Rule 16 (3) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate 2012, the chairman Senate has been pleased to declare Senator Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani as leader of the opposition in the Senate, with effect from March 26, 2021,” read a notification issued by the Senate Secretariat.
The list carried the signatures of 30 senators; 21 PPP senators, two from the Awami National Party (ANP), one from the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), two from the erstwhile Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) and five from independent Senator Dilawar Khan Group.
With the appointment of Gilani as the opposition leader in the Senate, the gulf between the PPP and PML-N widened, putting the 10-parties PDM alliance on the rocks.
Imran Ashraf recently celebrated his son Roham’s second birthday with a star-studded party. Many celebrities including Humayun Saeed, Urwa Hocane, Amar Khan, Iqrar ul Hassan, Feroze Khan and Kinza Hashmi were spotted at the occasion.
Former Senate chairman and senior leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Mian Raza Rabbani has said that the party should not have taken the support of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and Dilawar Khan group in the Senate for the post of opposition leader in the upper house of Parliament.
“Though the slot of the opposition leader in the Senate was right of the PPP being a largest single party at the opposition benches, it should not take n the support of the BAP Senators Dilawar group for the slot of opposition leader in the Senate,” he said while answering a query of The News on Wednesday.
Rabbani said the support of BAP in the Senate was not good for the ideological foundations of the PPP, adding that rules of the Senate were clear that the slot goes to the single largest party at the opposition benches.
He advised the opposition to keep its unity intact for broader object of supremacy of the constitution and parliament and objectives of supremacy of the constitution could not be achieved without unity in the ranks of the opposition.
“It’s time to stand united to achieve the objectives,” he said.
Though the coronavirus pandemic continues to unleash its wrath, summer’s almost here and we’re craving some excitement in life. And there’s no better way to welcome the summer than with a trip to the hairstylist to refresh our hair. Our favourite celebrities have been doing the same so take some inspiration from them for your summer look.
Mawra Hocane
Mawra decided to go for a completely new look which is making her feel “fresh as a daisy”. The actor kept her long locks but went for a heavy fringe, which is making her look super cute.
Saboor is rocking that bob with such finesse, that it makes us want to chop off all our hair and opt for a hairstyle just like hers. Have to say, it’ll be ideal for the summer.
Mansha also chopped off her long locks opting for shoulder length hair and looking absolutely fabulous in them. This hairstyle is perfect for those who want a bit of change but don’t want to experiment too much.
Aamna Ilyas, chopping her long locks went for a flaunting new look. Aamna’s bobs are complimenting her and frames her face in a much more flattering way.
A young boy from Pakistan’s Sikh community took the internet by storm with his performance of traditional Pashtun dance, ‘Attan’, during a wedding in Pakistan.
According to details, the boy, Jagraj Singh from Pakistan’s Sikh community in Peshawar danced to the beats of the rubab played by local musician Gurmeet Singh
The viral video shows the boy wearing a blue kurta, white pants and a black patka showing his dance skills as the audience cheers on him.
