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  • Malala congratulates Joyland as it crosses second round of nominations for Oscars

    Malala congratulates Joyland as it crosses second round of nominations for Oscars

    The film ‘Joyland’ made history last month when it was selected as the Pakistani film to be shortlisted for nomination for the ‘International Feature Film’ at the Oscar Awards.
    Today, activist Malala Yousafzai congratulated team Joyland when it was announced that the film had crossed the second round of shortlisting, proceeding to the final round. From her Twitter account she wrote,

    “I’m proud to support JOYLAND, which was just shortlisted by @TheAcademy for Best International Film. It would be amazing to see it make Oscar history as the first Pakistani film to be nominated.”

    The final list of nominations will be announced on 24th January, 2023, with the awards scheduled to take place on 12th March, 2023.

    The final list of nominations will be announced on January 25 with the awards scheduled to take place on March 12, 2023.
    The social activist is credited on Joyland as an Executive Producer and had previously congratulated writer and director Saim Sadiq for his outstanding hard work when it was announced the film was shortlisted for the Oscars.

    Speaking to CNN on New Years Interview, Saim Sadiq had said that the film reflects on the importance of storytelling which provides a realistic depiction of what our society is like.

    “I think every story, if it’s told honestly, is important then this one is no different. I think the difference with this film versus perhaps a lot of other Pakistani films that certain people may have seen, is that it’s perhaps the most realistic depiction of what our society’s like, without a romantic depiction of anything. It’s not something that other people are used to seeing on the big screen, which is a reflection of ourselves. Which can be very heartening but can also be very uncomfortable to watch.”

  • ‘Schoolboy level trolling’: Twitter hits back at Moonis Elahi for his comment on PML-N’s Hina Parvez

    In the early hours of Thursday morning when Punjab Assembly was in chaos over the Vote of Confidence, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader and former federal minister Moonis Elahi found time to take a jibe at his rival party Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Hina Parvez Butt.

    Moonis posted a picture of Hina sitting in the House while the session was underway on Twitter. In the photo, Hina has a scarf over her head and her hands on her cheeks. Moonis Elahi wrote, “Oh God, what happened!! This is the condition of the entire PML-N.” He also tagged Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah in the tweet.

    Shortly thereafter, many users reacted, taking Moonis to task for his tweet. One user called it “schoolboy level trolling”.

    https://twitter.com/s_4_g_/status/1613279991030059008?s=20&t=FQhaxIYP2boIKGgGLigKDQ

    After the picture went viral on social media, Hina also hit back at the trolls. Issuing a clarification on Twitter, she said that the picture was taken during Azaan.

  • Quratulain Baloch murder case 2021: Husband sentenced to death

    Quratulain Baloch murder case 2021: Husband sentenced to death

    Umar Memon, who murdered his wife Quratulain Baloch after torturing her, has been given the death penalty by a Sessions Court.

    “Quratulain Baloch gets justice. This mother of four was brutally murdered by her husband Umar Memon in 2021. Due to the resolve of Quratulain’s brothers and family, the husband has been convicted for murder and given the death penalty. The children are being raised by Qurat’s family,” Lawyer Jibran Nasir wrote in a tweet

    The brutal murder took place in July 2021 when Qurat-ul-Ain Baloch, a mother of four children, was murdered by her husband Umer Khalid Memon after being tortured in Barrage Colony, Hyderabad. Her murder sparked nationwide outrage and condemnation.

  • Meesha Shafi shares first look of her film ‘Mustache’

    Meesha Shafi shares first look of her film ‘Mustache’

    Actress and singer Meesha Shafi shared a first look of the upcoming film ‘Mustache’ on her Instagram account, and announced that it had been selected for the ‘Narrative Feature Competition’ section at the SXSC Film and Tv Festival.

    Her full caption read:

    “First look! @mustache_movie
    directed by @imranjkhan 

    So excited to announce that this beautiful film I did with so many beautiful and hardworking people has been selected in the ‘Narrative Feature Competition’ section at the prestigious SXSW this year!

    Couldn’t have asked for a better team! You are all amazing

    #mustachemovie@mustache_movie, @wearemakesay, @sxsw“

    Directed and written by Imran J Khan, the Pakistani-American film also stars comedian Hasan Minhaj, Rizwan Manji and Alicia Silverstone.

    The film’s premise revolves around a 13 year old boy Ilyas, who has to navigate the social hierarchy of his public school in California with a mustache that his parents won’t allow him to shave off. Meesha Shafi is set to play the mother, while Manji is set to play Ilyas’ father, Hameed.

  • SBP instructs banks to inform customers in advance about downtime of digital banking services

    SBP instructs banks to inform customers in advance about downtime of digital banking services

    The use of banking apps and sites for carrying out day-to-day transactions has considerably increased. However, it has been noted that in cases of service outages, customers are not properly informed in a timely manner, due to which they face issues with transactions.

    Now, in order to ensure that customers are informed about service disruptions due to any scheduled or unforeseen activity, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has issued fresh instructions to facilitate the customers of the financial institutions.

    According to the most recent instructions, banks must now notify customers and the SBP of any planned activity that may result in service disruptions.

