Category: Uncategorized

  • Everything we know about Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari’s fiancé

    Everything we know about Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari’s fiancé

    Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and former president Asif Ali Zardari’s eldest daughter Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari is all set to get engaged at the end of the month. A formal announcement was made last week and given that Bakhtawar’s groom is not a public figure there was little known about him. As a result, all sorts of speculations started doing the rounds on social media with people sharing unverified stories and reports about the groom-to-be.

    In a bid to put to rest all rumours, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) released an official statement in which they shared all the required information about Bakhtawar’s husband-to-be Mahmood Choudhry.

    According to the statement, “Mahmood Choudhry is the son of Mohammad Younas and Begum Suraiya Choudhry who hail from the old town of Lahore. Mr Younas migrated to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 1973 where he established businesses in the construction and transport industry.”

    “Mahmood, the last born of five siblings was born on July 28, 1988, in the city of Abu Dhabi. He completed his primary schooling in Abu Dhabi and secondary schooling in the United Kingdom. Mahmood further went on to read Law at the University of Durham.”

    “The family’s primary country of residence remains the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where Mahmood continues to run his businesses in construction, finance and tech,” added the statement.

    Meanwhile, thanking everyone for their good wishes, Bakhtawar said that the cards were leaked “before they were even scheduled to be officially sent”.

    “Have absolutely NO affiliation with any family in the US which is being popularly quoted by most media,” added Bakhtawar.

    Bakhtawar and Mahmood will be getting engaged on November 27 at Bilawal House in Karachi. All guests attending the ceremony have been requested to get tested for COVID-19 and send the results via e-mail.

    “All attendees are requested to please email a scanned copy of their negative COVID-19 PCR test result 24 hours prior to attendance. This is a mandatory requirement for security clearance,” the invitation reads.

    The guests have also been asked not to bring mobile phones with them due to security purposes.

    “Please note — no photography or mobile phones will be permitted inside the venue and photographs will be available for all guests through our official photographer.”

    “We thank you in advance for adhering to our safety protocols to keep you and your loved ones safe, and enable us all to enjoy the occasion,” it added.

    The couple will reportedly tie the knot in January 2021 in Karachi.

  • US, ‘friendly countries’ pressurising Pakistan to recognise Israel, says PM

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the United States and some Muslim states, which he cannot name because of good ties with them, have been pressuring Pakistan to recognise Israel.

    The PM made these remarks in an interview aired last week.

    Islamabad, however, will never establish relations with the “Zionist” state until a just settlement of the decades-long Palestinian issue, the prime minister reiterated.

    Except for the US, the PM refused to name other states, saying Pakistan has good relations with these countries. “Are they non-Muslim or Muslim countries that have been putting pressure on you?” the anchorperson asked in an attempt to get a clear answer.

    https://twitter.com/LifeRacer_1/status/1327330663851307009

    “Leave this [question]. There are things we cannot say. We have good relations with them (countries),” the premier replied.

    It may be noted here the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain recently established ties with Israel, whereas other Muslim states, including Saudi Arabia, are also weighing options to normalise ties with Tel Aviv.

    Israel, he observed, has had a deep influence in the US, which is another country pressurising him to recognise Israel. “The pressure is because of Israel’s deep impact (influence) in the US. This (influence) was in fact extraordinary during the Trump’s stint,” he maintained.

    Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Foreign Office termed the report a “fabrication”. According to the statement: “The prime minister had stressed that Pakistan’s policy in this regard was rooted in Quaid-e-Azam’s vision. The prime minister’s remarks are an unequivocal reaffirmation of Pakistan’s position on the subject, leaving no room for baseless speculation,” it added.

  • VIDEO: First look of ‘Pehli Si Mohabbat’ revealed

    VIDEO: First look of ‘Pehli Si Mohabbat’ revealed

    The first look of Sheheryar Munawar and Maya Ali’s upcoming drama Pehli Si Mohabbat has finally been revealed courtesy producer Jerjees Seja, who posted a BTS from the sets of the drama.

    Seja, who is also the CEO of ARY Digital shared a picture with the cast of upcoming drama serial. Looks like Sheheryar will be going clean shaven for this one.

    Meanwhile, social media is abuzz and the video went viral in minutes.

    According to the details, the drama is produced by Abdullah Seja under the banner of IDream Productions, the serial will be aired on ARY Digital with Maya and Sheheryar in lead roles.

    Maya, Shehryar, Rabia Butt and Hassan Sheheryar Yasin (HSY) have already announced that they will be part of this serial by sharing the picture of the script on their social media accounts.

    A release date has not yet been announced.

  • Gen (r) Raheel Sharif says he never wanted an extension

    Gen (r) Raheel Sharif says he never wanted an extension

    Former chief of army staff (COAS) General (r) Raheel Sharif has rubbished reports regarding him seeking an extension in his tenure as the top military commander, denying the claim by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) that the party was being victimised for refusing him the same.

