Six major generals have been promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has announced.
In a tweet, the military’s media wing said those promoted included Maj Gen Akhtar Nawaz , Maj Gen Sardar Hassan Azhar Hayat, Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, Maj Gen Salman Fayyaz Ghani, Maj Gen Sarfraz Ali and Maj Gen Muhammad Ali.
Promotions in the #Army : 6 Major Generals have been promoted to the Rank of Lieutenant General. Those promoted include MG Akhtar Nawaz , MG Sardar Hassan Azhar Hayat, MG Asif Ghafoor, MG Salman Fayyaz Ghani , MG Sarfraz Ali,MG Muhammad Ali.
Asif Ghafoor, who is among the most prominent recipients of the promotion, has previously served as the ISPR director general. He was appointed to the post in December 2016, replacing Lt Gen Asim Bajwa as the military’s spokesperson.
Reacting to the news, Federal Minster for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said it was an hounour to serve in the highest ranks of the army.
Serving in the highest ranks of #PakArmy is an honour, many congratulations to all very well deserved officers for the honours bestowed upon them and best wishes…. https://t.co/bIZzlIxSic
“Serving in the highest ranks of #PakArmy is an honour. Many congratulations to all very well deserved officers for the honours bestowed upon them and best wishes,” he tweeted.
Meghan Markle has revealed she suffered a miscarriage in July this year.
In an opinion piece penned for the New York Times, Meghan opened up about the deep grief and loss she endured with her husband Prince Harry.
The Duchess of Sussex, who married the British prince in 2018, had the couple’s first child, Archie, the following year.
In the piece titled The Losses We Share, Meghan wrote that she had just changed her son’s diaper when she felt a sharp cramp and fell to the ground.
“After changing his diaper, I felt a sharp cramp. I dropped to the floor with him in my arms, humming a lullaby to keep us both calm, the cheerful tune a stark contrast to my sense that something was not right,” wrote Markle.
“I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second,” she added.
Meghan described how she and her husband were both in tears as she lay in a hospital bed later.
“Hours later, I lay in a hospital bed, holding my husband’s hand,” wrote the Duchess. “I felt the clamminess of his palm and kissed his knuckles, wet from both our tears. Staring at the cold white walls, my eyes glazed over. I tried to imagine how we’d heal.”
“Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few,” she continued. “In the pain of our loss, my husband and I discovered that in a room of 100 women, 10 to 20 of them will have suffered from miscarriage. Yet despite the staggering commonality of this pain, the conversation remains taboo, riddled with (unwarranted) shame, and perpetuating a cycle of solitary mourning.”
The intimate details shared in the article are at odds with the usual policy of senior members of the British royal family, who reveal almost nothing about their personal lives.
Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, has never discussed her private life in any media article or interview in her 68-year reign. However, reports have stated that Harry had discussed the article with the royal family beforehand.
Meghan and Harry married in May 2018 in a glittering ceremony televised around the world. In January this year, the couple shocked the British establishment when they announced they were retiring from royal life. Their withdrawal came after reports she was deeply unhappy with life inside the royal family and fed up with media intrusion.
The couple, who live with their young son, in California, signed an exclusive deal with the streaming giant Netflix for an undisclosed fee earlier this year. They have set up a non-profit organisation to promote education, mental health and well-being.
The actor surprised fans by sharing photos from her mayun on Instagram in which the bride-to-be can be seen getting mehndi applied to her hands on her mayun.
While fans were initially unaware of who the groom was, Rabab later shared pictures and videos with him on her Instagram. The groom’s name is Sohaib Ali.
Newly-appointed Pakistan Television (PTV) Chairman Naeem Bukhari, who has also remained the lawyer of Prime Minister Imran Khan, has the national television will not broadcast any speeches by the opposition parties.
Bukhari’s comments pertaining to the blackout of the opposition on PTV came despite the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) manifesto that promised to transform PTV on the lines of BBC — the British state broadcaster. The ruling party had also protested during the PML-N government after the latter refused to allow PTI leaders air-time on PTV.
