Category: Uncategorized

  • ‘Aakhir kitni khoobsurati kaafi hain?’: Sania Mirza calls for rethinking of ‘beauty standards’

    Sania Mirza has protested against ‘beauty standards’ set by the society and has called for them to be redone.

    Sharing an advertisement of a personal care brand which highlights false beauty standards set by society for women and how women are tested on the basis of those standards at the time of marriage, the tennis star said: “At 8 years of age, I heard people tell my parents ‘Don’t let her play out in the sun if she gets dark who will marry her’.”

    “How I wish I could go back in time and show this film then and ask aakhir kitni khoobsurati kaafi hain?,” she questioned.

    Mirza continued: “I am glad I stepped out in the sun because it made me who I am. The tan lines, the biceps, not meeting societal beauty standards, it was totally worth it.”

    The Indian tennis champion urged people to speak up against false beauty standards saying: “As a daughter of this country, I urge each one of us – parents, brothers, daughters, future-in-laws, to speak up and step up.”

    Mirza also shared the advertisement on her Twitter handle also with the caption: “Wish I had this film to show those who told me I wouldn’t find a husband if I got dark playing in the sun. Glad I have it now.”

    Earlier, Priyanka Chopra-Jonas has also said that she regretted promoting skin-whitening creams. 

    Speaking to Marie Claire, Chopra-Jonas had said: [Skin lightening] was so normalized in South Asia; it’s such a large industry that everyone was doing it. In fact, doing it is still a check [mark] when you are a female actor, but it’s awful.”

    “And it was awful for me, for a little girl who used to put talcum-powder cream on my face because I believed that dark skin was not pretty,” she said, adding that she hated being described as “dusky” by industry influencers and the media.

  • ‘Creepy’ or ‘magical’: With deepfake, you can reanimate anyone

    ‘Creepy’ or ‘magical’: With deepfake, you can reanimate anyone

    The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and advance editing software have made it difficult to differentiate between real and fake content and it is enough to shatter the sense of reality.

    Telephone scams, catfishing schemes and social media trolling campaigns can all be launched with such fakery, and they can create equally unexpected consequences.

    People are taking fake content to the next level with this new technology. Recently, a TikToker used deepfake to mimic Tom Cruise, and it is shocking how well the video replicated his famous laugh.

    @deeptomcruise

    Sports!

    ♬ original sound – Metaphysic.ai

    A few things can tell that it is not Tom Cruise. First, the voice is quite different; especially the lip-syncing is a bit off at some points as you can hear the real Tom Cruise in this video.

    There are glitches in the movement tracking and lighting in the content, especially in the golf video where the sunglasses disappear, and his mouth morphs for a frame or two.

    Even with small glitches of technical details, it is difficult to differentiate between fake and real.

    Recently a genealogy site MyHeritage has launched a tool where you can upload any picture, especially old ones to animate faces with deepfake technology of dead relatives. They have acknowledged that some people might find this feature “creepy” but others might consider it “magical”.

    We used deepfake technology on Gen. Ziaul Haq to test the feature

    The company deliberately avoid using speech feature in the creation to avoid “deepfake people.” The government of the United Kingdom (UK) is planning to pass legislation on this technology.

    The Law Commission is considering proposals to make it illegal to created deepfake videos without consent.

  • I Wanted Him To Be The Father Of My Children

    I Wanted Him To Be The Father Of My Children









    *|MC:SUBJECT|*

    Hey, *|MERGE1|*.  It’s Friday, February 26th.Weather today will be cloudy in Quetta and it will be sunny in other major cities while residents of Islamabad will enjoy some drizzle.

    Today is the beginning of a wonderful trip called a weekend.

    Spend it awesome!

     

    Laila-The Current 

    Morning Meme

    Pakistan to remain on FATF’s grey list

    Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has decided to keep Pakistan in the grey list till June 2021. Pakistan has implemented 24 out of the 27 points of the action plan.

    Open ballot in Senate polls: What do legal experts have to say?

    Show of hands or secret ballot? The Supreme Court has observed that matters related to ballot secrecy had been left to the parliament and would be decided by it. In this regard, The Current reached out to lawyers Reema Omer and Muhammad Ahmad Pansota to have their opinion on the matter.