    Financial institutions are required to inform customers at least two days in advance through SMS alerts, social media platforms, and in-app notifications, while SBP will be notified at least one week in advance for any maintenance activity.

    SBP, as part of its oversight responsibility, will regularly monitor the availability of digital channels itself.

    Monthly cumulative downtimes must be reported to SBP. The central banks shall be apprised of the actions taken by the relevant bank to avoid inconvenience in the future if the unforeseen outage exceeds three hours each quarter.

  • What the hell is going on in Punjab ?

    Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi won the confidence vote in the Punjab Assembly (PA) in the early hours of Thursday morning.

    A total of 186 members of the provincial assembly (MPAs) voted in support of Elahi as the chief minister on a resolution moved by Punjab Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Raja Basharat.

    The Opposition boycotted the session, claiming that the pre-requisite legal requirements were not met and that Punjab Governor Baligh-Ur-Rehman’s order of vote of confidence was sub judice.

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) refused to accept the proceedings, with federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah terming them against the Constitution and “illegal”.

    The interior minister, speaking to media outside the Assembly premises, said that the PTI lawyers argued before the court that the governor’s order is unconstitutional.

    “So, how did they conduct the confidence vote under Article 130(7) today?” he asked.

    “PA Speaker Sibtain Khan said the confidence vote would not be taken during today’s session. However, the agenda was changed at midnight, and a vote of confidence was initiated by deceit.”

    On the other hand, PTI leaders celebrated the victory and praised party Chairman Imran Khan for the win.

  • Rakhi Sawant marrys Muslim man, changes name to Rakhi Sawant Fatima

    Rakhi Sawant marrys Muslim man, changes name to Rakhi Sawant Fatima

    Bollywood dancer and actress Rakhi Sawant announced her marriage to longtime Muslim beau Adil Khan Durani in a Nikkah ceremony. On her Instagram account, Sawant shared pictures of herself and her husband signing the Nikkahnama together, with the caption: “Finally, I’m happy so excited and got married my love is 4 Ever unconditional love for you Adil”.

    Sawant had also shared a video clip from the ceremony.

    According to the marriage certificates, Sawant has changed her name to Rakhi Sawant Fatima.

    Rakhi disclosed in a recent interview that she got married to Adil in July 2022, however, he had stopped her from sharing the news at the time. In her trademark frank style, the actress revealed that Adil felt it would be difficult to find a groom for his sister if news of his marriage to Rakhi was leaked out.

    She also said that Adil’s family had not yet accepted her.

    Rakhi Savant was previously married to Ritesh Singh. The couple announced their seperation after they left Big Boss season 15.

  • Gang allegedly forced nurses, other staff into prostitution at Sheikh Zayed Hospital, investigation ongoing: report

    Gang allegedly forced nurses, other staff into prostitution at Sheikh Zayed Hospital, investigation ongoing: report

    An inquiry committee has gathered testimony from at least 10 victims during its investigation into the alleged existence of an organised gang that reportedly forced nurses and other staff members at the Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Quetta into prostitution, SAMAA has reported.

    Atiq Ullah Khan, the additional secretary for health in Balochistan, stated that some women had offered to testify over the phone in order to safeguard their identities and to share their experiences with the vicious cycle that was being controlled by a strong group.

    Atiq said that he was taking the situation very seriously and that he had visited the hospital to reassure the employees that action would be taken against the offenders.

    He claimed that girls who complied with the gang’s demands while retaining their control were believed to receive unusual privileges from the group which is accused of running the hospital’s prostitution network. Those who disobeyed were subject to the gang’s wrath in one way or another.

    “We have submitted the initial report to the secretary health with several recommendations,” he stated.

  • Young Stunners set to perform along side Travis Scott in Dubai

    Young Stunners set to perform along side Travis Scott in Dubai

    Looks like the world isn’t done witnessing the talent Pakistan has to offer, with entertainers still making ripples across the world. After Ali Sethi, now rappers Young Stunners have made us incredibly proud.
    Yesterday, it was announced that the band is set to make an appearance along with American rapper Travis Scott at the Wireless Music Festival in Abu Dhabi.
    Fans of the band expressed their joy on social media on how happy they were to witness Pakistani music going global.

  • Missing girls recovered from Lahore, said they wanted to meet K-pop band BTS

    Missing girls recovered from Lahore, said they wanted to meet K-pop band BTS

    Two teenage girls, reported as missing from the Korangi area of Karachi, have been found safe in Lahore on Monday.

    Thirteen year old Kinza and 14 year old Naila are fans of the Korean pop band BTS. According to the police, both wanted to go to South Korea to meet the boyband.

    The police revealed that Kinza and Naila had planned to travel from Karachi to Lahore, then to Islamabad from where they would fly out to South Korea. Both of them had run away from their homes after gathering information about how to travel to Korea, what difficulties they might encounter and which train they would take. The police futher revealed that both girls had made Google ID’s before leaving , and were using their parents’ Whatsapp numbers. Kinza had also planned on writing a letter about the planned escape of the girls along with Naufal, Kinza’s cousin, but he refused to come along.

    According to the Korangi SSP Sajid Sadozai, the teenagers were recovered from Lahore railway station where they were placed under protective custody. A police team will bring the girls back to their homes in Karachi.