Category: Uncategorized

  • Zara Noor Abbas apologises to those left behind by PISA organisers

    Zara Noor Abbas apologises to those left behind by PISA organisers

    The first Pakistan International Screen Awards stirred more controversy than celebration. Though the event was a star-studded one with Pakistan’s A-listers in attendance, the organisers of the awards came under fire for ‘disrespecting’ other actors especially senior ones.

    Zara Noor Abbas, who was among those in attendance, took to social media to pen a note on the incident, asking everyone to respect each other, adding that “everyone who travelled here had no clue of who would be eventually present here or not present here.”

    “We all as a fraternity will always stand together in the good the bad and the ugly,” she wrote.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B8TdCDSBc9Q/

    Read more – Pakistan International Screen Awards comes under fire for ‘disrespecting’ nominees

    PISA, which took place in Dubai on February 7, came under fire for ghosting actors and nominees and not giving them their due respect. Among those who were left hanging included Osman Khalid Butt, Ahmed Ali Akbar, Nadia Afgan, Nabeel Zafar and Ali Safina.

  • Nasir Jamshed’s wife warns cricketers of corruption after husband gets jailed

    Nasir Jamshed’s wife warns cricketers of corruption after husband gets jailed

    Pakistani cricketer Nasir Jamshed’s wife, Dr Samara Afzal, has penned a heartfelt letter on the difficulties her family faced and advised other players to not get tempted into corruption after her husband was jailed on Friday for match-fixing.

    After a Manchester Crown Court judge handed Jamshed a 17-month jail sentence for being involved in fixing a February 2018 Pakistan Super League (PSL) match in Dubai, Dr Samara took to social media and wrote: “Today is the most difficult day of my life as Nasir starts his custodial sentence & I figure out what to tell my 4-year-old.”

    “I’ve felt the need to write this in the hope that others learn from Nasir’s mistakes & no one goes through the pain we have suffered in the last 3 years,” she added.

    She further wrote: “Nasir could have a bright future had he worked hard and been committed to the sport that gave him so much but he took a short cut and lost everything: his career, status, respect and freedom. He would have got UK nationality and played country cricket and he threw his chance away. He would do anything to turn the clock back and not lose everything, especially his daughter who he’s very close to but it’s too late for him. I hope all cricketers look at his example as a deterrent against corruption.”

    She wrote she was aware that there are too many financial expectations from families in Pakistan but nothing justifies corruption.

    “An international cricket can probably earn more than I as a doctor can so I can’ understand the need to partake in corruption. I know in Pakistan one person is expected to provide for a dozen others but that doesn’t justify corruption. Praying for your country is a privilege and not an entitlement which as we have seen can be taken at any time.”

    “I hope and pray no other cricketer gets lured into to this temptation for money and no family has to bear the pain and humiliation we have endured and continue to do so.”

    Jamshed was arrested with Yousef Anwar and Mohammed Ijaz last February in a National Crime Agency (NCA) probe. He had encouraged other players to fix a PSL game back in February 2018 by getting batsmen to avoid scoring runs from certain balls in return for a share of £30,000 (Approx Rs 6,000,000). Anwar and Ijaz were jailed for 40 and 30 months, respectively.

  • Mahira Khan is ‘upset’ with Meera Jee for the first time

    Mahira Khan is ‘upset’ with Meera Jee for the first time

    Meera Jee’s contempt for Mahira Khan is no secret. Meera has often voiced her dislike for Mahira on several occasions and has referred to her an “overrated actress.”

    But it appears that when the two meet, there’s no hate, only love. Mahira and Meera both recently attended the first Pakistan International Screen Awards in Dubai where they happened to cross paths. And Sheheryar Munawar recorded the entire interaction on his Insta story.

    In the video, Mahira can be seen telling Meera that she is upset with her for critising her yet again.

    “This is the first time I am actually upset with you Meera Jee after becoming friends because you said something about me again,” said Khan.

    To this, Meera responded, “I swear I never said anything about you Mahira.”

    Watch their interaction here:

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B8UJcAPhYzc/

    Earlier in January, Meera in an interview had remarked that “Mahira is not a talented actor. I am more brilliant than her,” adding that the superstar only gets importance because she shared the screen with Shah Rukh Khan in the Bollywood film Raees.

