Category: Uncategorized

  • Edhi Foundation wants to evacuate Pakistani students from China

    On the request of Pakistani students stranded in Wuhan, the Abdul Sattar Edhi Foundation had decided to evacuate them by arranging chartered flights.

    The Edhi Foundation on Sunday wrote a letter to Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mehmood Qureshi asking for permission to evacuate students from China’s city of Wuhan.

    In the letter, Faisal Edhi, managing trustee of the foundation formally requested the foreign minister to grant them permission to evacuate Pakistani students that have been trapped in Wuhan of Hubei province of China.

    “The Pakistani students are in our contact and we want to evacuate them from China,” Edhi wrote in the letter.

    The letter states that coronavirus has been spreading fast and Pakistani students are suffering from stress and facing a serious food shortage.

    “Most of the Pakistani students are not infected and we can save them,” said the letter.

    The letter highlights that many countries such as America, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and India have already evacuated their citizens from Wuhan and are taking precautionary measures on their own.

    He not only asked the government for permission but also asked to assist in identifying the areas where students will be quarantined until they are tested and cleared.

    Once the government grants them permission, the Edhi Foundation will contact airlines and arrange chartered flights to evacuate the students at the earliest, elaborated Faisal Edhi.

  • Quiz: Which Pakistani movie are you?

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  • PHOTO: Junaid Safdar enjoys polo match in Lahore while sick Nana is in London

    PHOTO: Junaid Safdar enjoys polo match in Lahore while sick Nana is in London

    Nawaz Sharif’s grandson Junaid Safdar was recently spotted enjoying a polo match in Lahore. Pictures of him were widely circulated on social media following which he was heavily criticised for enjoying a polo match while his grandfather allegedly battles between life and death.

    Junaid, the eldest son of Maryam Nawaz and Captain Safdar Awan, is an avid polo player and often shares pictures of himself with his horses.

    Meanwhile, on December 21, 2019, Maryam Nawaz had filed a petition in the LHC in a bid to have her name removed from the no-fly list. The PML-N leader, in her petition, had said that she wanted permission to fly abroad so she could be with her ailing father. Nawaz’s brother Shehbaz Sharif had said the schedule for Nawaz’s critical medical procedures had been changed twice because Maryam was not there to accompany him.

    The petition was the PML-N leader’s second attempt to have her name struck off the travel restrictions list.

  • ‘Jo hain memes’ will tickle your funny bones

    ‘Jo hain memes’ will tickle your funny bones

    Who does not like memes? Memes not only lighten up our mood but also make us all go LOL and we wish this meme culture never dies at least as long as the internet exists.

    This collection of memes will make you laugh hard.

    Memes jo hain humor hamara bohat funny hai.

  • ‘India offered to evacuate Pakistani students from coronavirus-hit China’

    ‘India offered to evacuate Pakistani students from coronavirus-hit China’

    India had offered to evacuate Pakistani students from China’s Wuhan — the epicentre of deadly coronavirus –, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar told Rajya Sabha [Upper House of Indian Parliament], India Today reported.

    According to reports, replying to a question posed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-nominated lawmaker Rupa Ganguly, S Jaishankar told the house that before the two Air India flights were sent in, India had offered ‘bring back all the people in our neighbourhood’.

    “At the time when two flights were going, we had told all the students and the larger community in Wuhan that we were prepared not only to bring back our own people but bring back all the people in our neighbourhood who would like to come back,” Jaishankar said.

    “This was an offer which was made to all our neighbours, but of them, seven nationals of Maldives chose to avail the offer. But the offer was made to everybody,” the minister clarified.

    Last week, two Air India flights had brought back 638 Indian nationals and seven nationals of Maldives. 80 Indian students left behind in Wuhan

    The minister of external affairs informed the fouse that despite an evacuation effort, 80 Indians — including 10 who were barred from boarding the evacuation flight as they showed symptoms of coronavirus — have remained back in Wuhan.

    Jaishankar said that the 70 Indians chose not to be evacuated, but the Indian Embassy is in constant touch with them all. “I want to assure the house and the families of those in Wuhan that the embassy is in touch with all students and is regularly monitoring their welfare,” he said.

    The minister also applauded the efforts of two embassy officials who risked their lives and traveled from Beijing to Wuhan to help in evacuation efforts.

  • As Dar’s residence is converted into Panahgah, Musharraf’s farmhouse remains untouched

    As Dar’s residence is converted into Panahgah, Musharraf’s farmhouse remains untouched

    The conversion of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former finance minister Ishaq Dar’s Lahore residence into a Panahgah [shelter home] by the Punjab government is reminiscent of the military rule of Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf, who had turned Sharif family’s Model Town residence into Gosha’aye Aafiat — an institution for elderly destitute people — nearly two decades back; while the former dictator’s own farmhouse remains untouched under the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

    While this was also pointed out by senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir, it was reported by The News that such an act was last carried out by a military dictator out of vengeance against the Sharifs, who had then departed for Saudi Arabia to live in exile for seven years.

    The present dispensation is a civilian arrangement that has taken the instant decision. While a quick action has been taken against Dar’s property, Musharraf’s Chak Shahzad farmhouse attached by two courts separately has not been touched by authorities to convert it into a shelter home for the poor although he has been sentenced to death and declared a fugitive.

    In November 2016, an Islamabad district and sessions judge attached Musharraf’s farmhouse as the special court trying the dictator for high treason declared him an absconder. The special tribunal ordered the confiscation of his movable and immovable properties.