Speaking to reporters outside the Supreme Court building, Bukhari said there will be no equal air-time for the opposition parties on PTV, as being a state-run organisation, it will only air the stance of the incumbent regime. “Only government?” asked the reporter. “Yes, only government,” Bukhari said.
On Monday, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting notified Bukhari, who has a vast experience of doing TV programmes, as chairman of PTV. The appointment was made after a court ruling in Sept 2020 declared the appointments of PTV chairman Arshad Khan and independent members of the board of directors illegal while directing the government to fill the vacant slots in accordance with the law.
Bukhari, who has worked as an anchorperson and commentators on PTV for decades, had joined PTI in June 2016. At the time, he called Imran Khan the “only political leader who had the courage to speak the truth”. Bukhari also represented Imran when he went to the Supreme Court against then prime minister Nawaz Sharif following the Panama Papers leak.
The pleas that were later admitted by the apex court which disqualified Nawaz Sharif for being “dishonest” under Article 62 (1)(f).
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had also hired the services of Bukhari as a special prosecutor to take up cases against close confidants of Sharif brothers — former Lahore Development Authority chief Ahad Cheema and former principal secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad.
Veena Malik has filed a complaint with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against ex-husband Asad Khattak for a social media campaign that was tarnishing her reputation.
According to details, the legal notice was sent by the actress a few days after an audio clip started doing the rounds on the internet in which the actress allegedly threatened her former husband. Malik has sent a legal notice of Rs500 million to Khattak.
In the notice, Veena alleged that Khattak is “deliberately trying to defame” her and that she had lawfully brought her children to Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Khattak claims that Veena “kidnapped” their children from Dubai and took them to Pakistan where she is keeping them at an “undisclosed” location.
Responding to Veena’s legal notice, Khattak called her a “fraud and liar” and asked her to send him the notice at his correct address.
وینا ملک اس بار مہربانی کر کہ میرے حقیقی ایڈریس پر ہی نوٹس بجھنا۔ دھوکہ دہی، جھوٹ فریب آپ کا پرانا پیشہ ہے۔ میرے ماں بہنوں کو قتل کی دھمکی اور میرے امریکی بچوں کو پاکستانی سفارتخانہ دبئی کی مدد سے سے غیر قانونی طریقے سے اغوا پر ریاست پاکستان کی خاموشی ایک سوالیہ نشان ہے؟ https://t.co/tbktSw7rC9
Khattak has also alleged that the audio clip, doing the rounds on social media, is of his conversation with Veena in which she threatened and abused him.
According to the legal notice, Khattak has to publicly apologise to Veena within 90 days or pay damages worth Rs 500 million.
Veena and Khattak tied the knot in December 2013 in Dubai and have two children. However, their marriage ended after three years after Veena accused Khattak of physically and mentally abusing her.
One of Pakistan’s most-loved celebrity couples, Farhan Saeed and Urwa Hocane have reportedly parted ways with mutual understanding.
According to reports, the couple has decided to mutually end their three-year marriage.
While the couple has not yet made an official statement, reports have stated that the reason behind their separation is mounting tension and irreconcilable differences.
Recently in an interview, Hocane had said if her husband wants to remarry, she will remain silent.
The couple tied the knot in an intimate Nikkah ceremony at the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore on December 16, 2016.
Meanwhile, fans have rejected the reports and are waiting for the couple to make an official announcement.
Weren’t they just talking about each other in recent interviews with @Something_Haute? … Extremely sad and shocking… Allah reham kare#FarhanSaeed#UrwaHocane
Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif is not going to accompany the dead body of his mother Shamim Akhtar, who died last week, giving rise to speculations that the ex-PM will not come back till the end of the incumbent government.
His decision of staying in London couple with a tweet by PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz — wherein she asked her father to stay in London because the government was hell-bent on exacting revenge — has prompted people to ask if this was his plan all along.