    Read on

    Tech Review 

    One of Pakistan’s most popular apps, #FoodPanda took the country by storm when it became the leading #FoodDelivery platform. However, in recent times, there have been complaints against the alleged #Exploitation by the #DeliveryService. We speak to a #Vendor and a #Customer who were affected by the service and find out reasons why issues are creeping up, in this week’s Tech Review.

    Watch

    Yasir Hussain vs Nausheen Shah: Who said what?

    Yasir hussain said ke unhon ne apni shaadi me Nausheen Shah ko invite nahin kia tha and she came as an uninvited guest , jispe Nausheen replied ke Yasir ne unhe khud call kar ke invite kia tha. 

    Read On

    I wanted him to be the father of my children.

    Shaadi ke bad pehle interview me Sadaf and Shahroz opened up about their relationship and about how they both met. Interview mein Shahroz said ke he liked Sadaf’s morals and Sadaf said ke Shahroz ko dekhne ke baad she knew ke she wanted Shahroz to be the father of her children.

    Read

    Missing out on the news?

    Did govt plan to arrest #RanaSanaullah during by-election in #Daska and #ECP announces re-election in NA-75 on March 18: Here is the recap of yesterday’s top news stories

    Watch

    Saman understands that covid is still very much here 

    Be more like Saman and wear your Mask and ignore Fahad like we all do

    On this Day: 26th February 
     

     

    Historic Oscar win for Pakistan

    Pakistani-Canadian director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, in 2012 became the first Pakistani to win an Oscar for her short-documentary Saving Lives. In her acceptance speech, she dedicated the award to all Pakistani women.

    Current Baba’s prediction

    Today you will have a good hair day, don’t forget to take pictures. 

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  • ‘Mera Jism Meri Marzi’ doesn’t mean I want to rip off my clothes, says Mahira Khan

    ‘Mera Jism Meri Marzi’ doesn’t mean I want to rip off my clothes, says Mahira Khan

    Mahira Khan, in a recent interview, opened up and revealed why she attends the Aurat March every year and what are the three things she finds attractive in a man.

    Read more – We can’t show a woman being assaulted and falling in love with the same man, says Mahira Khan

    “I think it is necessary for me [to go to Aurat March] because I think when I do something, no matter how small it is, it leaves an impact,” said the actor. “So when I go to Aurat March, what I’m actually trying to say is ‘Look, if you like me and if you think what I say means something if you think I that I’m on the right side of history, or whatever you think of me, this is also what I believe in, this is why I’m here.’”

    “Honestly, mere Aurat March jaane se itna ziada kuch nae hota siwaye iske ke it creates an impact,” added Mahira.

    Mahira also shared her thoughts on the Mera Jism Meri Marzi slogan saying: “It [the slogan] doesn’t mean that I want to rip off my clothes. It means that I’m a whole person. This is my body, and if you are looking at me and I’m not feeling comfortable about it, I have the right to say that don’t look at me. Or if you are trying to touch me I can report you, because yeh mera jism hai, aur yeh meri marzi hai [it’s my body, and I have complete right over it].”

    During the interview, Mahira also shared that while growing up her parents gave her the freedom to make her own judgments.

    Meanwhile, answering a question about three things she finds attractive in a man, Mahira said: “I find both men and women attractive when they are at complete peace with themselves.”

    “Secondly, I love sense of humour”, shared Mahira. “I like someone who makes me laugh and if someone is not making me laugh then I make them laugh.”

    “Thirdly I like it when a man truly respects a woman,” added the actor.

    Though Mahira keeps her personal life tightly under wraps, designer Hassan Sheheryar Yasin, in a quarantine live session accidentally revealed the name of Mahira’s beau and cajoled her into opening up about him.

    When HSY asked Mahira how she feels when she looks into his eyes, Mahira said: “There’s a line in Humsafar, which I thought was beautiful, where Ashar says to Khirad, ‘Pata nahi tum mujhe kis naiki kay badlay main milli ho.’ I think the same about him. I must have done something good in my life.”

    Meanwhile, Mahira has recently ventured into production with a web series titled Baarwan Khiladi. The actor has set up a production house Soulfry Films with her friend and producer Nina Kashif. Baarwan Khiladi will be their first project together.