    According to the details submitted to the special court by the Interior Ministry, he operated nine bank accounts and owned seven immovable properties, including the farmhouse, land in the Army Housing Scheme in Karachi, Khayaban-e-Faisal, Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Karachi, Beach Street, DHA Islamabad and DHA Lahore.

    Musharraf’s wife claims ownership of the farmhouse just like Dar’s spouse does about the Gulber residence, but the latter’s plea has not been accepted.

    In January 2017, the Islamabad district administration had informed a district and sessions court that Musharraf’s properties have been attached in compliance with court orders after he had been declared as a proclaimed offender and absconder in the murder case of Lal Masjid cleric Abdur Rashid Ghazi, the report said.

  • Chinese phone makers: A big threat to Google Play

    China’s top smartphone makers Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi, and Vivo have collaborated to build a shared platform to compete with Google’s Play store, latest reports have revealed. The move is believed to be a direct threat to the $1 trillion parent Alphabet company and the de-facto US dominance of Android.

    Manufacturers in China rely on Android to run their devices but they use domestic app stores inside China, where Google services are blocked. Chinese manufacturers have continued to reply to pre-installed Google Play, offering the users the most popular social apps like Facebook and WhatsApp that are not available for download in China.

    The four Chinese handset makers together shipped around 40pc of the world’s smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2019.

    They will now let foreign app developers like Facebook upload and update the software to all the respective stores, through the new platforms, with a single click.

    If this initiative materializes successfully, this will create a new universe of apps which will be in direct competition with Google Play Store.

  • PTI: Firdous admires Fawad Chaudhry’s ‘struggle to always stay in headlines’

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has admired her predecessor, former federal minister for information Fawad Chaudhry, for his “struggle to always stay in headlines”.

    According to the details, with cracks continuing to emerge within the ranks of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and rumour having it that both Awan and Chaudhry are not the best of friends ever since the latter was sacked and replaced by the former, the SAPM, in an exclusive interview with The Current, was asked what she liked the most about her predecessor.

    “His [Fawad Chaudhry’s] struggle to always stay in headlines,” she said.

    Chaudhry has time and again been accused of “pulling political gimmicks” as the federal minister for science and technology and an aide of PM Imran Khan, by the general public, leaders of his own party as well as those belonging to the opposition.

    To another question, Awan, who is not an elected member of the parliament, said that election defeat under Imran was not a defeat. “It’s a victory for my ideology,” she said.

    “Social media is an unguided missile with warheads but no target,” the SAPM said when asked what was that she disliked the most about social media.

    Awan also said that she was not a misogynist — her verbal attacks “were for people and not genders” –, shared how she thought that parliamentarians should not get a pay raise, and those who criticised her for not being an elected representative, “lacked sense”.

    WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW:

  • You can now report corruption, bribery on Pakistan Citizen’s Portal

    You can now report corruption, bribery on Pakistan Citizen’s Portal

    A category for ‘Corruption and Malpractices’ has been introduced on the Pakistan Citizens’ portal to curb these illegal practises from the government departments. The portal now allows people to report corrupt practices on the complaint lodging mechanism.

    The Prime Minister’s Performance Delivery Unit (PMDU) has introduced the category on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan. As per the unit, subcategories have also been made to help citizens classify the nature of the complaint.

    Matters related to the corruption in public funds, bribery, and kickbacks can be reported under financial corruption. While irregularities in recruitment, procurement, and allotment processes fall under the Violation of Merit/Rules category.

    Similarly, favoritism, unauthorized privileges, etc. characterise the Power Abuse section.

    In addition to this, citizens can also report physical or sexual harassment, threatening and blackmailing, under the harassment category. Any case regarding fake documents and impersonation will go under the Fraud/Mockery section.

    PMDU said these categories will not only facilitate the public, but they will also organise the complaint lodging process. It will also protect the integrity of the portal as most of the cases received through this platform are proved to be mala fide and irrational serving only vested interests.

  • Case against ‘The Legend of Maula Jatt’ reportedly withdrawn

    Case against ‘The Legend of Maula Jatt’ reportedly withdrawn

    It has been a long wait but it appears that the troubles for The Legend of Maula Jatt will soon end and the film will finally get a chance to see the light of the day.

    According to reports, Sarwar Bhatti who had filed a case against the film for copyright infringement has withdrawn his case and has reached an agreement with the makers. Speaking to Epk, Bhatti said “Ammara Hikmat [producer] and Bilal Lashari [director] are like my children. Someone misguided them but all kids tend to make mistakes and therefore I am willing to put everything behind me. I am doing this for their welfare, for the revival of cinema and to give the much-needed boost to Pakistan’s film industry. I will no longer be a hurdle in the release of The Legend of Maula Jatt.”

    It is being further reported that Bilal Lashari’s father Kamran Lashari and some mutual friends helped resolve the issues between the two conflicting parties.

    Meanwhile, the producer of the film Ammara Hikmat while speaking to Galaxy Lollywood said, “With the intervention of few elders, Mr Bhatti resolved his differences with us and extended his support in the larger interest of the film industry, and we are grateful to them.”

    Ever since the director of The Legend of Maula Jatt Bilal Lashari announced this film in 2013, the film was embroiled in legal cases after Sarwar Bhatti came forward and claimed that Maula Jatt was his property. He had filed an application for a stay order to prevent the director from using the character, name and dialogues and asked for the film to be banned from releasing.

    Read more – ‘The Legend of Maula Jatt’ faces another twist

    While a release date has not yet been announced, rumours are rife that the film will release on Eid ul Fitr. And if that is the case it will be Fawad vs Fawad at the box-office because Money Back Guarantee is also scheduled to release on Eid-ul-Fitr along with Urwa Hocane and Farhan Saeed’s Tich Button.