In a tweet following the death of her grandmother, Maryam had said: “I have requested Mian sahab not to come back [to Pakistan] at all. These are tyrants, these are the people hellbent on exacting revenge, and no humanity is expected from them.” Maryam also said that the government didn’t inform her of her grandmother’s death while she was attending a rally in Peshawar.
Nawaz has been living in London since November last year when he was released on conditional medical bail for his treatment abroad. Dar, on the other hand, has taken self-exile in the United Kingdom after his removal from the post of Finance Minister in 2017 following the emergence of allegations of accumulation of assets beyond means against him. Both of them are wanted back home in multiple cases of graft and abuse of power
Political analysts said the remarks by the PML-N vice president were devoid of logic, as Maryam couldn’t hold the government responsible in this case. “It is however her right to advise her father,” analyst Irshad Bhatti said in a Geo News show. According to Bhatti, the elder Sharif’s decision not to return was a “pre-planned” strategy by the PML-N to pressurise the government and seek reprieve.
Similar views were shared by analysts Hassan Nisar, Dr Rasul Baksh Rais, and Muneeb Farooq.
Farooq and Dr Rais said the former prime minister will not be coming back to Pakistan during the government of Imran Khan, and a recent statement by Maryam Nawaz, asking him to stay in London indefinitely, has proved it. Dr Rais said the decision that Nawaz will not return during the PTI government tenure was taken a long time ago and the statement made by Maryam was an attempt at political damage control.
Shamim Begum, the Sharif family matriarch, breathed her last in London on Sunday due to a chest infection at the age of 89. Her body will be moved to Pakistan within next few days. Her grandsons, Hassan and Hussain, will also not accompany her dead body to Pakistan.
Yasir Hussain and Iqra Aziz are not one to shy away from expressing their love publicly. The biggest proof of this was their engagement, which took place in front of thousands of people at an award function last year.
On Iqra’s birthday, Yasir took to Instagram to wish his wife with an Allama Iqbal shair and a heartwarming wish.
Sharing a picture of the two, Yasir wrote: “I love you to the moon and back aur uss say bhi aagay kyunkay sitaron se aagay jahan aur bhi hain, abhi ishq ke imtihan aur bhi hain.”
Thanking Yasir in the comments, Iqra expressed her love for him and said: “Shaadi k is ek saal main apnay jitna khush mujhe rakha hai ab agay zindagi aur bhi haseen hogi inshAllah [You’ve kept me so happy during this one year of marriage, that I look forward to more].”
“I love you my lifeline,” she added.
Yasir also celebrated Iqra’s birthday at midnight with a cake.
Iqra and Yasir tied the knot on December 28, 2019. This is Iqra’s first birthday with husband Yasir.
American music sensation Cher, who has long been campaigning for Kaavan’s release will reportedly be arriving in Pakistan on November 27 to see the elephant off.
According to a report in Gulf News, Cher is arriving in Islamabad on November 27 to see Kaavan off as he leaves for Cambodia, where he will spend the rest of his life in a wildlife reserve. The singer says that it will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience and that she “will sob” when she sees him for the first time.
Just saw Kaavan made a little Video. He’s SO PRECIOUS. I Will SOB WHEN I SEE HIM 4 THE FIRST TIME Maybe I’ll need a Take 2 . IM STARTING TO GET SO EXCITED
Earlier, the singer had revealed that she had composed two songs for Kaavan.
“Can’t wait to sing to him on way to Cambodia,” Cher had said in a tweet.
36-year-old Kaavan is being relocated to a wildlife sanctuary in Cambodia for retirement after the Islamabad High Court in May this year ruled that the Margazhar Zoo is not fit for animals. Kaavan has spent most of his life in a small enclosure with meagre shelter, and the last eight years alone after his companion elephant Saheli died. The court’s decision came after a four-year global campaign, backed by Cher. He is set to fly out of Pakistan on November 29 on a Russian cargo plane, specially chartered for his transportation.