    According to The News, the issue of the very popular former military bigwig recently cropped up again after former PML-N leader Lt Gen (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch said that he was told by then prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif that Gen (r) Sharif had repeatedly approached him to get an extension but to no avail.

    Baloch, who was a SAFRON [ministry of states and frontier regions] minister during the PML-N’s tenure, recently parted ways with the party over its supreme leader Nawaz’s aggressive stance towards the military establishment, especially the incumbent army chief.

    “It was a great disappointment for me as I had expected Raheel Sharif to retire gracefully like a true soldier,” he had said as several PML-N leaders also drew links between the reported civil-military tussle from ex-PM Nawaz’s government as well as Dawn Leaks and Panama Papers scandals.

    According to reports, General (r) Sharif was contacted through Lt Gen (r) Amjad Shuaib, who quoted the former as saying that following a meeting with the then premier and other key PML-N leaders, when he was leaving the meeting room of the PM’s Office, he was approached by Shehbaz Sharif and Chaudhry Nisar.

    Gen (r) Sharif told Lt Gen (r) Shuaib that Shehbaz and Nisar had said that they wanted to give him an extension. According to Lt Gen (r) Shoaib, the former army chief replied that he did not want an extension because he had already announced several months ago that he would not continue to stay in office after his three-year term.

    According to Gen (r) Sharif, as narrated by Lt Gen (r) Shuaib, the PML-N leaders insisted that since he had performed well as the COAS, the country was still engaged in its fight against terrorism and there was a need to bring peace to Karachi, the government, therefore, wanted him to continue.

    Lt Gen (r) Shuaib said that according to Gen (r) Sharif, when the army chief again showed his reluctance, he was offered the slot of field marshal, which he again declined as he was not interested in getting a post where he would become a mere figurehead with nothing to do. It is claimed that the PML-N leaders then told Gen (r) Sharif that the government would consider empowering the post of field marshal.

    He told Gen (r) Shuaib that he had never on his own discussed any such issue with anyone.

    The report quoted an informed PML-N leader as saying that Shehbaz and Nisar had even visited Nawaz in London, where he had gone for his open-heart surgery, to press for an extension fearing that otherwise martial law could be imposed. Even then, Nawaz is believed to have refused to give an extension.

  • Street kids inaugurate a restaurant in Karachi

    Street kids inaugurate a restaurant in Karachi

    A local fast-food restaurant in Bahadurabad Karachi was inaugurated by a group of street kids, who were later invited inside to eat free food.

    Krispy2Go restaurant collaborated with Inheritors in Karachi, a social welfare organization, to introduce a different way of opening their new branch. About thirty-five street kids were invited on the day of the opening, to cut the ceremonial ribbon after which the restaurant workers served them food.

    Taking to social media, CEO Muhammad Azeem said “We don’t do this for publicity; it’s an honest approach to give a moment of happiness to underprivileged children. We have done similar drives in the past as well. We have invited such kids to our other restaurants and we also did many visits to centres where special kids are living their lives.”

    “Yes, this is our first attempt to do the opening with street kids but we have many such initiatives in the development phase in which we will collaborate more in such activities. This is to create awareness of such actions in society as we believe that every little step is important in its own space,” he added.

    Many people appreciated the restaurant for inviting poor kids for the inauguration, instead of inviting notable personalities, as other restaurants normally do.

  • Syra Yousuf, Sheheryar Munawar turn up the heat with their latest photoshoot

    Syra Yousuf, Sheheryar Munawar turn up the heat with their latest photoshoot

    The mercury may be going down but things are heating up. Syra Yousuf and Sheheryar Munawar’s latest photoshoot for a local magazine has become the talk of the town with people discussing how hot they look together.

    According to stylist Rao Ali Khan, who was the Creative Editor of the shoot, the theme of the shoot was ‘Boni and Clyde – a tale of love’.

    Read more – EXCLUSIVE: Sneak peek into Sheheryar Munawar’s diary

    Pakistanis, meanwhile, have a lot to say on the photoshoot. Check out their reactions below:

    Syra and Sheheryar have shared the screen in multiple projects together, including Project Ghazi and drama serial Tanhaiyan Naye Silsilay.

  • Control room established in Lahore to monitor smog

    Control room established in Lahore to monitor smog

    The Ministry of Climate Change has set up a smog control room in Lahore to regularly monitor smog that causes health problems to people in different areas of the province during the winters.

    The other objective of the Control Room was to have a constant check on smog Air Quality Index (AQI) in the province during coming days.

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said the process to fight smog has begun.

    He said there would be a regular check on crop burning, transport and industrial emissions, brick kilns and cross-border emissions which are the main sources of smog production.

    Malik Amin said that farmers have been provided with much-needed technology to help them avoid burning of crop residue and instead convert the residue into organic fertilizer to enhance the fertility of their farmlands.

    He said technology is also being introduced across the country under the government’s project for Mechanized Management of Rice Crop Residue for which thirty billion rupees are being spent for payment of 50,000 units of rice straw shredder.

  • Is Spotify coming to Pakistan?

