Pakistani dramas are the gift that keeps on giving. We never know what kind of bonkers content our writers will churn out and so far every single item on our bingo has been ticked off. Last year we got a case of Fiza Shiza mix-up, razai behn bhai and a dude orgasming during a phone call with a girl. This year has brought us a woman enjoying the book Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler. A few days ago, a twitter user took a screenshot from the Hum Tv drama ‘Bepanah’ where the character played by actress Kanwal Khan, is seen sitting outside on the porch reading a book with a smile. On the surface it doesn’t seem odd, but when the user took a screenshot and did a close up, the book the character happened to be reading blew the internet’s mind away.
Since two days ago when the post went up on Twitter, it has reached more than 21.2 K likes, with both Pakistani and international fans having hilarious reactions to the picture. Many are just concerned about what part of ‘Mein Kampf’ would make someone smile.
Even filmmaker Mehreen Jabbar had to jump in on the joke, sharing the picture on her Instagram stories with the caption ‘Laugh, cry or tear one’s hair out?’, as shared by Instagram account Galaxy Lollywood.
About 2.5 million pilgrims participated in the religious journey in 2019. To stop the spread of COVID-19 , numbers were significantly reduced for the following two years.
Prior to reopening its doors to one million international pilgrims in 2022, the kingdom only permitted small numbers of its citizens to perform Hajj in 2020 and 2021.
In 2022, nearly 900,000 pilgrims, including some 780,000 from abroad, were welcomed in the Kingdom.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has directed the Saudi Development Fund (SDF) to study increasing the deposit amount in the State of Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to $5 billion.
“His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, has directed to study augmenting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s investments in the sisterly Islamic Republic of Pakistan which have previously been announced on August 25, 2022, to reach $10 billion,” it said.
“The crown prince also directed the Saudi Development Fund to study increasing the amount of the deposit provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in favour of the Central Bank of Pakistan which have previously been extended on December 2, 2022, to hit a $5 billion ceiling,” according to Saudi Press Agency.
The move, according to SPA, confirmed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to assist Pakistan’s economy and its sisterly people.
The development was reached within the framework of the ongoing dialogue between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Prince Salman.
The announcement made today comes the day after Prince Salman and Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir met in Madina to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral ties between the two nations. Munir was on a week-long official visit to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The SBP and SFD entered into a contract in 2021 for the SBP to receive $3 billion, which would be deposited in the central bank’s account to increase its foreign exchange reserves.
The SFD subsequently acknowledged the rollover of a $3 billion deposit for an additional year in September of last year. The deposit was supposed to maturity on December 5 but Saudi Arabia extended its term on December 2.
Saudi Arabia had previously committed to restart its financial assistance to Pakistan in the final week of October 2021, providing $1.2 billion in oil deliveries on a deferred payment plan and around $3 billion in safe deposit boxes.
The accord was made the same month when former prime minister Imran Khan visited Saudi Arabia.
Journalist Iqrar Ul Hassan has revealed how he rejected a proposal from a “top actress” who wanted to become his third wife. The newsman was a guest on Mansoor Ali Khan’s show where he talked about a proposal from a female superstar of Pakistan.
The veteran crime reporter stated, “A lady decided to marry me, a few years ago. She was the most popular actress around four years ago, now she’s married but at that time she was so serious that she donned a bridal outfit and went to both my wives, seeking their permission to marry me. My wives allowed her if we both had agreed. First, she took permission from my wives, and then she came to me, I didn’t refuse because how can one refuse,” the journalist said during the extraordinary revelation.”
Iqrar ul Hasan is currently married to Farah Iqrar and Qurat ul Ain Iqrar.
Continuing with the story, he told Mansoor Ali Khan that the famous actress then started “interrogating me”, asking how many days will he spend with her. “‘How many days will you be with me, how many clothes will be with me, how many books will be with me’, it was at that moment I realized the true worth of my wives Qurat and Farah, because there is nothing of the sort with them. I realized that Allah has given me the two best women,” he said. He disclosed that the said actress is now happily married and he is on good terms with her. “And I would not recommend anyone to marry for the second or third time, because not everyone can get wives like mine”, he said while talking about his domestic life.