Kaavan’s travelling crate
“All arrangements have been made, a Russian plane has been chartered that will land at Rawalpindi’s military (Chaklala Airport) in the morning of November 29, the same evening Kaavan will depart the Marghazar Zoo at 3 PM in VIP protocol paying his last regards to the city where he was brought as a calf from Sri Lanka in 1985. Kaavan was brought up at the same Marghazar Zoo. Here he had a female companion Saheli who later died of gangrene in 2012,” shared Director of the Four Paws Project Dr Amir Khalil. Four Paws International, the global animal welfare organisation in collaboration with another animals’ rights group, Free the Wild, has raised funds for the relocation of the elephant from Pakistan to Cambodia.
“Now at the age of 36, Kaavan is leaving for yet another home into retirement,” added Dr Khalil.
Meanwhile, Islamabad Zoo on Monday gave a farewell party to Kaavan which was attended by the public and government officials. The party was held right outside Kaavan’s enclosure and also included performances by Haroon, Natasha Baig, Khumaariyan and Arieb Azhar.
— Ministry of Climate Change & EC Govt of Pakistan (@ClimateChangePK) November 24, 2020
Speaking at the farewell, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said: “It is a sad but the right step to send off the animal to a sanctuary where it will be in a much bigger space and with its own kind.”
PTI Senator Faisal Javed Khan, who was also at the event, tweeted: “Sorry and farewell to Kaavan as our dearest (from childhood) is off to Cambodia.”
..preserve the ecological habitats & wildlife while focusing on eco tourism & nature conservation. Kavaan-we all remember from our childhood ll surely b missing Saheli who remained his partner here frm 1990to2002(untill her death) Kavaan ll join his new friends in Cambodia. @cherpic.twitter.com/u2bwwuRVe8
Later, President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi also paid a visit to Islamabad to bid farewell to Kaavan.
During his visit, President Alvi said that he hopes that Kaavan finds happiness in Cambodia.
President Dr. Arif Alvi paid a visit to Islamabad Zoo to pay farewell to Kaavan- the elephant. He was briefed about the arrangements for Kaavan’s transportation to Cambodia. pic.twitter.com/B33tn8sTEx
Retirement of Kaavan to Cambodia is a result of consideration of the feelings of animals. Mohd bin Musa Al-Damiri wrote a book حیات الحیوان in 14th century. In intro he says that he wants to change wrong human beliefs about animals. That they have intelligence and strong feelings https://t.co/jHtRxg8MBf
The federal cabinet has approved a law that proposes chemical castration as a punishment for convicted rapists.
In a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday, the Ministry of Law and Justice presented a draft of an anti-rape ordinance. The draft proposes a fast-track trial in rape cases, effective involvement of women in matters pertaining to gender-based violence, maintaining a database of serial rapists, and witness protection.
During the meeting, the prime minister said the government will not tolerate any lax attitude in the implementation of anti-rape laws and added that the safety of all citizens was the utmost priority of the government. The premier said the legislation will be clear and transparent with strict enforcement. He said the rape survivors will be able to register complaints without fear, adding that the government will protect their identity.
During the meeting, some ministers also proposed public hanging for rapists, but the premier postponed this suggestion for another time.
According to PM’s aide Senator Faisal Javed, the government needs to bring tougher laws to curb crimes against women. He said the new proposed legislation will be presented before parliament for approval.
It may be noted here that Pakistan reported over 120 rapes from Oct 12 to Nov 24, according to a tally kept by The Current. Legal experts say that the rape conviction rate in Pakistan can be as low as 2 per cent, so instead of bringing harsher punishments, the government must focus on strengthening its criminal justice system to punish such crimes.
From Oct 12-Nov 24: 123 rape cases and 11 death
“The conviction rate drops even lower in cases where a minor has been raped. That is one of the reasons that rape is rarely reported,” the experts observed. They blamed social stigma attached to sex crimes and the ‘abhorrently misogynistic attitude’ of many police officials for the underreporting of rape cases.