  • Naimal Khawar shares a glimpse of her ‘whole world’

    Naimal Khawar shares a glimpse of her ‘whole world’

    We have to admit, the Abbasis’ family photos featuring baby Mustafa always brighten up our social media feeds.

    Read more – Humayun Saeed, baby Mustafa Abbasi all smiles as they meet each other for the first time

    Recently, Naimal Khawar shared a super cute picture of Hamza and Mustafa with the caption: “My whole world.”

    Later, Hamza also posted a family selfie with the caption: “All gratitude is for Allah.”

    Hamza’s colleagues and fellow actors including Sajal Aly and Mahira Khan left love for the Abbasis under Naimal’s post.

    Earlier, Naimal had posted a picture of herself with her horse with the caption: “Back with my main man.”

  • Despite ‘serious progress’, Pakistan fails to exit FATF grey list

    Despite ‘serious progress’, Pakistan fails to exit FATF grey list

    Pakistan was retained in the “grey list” of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which examined its efforts to counter terror financing and money laundering. The decision was taken at the meeting of the multilateral watchdog on Thursday.

    “Pakistan should continue to work on implementing the three remaining items in its action plan to address its strategically important deficiencies, namely by: demonstrating that TF investigations and prosecutions target persons and entities acting on behalf or at the direction of designated persons or entities; demonstrating that TF prosecutions result in effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions and demonstrating effective implementation of targeted financial sanctions against all 1267 and 1373 designated terrorists, specifically those acting for or on their behalf,” the FATF said in a statement.

    The anti-terror financing organisation noted that Islamabad has largely addressed 24 of the 27 action items and gave Islamabad time till June 2021 to complete the full action plan.

    FATF president Marcus Pleyer said that Pakistan has made “significant progress” but “some serious deficiencies remain” and all these deficiencies are “in the realm of terror financing”. Pleyer added that Pakistan “remains under increased monitoring”.

    Reacting to the FATF decision, Federal Minister Hammad Azhar said Pakistan had completed “almost 90 per cent” of its current FATF action plan with 24 out of 27 items rated as ‘largely addressed’ and the remaining three items ‘partially addressed’.

    “FATF has acknowledged Pakistan’s high-level political commitment since 2018 that led to significant progress. It was also noted by FATF member countries that Pakistan is subject to perhaps the most challenging & comprehensive action plan ever given to any country,” he tweeted, saying the country was also subject to dual evaluation processes of FATF with differing timelines.

    MOROCCO, SENEGAL ON GREY LIST:

    The FATF during its plenary kept North Korea and Iran as the only two countries on its blacklist but added four new places to its watch list for increased monitoring, according to Pleyer.

    The countries added to the grey list are Morocco, Burkina Faso, Senegal and the Cayman Islands.

    With the four additions, the list now has 19 countries and territories that FATF said were only partially fulfilling international rules for fighting terrorism financing and money laundering.

  • AI shocks experts by writing passing college paper in 20 minutes

    Artificial Intelligence (AI) has delivered results in many areas like medicine, defence, law enforcement, and education. But AI has shocked the researchers by producing an award-winning research paper.

    According to the reports, an online educational research provider performed a trail to analyse the capacity of the deep learning language prediction model known as GPT-3.

    A panel of professors was asked to create writing prompts. The prompts were then assigned to a group comprising of graduate and undergraduate level writers, apart from the GPT-3 model.

    The experts concluded that the AI writing capability closely mimics human writing in terms of syntax, grammar and word frequency.

    “Even without being augmented by human interference, GPT-3’s assignments received more or less the same feedback as the human writers,” said the report.

    Moreover, the deep learning tool completed the assignment in less time, i.e., between three and 20 minutes. Whereas it took human to complete the assignment in three days.

    The report expresses doubt about AI’s capacity to take over in this particular area. Despite its revolutionary output, GPT-3 will not earn college degrees on its own anytime soon.

    When put up against human writers, GPT-3 secured some passing grades but failed to nail creative writing.

  • US report on Khashoggi killing expected to single out Saudi crown prince

    US report on Khashoggi killing expected to single out Saudi crown prince

    A declassified version of a US intelligence report expected to be released on Thursday finds that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, four US officials familiar with the matter said.