Pakistan’s fast bowler Naseem Shah created history during the opening ODI against New Zealand at the National Bank Cricket Arena in Karachi on Monday.
The 19-year-old has set a new world record by taking 15 wickets in his first four One Day Internationals (ODIs). This achievement surpasses the previous record of 14 wickets, held by Ryan Harris and Gary Gilmour.
According to Geo Super, Naseem Shah has started the home series versus New Zealand with a five-wicket haul. With impressive numbers of 5 for 57, Naseem Shah’s tally of ODI wickets reached 15 which is the most number of wickets taken by any bowler after playing only four ODI matches.
Naseem’s 15 wickets also include two consecutive fifers. His impressive performance has garnered praise from cricket fans and experts on social media.
It’s quite remarkable that Naseem Shah only made him white ball debut in August 2022, just 5 months ago…and now it’s hard to see Pakistan without him. He’s been outstanding today. #PAKvNZpic.twitter.com/Z21sJjjkIM
Indian fantasy sports platform Dream 11 has adopted an interesting policy called the “Dream 11 Unplug” that will fine employees who disturb colleagues on holidays. As per Indian media reports, the company will fine it’s employees PKR 272649.94 for violation of policy.
In a LinkedIn post, the company wrote: “At Dream11, we actually log off the ‘Dreamster’ who is unplugged, off from every possible Stadium communication platform, be it Slack, emails and even WhatsApp groups. We do this to ensure absolutely no one from the Dreamster’s work ecosystem can contact them while they are on their well-deserved break.”
The post said that allowing employees to cut off from all company systems and groups is one of the best perks. “We are not bothered with work calls, emails, messages, or even WhatsApp for seven days. This helps us spend some quality time doing what we love. And for me, it’s time to head to the mountains. I, for one, do not feel guilty about not having a sufficient network. It’s the most distinctive form of unplugging. This disconnected time also helps one rejuvenate, relax and come back feeling fresh, happy, and renewed energy to give one’s best performance,” a Dream 11 employee said.
A total of sixteen Ulema of the Deobandi school of thought from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have signed a fatwa terming the terror attacks in Pakistan “haraam” and declared them unlawful.
According to the fatwa (religious decree) signed by the Ulema, there are clarifications on questions raised in light of controversial statements made by anti-state groups.
The decree says that not everyone has the right to declare Jihad and that those who are killed while protecting the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, such as the police and army personnel, are without a doubt considered martyrs.
The fatwa declared that anyone involved in sedition is considered to be rebelling against the Constitution of Pakistan.
In the past few months, Pakistan has seen an increase in terrorist attacks after a ceasefire agreement with the banned group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended in November.
Actor Syeda Tuba Anwar recently spoke out against violence against women and has admitted that she has been the target of rape and murder threats.
In a podcast teaser, Tuba discussed her ordeal and the threats she received from zealots. The late televangelist and politician Aamir Liaquat’s ex-wife recalled feeling vulnerable in the face of such campaigns.
She mentioned having to cope with nasty online and offline trolling, labeling her as naive to handle the humiliating trends. According to Tuba, she never considered how the general public would respond before starting the connection.
In response to scandalous efforts, she stated that it was acceptable to utilize another person as a stepping stone to stardom. In order to shed light on her divorce, Tuba stated she had to go through a lot. She also noted that divorce is still stigmatized in society, and she had no idea she would have to go through such anguish.
Social media users criticized Tuba for being a “house wrecker” of the well-known politician who passed away last year after she was linked to one of them.
Last year she discussed the problematic culture of victim blaming in an interview with BBC Urdu. The former wife of late televangelist Aamir Liaquat Hussain, has been quite vocal about how violence against women often ends up in harsh victim blaming instead of a strong judicial support system in the country.
The starlet started campaigning for awareness regarding Noor Mukadam’s case especially because she could “relate” to the experience.