  • Apple fined again for slowing down old devices

    Apple fined again for slowing down old devices

    France’s competition and fraud watchdog DGCCRF has fined Apple $27 million for deliberately slowing down older devices without making it clear to consumers.

    In 2017, Apple had confirmed that it slowed down devices but claimed it was done to “prolong the life” of older smartphones of Apple.

    However, many users believe that Apple slows down the phones to create psychological pressure on consumers so that they upgrade their devices.

    In 2017, the company acknowledged that operating system updates released for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone SE and iPhone 7 included a feature “to smooth out” power supply from batteries that are cold, old or low on charge.

    The lithium-ion batteries installed in the smartphone become less proficient in supplying to demands and become dated over time.

    The smartphones without the adjustment would shut down abruptly because of a safeguard designed to prevent components from getting fried, said Apple.

    However, according to the French watchdog, iPhone users “were not informed that installing iOS updates (10.2.1 and 11.2) could slow down their devices”.

    According to reports, the amount of the fine is equal to profits Apple earns in just three hours.

  • Ishaq Dar to take govt to court for turning his residence into shelter home

    Ishaq Dar to take govt to court for turning his residence into shelter home

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former finance minister Ishaq Dar has accused the federal and Punjab governments of contempt of court for turning his Lahore residence — seized as part of the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) action against him in an assets beyond means case — into a shelter home.

    “They have violated the decision of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and I will take them to court for it,” Dar said in a video message tweeted by the PML-N.

    Dar’s 4 kanal 17 marla residence in Lahore’s posh Gulberg area was seized on July 27, 2019, on NAB’s orders and was to be auctioned last month.

    “The government had raided my residence in Lahore and wanted to auction it in January, but the court had on January 27 barred it from doing so,” Dar said in the video, adding that when the government failed to auction it, it decided to convert the house into a shelter home.  

    He termed the conversion of his residence as “state terrorism”, and maintained that he had proof of his innocence. “I can show it to the world in a global conference but I’m waiting for the right time.”

    Dar had left Pakistan in 2017 to seek medical treatment abroad and hasn’t returned since. On May 8, 2018, he was ordered by the Supreme Court (SC) to return to the country and Pakistan had even sought Interpol’s help for the same, however, on November 7, 2019, Interpol had said there was insufficient evidence against Dar for his extradition.

    His house is going to be inaugurated as a shelter home by Punjab Social Welfare Department on Saturday. As many as 40 people will be given a place to stay in the house, and beds have been set up in what was once a living room. Each room is air-conditioned and separate rooms for women have also been set up.

  • Anonymously report harassment, bias at work with this new app

    A tool called AllVoice is here to make it easier for employees to anonymously send feedback to the company’s leadership, and report harassment or bias.

    According to the details, the app has been launched by Eponymous, and the company has raised $3 million in seed funding for the facilitation of their startup.

    AllVoices is a platform that lets people send complaints to the human resources (HR) department. All complaints are displayed on the dashboard of the application that helps HR to launch investigations.

    Founder Claire Schmidt was inspired to create AllVoices after former Uber engineer Susan Fowler investigated sexual harassment and discrimination in the ride-hailing company.

    Once the report is sent to the department concerned, it sends text notifications for the complainant to track the response from the company.

    Employees in HR won’t see any information such as names, and AllVoices won’t know which employer is involved. All communication is encrypted, the company says.

    After 60 days have passed following a complaint, AllVoices asks the employee if he or she knows whether the company has taken any action and, if so, how satisfactory it is. AllVoices then gives that data to the company.

    AllVoices is hoping to create a free version of the app for employees who work at companies that do not use the app. They’d be able to report issues by sharing an email for someone in their human resources department.

  • Naya Pakistan? Irregularities worth over Rs6 billion detected in PIA accounts

    Naya Pakistan? Irregularities worth over Rs6 billion detected in PIA accounts

    The Directorate General of Commercial Audit and Evaluation (South) Karachi — a department of the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) — has pointed out 16 irregularities worth whopping Rs6.85 billion in the accounts of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), The News reported.

    According to the report, besides financial irregularities, numerous serious violations of rules and regulations have also been noticed and reported in hiring, promotions and postings of staffers of the national carrier, 87 per cent shares of which are owned by the government of Pakistan.

    The Directorate General of Commercial Audit and Evaluation has audited PIA’s accounts and scrutinised its affairs after receiving several complaints regarding accounts of PIA Corporation in Islamabad and Karachi.