    Music lovers rejoice. On November 15 Swedish-based audio streaming and media services provider Spotify created a verified Instagram account for Pakistan which has gained 14.6 thousand followers already.

    The appearance of a verified Instagram account suggests that the world’s biggest music streaming service might soon be launching in Pakistan. However, no official statement has been made yet.

    On the possibility of Spotify coming to Pakistan, many users took Twitter to express their joy.

    https://twitter.com/alina_grisha13/status/1327652183685419009

    Read more – Rs 10 million prize announced for PUBG Mobile Pakistan Challenge 2020

    Spotify is the world’s biggest music streaming platform by the number of subscribers. Users of the service simply need to register to have access to one of the biggest-ever collections of music in history, plus podcasts, and other audio content.

    Spotify, launched in 2008 grown to be one of the biggest streaming platforms in the world. There were 286 million monthly active users of Spotify according to the company’s 2020 report.

  • Karachi wedding hall owners reject new COVID-19 SOPs

    Karachi wedding hall owners reject new COVID-19 SOPs

    Karachi’s wedding, banquet and lawn owners have rejected the new COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) rolled out by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) after a sharp surge in cases.

    The Karachi Marriage Hall, Lawn, Banquet Owners Association held a press conference at the press club on Saturday to denounce the government’s decision to ban indoor weddings.  

    The association said thousands of employees and other businesses linked with weddings will be affected due to more restrictions and bans. 

    The president of the association said that wedding hall owners and their thousands of employees had already faced severe financial problems when all the halls were closed between March 13 and September 15 during the lockdown period.

    The association members said that when halls reopened after September 15, they did not get business as most people prefer not to get married during Muharram and Safar, which took place after the halls were reopened. 

    The association said that there are around 800 wedding halls only in Karachi and that the living of 50,000 people and their families are linked to these halls. 

    “Around 70 to 80% of our employees work on daily wages,” he said, adding that the earning of such employees depended on daily wedding events.

    The association pointed out that there are roughly 13,000 wedding halls in the entire country, with which 650,000 labourers’ livelihoods are directly linked. Fifty percent of the city’s industries, the association highlighted, were directly and the rest of the 50% were indirectly linked to wedding halls. 

    “With the closure of the wedding halls due the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of labourers will be directly or indirectly affected,” said the association’s president. 

    The government had itself failed to limit the number of people attending its political gatherings and implement the SOPs, stated the association.

    “We want to bring this into your knowledge that wedding halls is the only industry which didn’t get any relief from the government since the lockdown of March 13,” said Raees. 

    He requested Prime Minister Imran Khan, the chief justice of Pakistan and army chief to look into the miseries of the wedding hall owners and their employees.

    “We demand SOPs be drafted for wedding ceremonies after taking us on board,” he said.

  • PTI leads GB polls amid rigging allegations

    Amid allegations of rigging, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its allies are set to form a new government for the next five years in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, according to initial results late Sunday.

    Although Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Election Commissioner Raja Shahbaz Khan told reporters that the election authorities have not officially announced any results, local media and unofficial results showed the PTI and its allies were leading, clinching half of the contested seats.

    Official results are expected to be announced Monday as election authorities said they were facing difficulties in collecting results from several far-flung mountainous areas due to heavy snow and rain.

    The PTI and its allies, according to the initial results, are in the lead with at least 12 of the 24 seats being contested in the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly.

    At least four independent candidates projected to win are most likely to join the PTI to form the government.

    The two other main contenders — the centre-left Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and centre-right Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N), which won the 2015 elections in the region — have cried foul, accusing the election authorities of “rigging.”

    The Chief Election Commissioner, however, denied the charge, advising the opposition parties to contact the commission if there are any irregularities.

    The PPP, which is likely to clinch three to four seats, said its workers had staged a sit-in outside several polling stations where it claimed the results were not being announced in an attempt to favour the PTI candidates.

    Meanwhile, the candidates belonging to the PML-N and the JUI-F were leading in one constituency each.

    Several activists and police personnel were injured after PTI and PPP supporters clashed in Skurdu district, local broadcaster Geo News reported.

    NO SURPRISE

    The PTI’s victory would come as no surprise to many as voters have previously sided with the party that has been in power in Islamabad.

    The first two elections were won by the PPP and the PML-N while they were in power in Islamabad in 2009 and 2015 respectively.

    Over 700,000 voters cast ballots for 23 of the 24 seats up for grabs in the region’s Legislative Assembly, according to election authorities.

    Voting for one seat was postponed after the death of a candidate.

    Gilgit-Baltistan is a strategic area for Pakistan, bordering China and serving as a key route for the multibillion-dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor.

    Formerly known as the Northern Areas, Gilgit-Baltistan is located at the confluence of the world’s greatest mountain ranges – the Karakoram, the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush and the Pamir.

    Before the end of British colonial rule and the creation of Pakistan and India in 1947, the region was part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

    Rich in history, culture and natural beauty, the area, which also remained a centre of rivalry between the Russian, British and Chinese empires, has been a paradise for trekkers and adventure tourists for centuries.