    The officials said the report, for which the CIA was the main contributor, assessed that the crown prince approved and likely ordered the murder of Khashoggi, whose Washington Post column had criticised the crown prince’s policies.

    President Joe Biden, a Democrat who succeeded the Republican Donald Trump five weeks ago, told reporters on Wednesday he had read the report and expected to speak soon by phone with Saudi Arabian King Salman, 85, father of the crown prince, the country’s 35-year-old de facto ruler.

    The report’s release is part of Biden’s policy to realign ties with Riyadh after years of giving the Arab ally and major oil producer a pass on its human rights record and its intervention in Yemen’s civil war.

    Biden is working to restore the relationship with Riyadh to traditional lines after four years of cozier ties under Trump.

    White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Wednesday Biden would only communicate with the Saudi king and said the declassified Khashoggi report was being readied for release soon.

    While Biden restricts his contacts to the king, others in the Biden administration are talking to Saudi officials at various levels.

    “We have been in touch with Saudi officials at numerous levels in the early weeks of this administration,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price.

    The 59-year old Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist, was lured to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, and killed by a team of operatives linked to the crown prince. They then dismembered his body. His remains have never been found.

    Riyadh eventually admitted that Khashoggi was killed in a “rogue” extradition operation gone wrong, but it denied any involvement by the crown prince. Five men given the death penalty for the murder had their sentences commuted to 20 years in jail after being forgiven by Khashoggi’s family.

    In 2019, a UN human rights investigator, Agnes Callamard, accused Saudi Arabia of a “deliberate, premeditated execution” of Khashoggi and called for further investigation.

    “There is sufficient credible evidence regarding the responsibility of the crown prince demanding further investigation,” Callamard said after the six-month probe.

    A classified version of the report was shared with members of Congress in late 2018.

    But the Trump administration rejected demands by lawmakers and human rights groups to release a declassified version, seeking to preserve cooperation amid rising tensions with Riyadh’s regional rival, Iran, and promote US arms sales to the kingdom.

    Biden’s new director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, committed at her confirmation hearing to complying with a provision in a 2019 defense bill that required the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to release within 30 days a declassified report on Khashoggi’s murder.

    Biden pledged during the 2020 presidential campaign to reassess US-Saudi ties in part over Khashoggi’s murder. Since taking office, he has ended sales of offensive arms that Riyadh could use in Yemen and appointed a special envoy to boost diplomatic efforts to end that country’s grueling civil war.

  • What did PM Imran’s Sri Lanka trip cost taxpayers?

    What did PM Imran’s Sri Lanka trip cost taxpayers?

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s ongoing tour of Sri Lanka cost taxpayers a mere $34,800 (Rs5,507,771 or Rs5.5 million), his special assistant on political communication, Dr Shahbaz Gill, has revealed in a tweet.

    The 2016 visit of former premier Nawaz Sharif to Sri Lanka, on the other hand, had cost the treasury $276,266, he stated further.

    During his two-day-long visit to the country, PM Imran met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his Sri Lankan counterpart besides notable business personalities.

    While Gill went on to say that PM Imran’s trip had proven to be more fruitful as compared to that of Nawaz, Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed also claimed that the incumbent premier’s Sri Lanka visit cost the treasury “just $34,000”.

    The minister further said the premier had cut his office’s expenses by 49%. He maintained the incumbent government was carefully spending public funds that were a sacred trust.

    Saeed’s statements come a week after it was reported that the expenditures of PM House and Office have reportedly reduced by 49% and 29%, respectively.

    According to reports, the total expenditure of the PM House narrowed down to Rs280 million (Rs28 crores) in 2020 from Rs339 million (Rs33 crores) in 2019 and Rs590 million (Rs59 crores) in 2018 — the year when the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was handed reins of the country.

    The PM Office witnessed a considerable decrease in its expenditure from 2018 to 2020, but last year was slightly more than in 2019. It stood at Rs334 million (Rs33 crores) in 2020, Rs305 million (Rs30 crores) in 2019 and Rs514 million (Rs51 crores) in 2018.