    It has observed that PIA suffered an operating loss worth Rs5,282 million, noticing that the appointment of the national airliner’s chief executive officer (CEO) was irregular and dual benefits worth Rs2.9 million were awarded to him against rules, PIA had suffered a loss of Rs71.866 million due to illegitimate elevation of allowances and benefits of officers on deputation from Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

    It further pointed out that the national flag carrier had suffered another loss of Rs1.24 million due to the holding of dual jobs/services by a regular employee of PIACL and withdrawal of unjustified salaries from both sides, and the fraudulent settlement of advances paid to the district managers of PIA, Rawalpindi, had inflicted a loss of Rs 1.638 million to the organisation.

  • VIDEO: PM Imran enjoying basant in Lahore

    VIDEO: PM Imran enjoying basant in Lahore

    An old video of Prime Minister Imran Khan is doing the rounds on social media in which he is celebrating basant. The location is likely to be Yousaf Salauddin’s iconic haveli with Lahore’s famous Badshahi Masjid in the background.

    Watch video:

  • Govt launches ‘Sehat Tahaffuz’ helpline to provide health-related information

    Govt launches ‘Sehat Tahaffuz’ helpline to provide health-related information

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, Dr Zafar Mirza introduced the ‘Sehat Tahaffuz’ helpline ‘1166’ at a ceremony in Islamabad to provide health-related information services to the public.

    As per reports, through the helpline, people will be able to get instant assistance to their queries and concerns, particularly related to polio and routine immunization services.

    The helpline will also provide information and address queries of parents related to the vaccine. It will be active from eight in the morning to twelve midnight daily.

    Pakistan remains one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where the poliovirus is still prevalent.

    There is a strong national and international commitment to eradicate polio. It is a collective responsibility to ensure all children are protected and vaccinated against the poliovirus.

  • Coronavirus: Let’s do what needs to be done

    According to the National Health Commission’s latest figures, coronavirus has so far killed 636 people and infected 31,161 in mainland China. The death toll includes 73 new ones reported Thursday. Two people have died in Hong Kong and the Philippines, while 25 countries have confirmed cases of the novel virus.

    Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) is also ringing alarm bells to address the global outbreak.

    Although Pakistan has not yet confirmed any case of coronavirus, panic is running through the country due to trade worth over $15 billion between Islamabad and Beijing, besides China being a geographical neighbour. Pakistan has around 500 students in Wuhan — the epicentre of the coronavirus — and multiple video messages from Pakistanis in the Chinese city, who want the government to extract them, have also flooded the internet. Many other countries have rescued their nationals from Wuhan, while Pakistan, so far, hasn’t officially done so even though flights from China have resumed.

    The reason Pakistani health officials have been reluctant to bring Pakistanis back from Wuhan is not only because they feel that Pakistan is not capable of providing basic medicare to coronavirus patients and/even suspected cases, but also maybe because they know that not everyone would be risking their lives to save others, as seen in China. An evidence of this remains the Sindhi youth, who was not even provided necessary aid after doctors suspected he had contracted the virus from China.

    We don’t have proper quarantine facilities either. Others feel that these are just excuses and if countries like India and Bangladesh can bring back their citizens and quarantine them, so can Pakistan. It was quite insensitive of our embassy officials in China to tell those stuck there that death can come anywhere, be it Pakistan or China. Even if we could not evacuate them, there is a way of saying it in a more sensitive way rather than telling them that “one could die anywhere”. Our diplomatic staff definitely needs a crash course in diplomacy!

    It would be a tragedy if something were to happen to any corona-infected Pakistani in China. They and their loved ones deserve the full support of our government. Given the proximity to China and the presence of the Chinese workforce in Pakistan, we should definitely be prepared to deal with the virus in any case. We should not just be ready to deal with coronavirus cases, but we should also have special quarantine facilities ready in every major city. Our airports should have proper monitoring systems in place for people coming back from China. Preemptive measures should be our top priority.

    While this is what The Current believes should be done in times of this global health emergency, another thing — a rather social aspect — remains the apparently unintentional racism against Chinese nationals. At a time when certain people are antagonising the Chinese on the basis of their nationality, the least we can do is to not let our inner racist take over us as we try to help the world deal with the menace that is the coronavirus.