While opening up about supporting the late Noor Mukadam , the Bichoo star said, “Noor Mukadam’s incident was one such incident which came at the point when I was going through a lot in my life, I could connect to Noor on another level, I had never met Noor but I felt very deeply for her, because there were a lot of things which I faced, probably, I can’t tell all things, I don’t know why people victim blame in our society.”
Syeda added, “I believe I should raise my voice to educate people and I will keep on doing that”.
“There’s a norm of victim blaming in our society. I don’t understand why it happens, to be honest, maybe it’s a lack of education or perhaps awareness, but I feel like it is my responsibility as a public figure to aware people of what’s happening around them. If around such sensitive topics, even if one person learns or unlearns their toxic behaviours from me, then I feel like my purpose is complete,” she added about the need to make people aware of how blaming the victim only makes the problem worse.
Tuba also addressed cyber trolling on social media. She is often trending on social media for various reasons, mostly connected to her ex-husband and her negative roles on television. Speaking about how she deals with the heavy doses of negative trolling from social media, she said, “When this all started, I’d get very emotional and I couldn’t process why people were doing that to me. It still happens sometimes but you know, I often think about how all of us in our lives dislike people around us but for people to actually open their social media and type out curses for me, I can only imagine how much negativity they store within them. I think all of us should think 100 times before writing anything about how our words can impact someone.”
She further emphasised that it’s not just her who faces negative trolling, no other celebrity is spared. “It’s not just me. I’ll open any celebrity’s page, and there will be at least one comment that spews hate for them and has a curse word in it. Some people just have it worse.”
Tuba’s comment garnered backlash from fellow actor Mathira.
Mathira grilled the newbie and said that Aamir helped her in creating a name in the entertainment industry and hence Tuba should be thankful to him rather than “seeking attention.” She said the Bisaat actress should learn to respect and forgive the deceased.
In response to the Blind Love diva’s remarks, Anwar clapped back at Mathira on Instagram for making false assumptions. Anwar said that Mathira should check the complete interview and she should think before meddling in others’ personal lives. Tuba also revealed that she called Mathira to clarify things but the host didn’t take up her call.
Zulfi Bukhari, a close confidant of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, and leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has said that the former First Lady Bushra Bibi is like his mother.
Journalist Azaz Syed asked Zulfi that recent audio leaks of phone conversations between Bushra Bibi and him suggest that they might be having an affair. Zulfi nodded in disagreement, showing his disappointment on the supposition.
“Politics has become too dirty now. Just the way you said, a mother-son relationship is being disrespected. Conversations of a religious woman are being twisted and copy-pasted [edited],” said Bukhari.
“I have given my life to politics, I understand that whatever I do in my life will be in the public eye, but someone who is not in politics, I am not comparing her [Bushra Bibi] with Maryam Nawaz, but when you enter politics, you have to bear many things. So a person who has not given their life to the public domain was associated with something so pathetic,” he stated.
“She is like my mother. The audio where she is calling me her baita [son] were never leaked. The rest of the conversations were leaked after editing them.”
“I want to ask why has politics stopped so low. What are you so fearful off?” questioned Bukhari.
Acclaimed comedian Hanif Raja recently made an appearance on Nida Yasir’s show Good Morning Pakistan, where he opened up about the most traumatic event of his life.
Raja appeared on the show with his daughter Inshara, son Ahmad and daughter-in-law Hani. He opened up about what they went through when she was diagnosed with cancer in 2012.
Hanif said his wife battled the disease for six years and died on the 27th Ramazan in 2018. He added he did not talk about his wife’s condition as people would think he was asking for charity.
He called his wife a brave woman who kept him strong when he used to feel sad and took care of her children. He said his wife, despite being a cancer patient, used to cook food for the children before going for chemotherapy.
His children said their mother did not keep them in the dark about her disease so they would be mentally ready for her death.
It is pertinent to mention that Ahmed married Hani in October last year in the presence of friends, close ones, and celebrities. Hanif Raja said his son broke into tears while remembering his mother’s day on his wedding day.