    The premier, since assuming office in 2018, has been pushing for austerity measures to save taxpayers’ money and reduce the burden on the national exchequer.

    Despite the steps taken by PM Imran in this regard, the austerity drive has faced multiple setbacks owing to the apparent reluctance of the lawmakers in cutting down expenses.

  • Rizwan, Fawad promoted to Category A and C

    Rizwan, Fawad promoted to Category A and C

    Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Test Cricketer of the year 2020, Mohammad Rizwan, has been promoted to Category A of PCB’s Central Contract List 2020-21 following stellar performances across all formats in the ongoing season. In the elite category, the 28-year-old has now joined Pakistan captain Babar Azam, former captain Azhar Ali and star fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi.

    Since the current central contracts were announced on May 13, 2020, Rizwan is Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in Tests with 529 runs in seven matches at an average of 52.90, while he is overall the third leading run-scorer in T20Is with 325 runs at an average of 65 and strike-rate of just under 139. In the three ODIs against Zimbabwe, he scored 25 runs.

    Behind the wickets, Rizwan has accounted for 16 batsmen in Tests, three in ODIs and eight in T20Is in the season during which Pakistan played international cricket against England, Zimbabwe, New Zealand and South Africa. Their upcoming assignments are in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

    As part of its policy to acknowledge, incentivise and reward high-performing cricketers, the PCB has also elevated Fawad Alam from A+ domestic contract category to Category C of the PCB Central Contract List 2020-21, while it also offered Category C contract to T20I specialist Mohammad Hafeez, which he politely turned down.

    Fawad Alam scored centuries against New Zealand and South Africa and has now aggregated 320 runs in 11 innings of six Tests. His 102 against New Zealand in the Boxing Day Test earned him the PCB Individual Performance of 2020 award.

    PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan while talking about the promotions said: “I want to congratulate Rizwan and Fawad for earning well-deserved and well-earned promotions. This is a reward for their hard work and high-quality performances during the difficult and challenging bio-secure environments that tested their determination, resolve, commitment, mental toughness and physical fitness to the limits.

    “The decision to promote the players was made during a meeting with the Chair of the Selection Committee, Muhammad Wasim, while we were reviewing player performances in the 2020-21 season and discussing the upcoming commitments.

    “It was agreed during the meeting that three players were the most deserving and outstanding performers in the season to date and, as such, they needed to be rewarded now instead of waiting for the time when PCB Central Contract List for 2021-22 will be reviewed and announced.

    “However, Mohammad Hafeez declined the reward and while I am disappointed, I fully respect his decision. He wants to wait for the PCB Central Contract 2021-22 list, which he is fully entitled to. Hafeez has been one of our star performers of the season and we hope he will carry the form and momentum to Africa.

    “I am sure this merit and performance-based decision will once again send out a loud and clear message to all professional cricketers that the PCB will not only recognise, appreciate and acknowledge their performances and achievements, but will also reward them so that they can strive to do better next time.”

    Taking to Twitter, Alam expressed his happiness over the promotion, writing: “Alhamdulillah! Can’t thank Allah enough for always being in my favour and granting me successes. Hard work pays off indeed. Thank you PCB for elevating me to category C of the PCB’s Central Contract list 2020-21.”

    Read more – Fahad Mustafa says ignoring Fawad Alam for a decade was ‘a failure of our system’

    Similarly, Rizwan also expressed his “relief” over the promotion on social media.

    Updated PCB Men’s Central Contract List for 2020-21:

    Category A: Azhar Ali (Central Punjab), Babar Azam (Central Punjab), Mohammad Rizwan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

    Category B: Abid Ali (Central Punjab), Asad Shafiq (Sindh), Haris Sohail (Balochistan), Mohammad Abbas (Southern Punjab), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Sindh), Shadab Khan (Northern), Shan Masood (Southern Punjab) and Yasir Shah (Balochistan)

    Category C: Fakhar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Fawad Alam (Sindh), Iftikhar Ahmed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Imad Wasim (Northern), Imam-ul-Haq (Balochistan), Naseem Shah (Central Punjab) and Usman Shinwari (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

    Emerging Players’ Category: Haider Ali (Northern), Haris Rauf (Northern) and Mohammad Hasnain (Sindh)